第三部分：回归苹果

原文标题: Part III, 1996–2011

核心概念

  1. 回归苹果 (Returning to Apple) - 1996年底回归完全不同的苹果
  2. 亏损8亿 (Lost $800 million) - 当年苹果亏损8亿美元
  3. 董事会清洗 (Board purge) - 坚持除两人外所有董事辞职
  4. 值得拯救 (Worth saving) - "那里有值得拯救的东西"
  5. 三大职责 (Three responsibilities) - 招募、设定方向、激励
  6. 创意与财务平衡 (Creative vs fiscal) - 创意冒险需要财务保守
  7. 精简聚焦 (Streamlining) - 产品从17个减少到4个
  8. 系列突破 (Breakthroughs) - iMac、OS X、iPod、iTunes、iPhone、iPad
  9. 皮克斯电影 (Pixar films) - 虫虫危机、玩具总动员2、怪兽电力公司等
  10. 文化故事 (Stories into culture) - 为后代将故事放入文化
  11. 持久基础 (Foundation lasting) - 为苹果和皮克斯建立持久基础
  12. 奥斯卡获奖 (Oscar winners) - 6部皮克斯电影获奥斯卡最佳动画
  13. 世界最有价值 (Most valuable) - 去世时苹果是世界最有价值公司

内容

中文翻译

1996年底NeXT被收购后史蒂夫回归的苹果，几乎不像他记忆中的公司了。那年苹果亏损8亿美元。史蒂夫对董事会如此不信任，以至于他坚持除两名董事外所有董事辞职。

但他也发现许多员工的才华和对苹果的爱让他觉得是"非凡的"。他向一个怀疑的NeXT同事保证，"那里有值得拯救的东西。"

史蒂夫仍然被他在早年阐述的相同使命所驱动，"向人类经验之池回馈一些东西"。而在他离开的岁月里——比他在公司的第一次时间长——他已经成熟并学会了如何领导。

作为苹果和皮克斯的CEO（他同时担任这两个职位直到2006年迪士尼收购皮克斯），他认为他的工作是"第一，招募；第二，设定整体方向；第三，激励、哄骗和说服。"他说，"你不是从二十五岁的人手中抢过铅笔来做得比他们更好。如果你聪明，你雇佣的二十五岁人比你更聪明。"他特别思考了他对创意公司商业方面的责任。一个"产品方面的冒险创意环境"，他说，需要商业方面的"财务保守环境"。"创意人士愿意在空中跳跃，但他们需要知道当他们回来时地面还在那里。"

在苹果，确保地面还在那里意味着精简，这是史蒂夫在NeXT和皮克斯的艰苦岁月中掌握的技能。他在苹果的第二次任期是专注的研究。他回归后不久，将公司产品从十七个削减到四个。这惹恼了一些粉丝并导致数千人失业，但他坚定不移地认为这是拯救公司所必需的。"你必须非常小心地选择你把爱投入什么，"他说。

一系列苹果突破——包括iMac、OS X、iPod、iTunes、iPhone和iPad——反映了那种专注的爱，皮克斯同期的大片和获奖电影也是如此：《虫虫危机》、《玩具总动员2》、《怪兽电力公司》、《海底总动员》、《超人总动员》、《汽车总动员》、《料理鼠王》、《机器人总动员》、《飞屋环游记》和《玩具总动员3》。史蒂夫将每个产品和电影视为"向我们的物种表达我们深刻欣赏的一种方式"。苹果技术提供了创造美好事物的工具。而皮克斯电影，他相信，有"将故事放入文化的难得机会"，将与"我们的孙子的孙子的孙子"对话的故事。

史蒂夫想为皮克斯和苹果建立一个超越他生命的基础。当迪士尼收购皮克斯时，交易包括保护皮克斯文化和独立性的条款。他亲自参与了两家公司校园的设计，有美丽的物理环境——果园、咖啡馆、手工砖建造的总部——鼓励偶然的相遇并反映他对工艺的崇敬。

在史蒂夫生命的这第三幕期间，六部皮克斯电影赢得了奥斯卡最佳动画长片奖。当他在2011年因胰腺癌去世前六周从苹果辞职时，他心爱的公司，有六万名员工、经验丰富的领导团队和清晰的使命指导其未来，是世界上最有价值的公司。

"永远是一群人和这群人之间的化学反应，产生伟大的结果，"史蒂夫曾经说过。在他的领导下，苹果和皮克斯的团队改变了四个非常不同的行业：计算、电信、音乐和电影。驱动这些转变的引擎是史蒂夫珍视的一套非常一致的价值观：生命短暂；不要浪费它。说真话。技术应该增强人类创造力。过程重要。美重要。细节重要。我们知道的世界是人类创造——我们可以推动它向前。

英文原文

Part III, 1996–2011, Make Something Wonderful

Part III, 1996–2011

The Apple that Steve returned to after its purchase of NeXT at the end of 1996 scarcely resembled the company he remembered. Apple had lost $800 million that year. Steve had so little trust in the board that he insisted all but two directors resign.

But he also found many employees whose talents and love for Apple struck him as "phenomenal." He assured a doubtful NeXT colleague, "There's something there worth saving."

Steve remained driven by the same mission he articulated in his early years, to "put something back into the pool of human experience." And in his years away—longer than his first time at the company—he had matured and学会了如何领导。

As CEO of Apple and Pixar (he held both roles until Disney acquired Pixar in 2006), he saw his job as "number one, recruit; number two, set an overall direction; and number three, inspire and cajole and persuade." He said, "You're not grabbing the pencil out of the twenty-five-year-old's hand to do it better than they are. If you're smart, you're hiring twenty-five-year-olds who are smarter than you." He gave particular thought to his responsibility for the business aspects of a creative company. A "risk-taking creative environment on the product side," he said, required a "fiscally conservative environment" on the business side. "Creative people are willing to take a leap in the air, but they need to know that the ground's going to be there when they get back."

At Apple, making sure the ground was still there meant streamlining, a skill Steve had mastered in the lean years at NeXT and Pixar. His second tenure at Apple was a study in focus. Soon after he returned, he slashed the company's product offerings from seventeen to four. This upset some fans and led to thousands of job losses, but he was unwavering in his belief that it was necessary to save the company. "You've got to choose what you put your love into really carefully," he said.

A stream of Apple breakthroughs—including iMac, OS X, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, and iPad—reflected that focused love, as did Pixar's blockbuster and award-winning films from the same period: A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. Steve saw every product and film as "a way of expressing to the rest of our species our deep appreciation." Apple technology offered tools to make something wonderful. And Pixar films, he believed, had the "rare opportunity to put stories into the culture," stories that would speak to "our grandkids' grandkids' grandkids."

Steve wanted to build a foundation for Pixar and Apple that would last beyond his lifetime. When Disney acquired Pixar, the deal included language protecting Pixar's culture and independence. He was intimately involved in the design of campuses for both companies, with beautiful physical environments—an orchard, a café, a headquarters constructed of handmade bricks—that encouraged serendipitous encounters and reflected his reverence for craft.

Six Pixar films won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature during this third act of Steve's life. And when he resigned from Apple, six weeks before his death from pancreatic cancer in 2011, his beloved company, with its sixty thousand employees, seasoned leadership team, and clear mission guiding its future, was the most valuable in the world.

"It is always a team of people, and the chemistry between that team of people, that makes great results," Steve once said. Under his leadership, the teams at Apple and Pixar transformed four very different industries: computing, telecommunications, music, and film. The engine driving these transformations was a remarkably consistent set of values that Steve held dear: Life is short; don't waste it. Tell the truth. Technology should enhance human creativity. Process matters. Beauty matters. Details matter. The world we know is a human creation—and we can push it forward.

思考与洞察

引用此页面的内容
目录
董事会清洗
系列突破
皮克斯电影
文化故事
持久基础
奥斯卡获奖
回归苹果
创意与财务平衡
值得拯救
亏损8亿
世界最有价值
三大职责