For a long time, I was under a mistaken impression. I thought that the people who change the world were different, special in some way. For years I was waiting for permission to do something great as I presumed these people had. That somehow, somewhere, someone had given them permission to be great and to do great things.I was just waiting.
When the iPhone came around something interesting happened. Steve Jobs announced it, and announced it's name without regard for the fact that someone else was already using it. It was then that I realized that the people who change the world are different but not in the way I expected. You don't change the world by asking for permission - you just do it. The name iPhone was already taken but Steve knew two important things:
- This new device was the iPhone in a way the Infogear product simply wasn't
- He could work out the details later
Steve was a man who didn't ask for permission. While his management style is legendary (and infamous), and his products weren't always smash hits (G4 Cube), what he did more than anything else was get things done. Lots of people out there have the next big idea but they wait until "the right time" which never comes. They try to get every small detail in place before taking the first step. But if you take that first step, and then another, and then another, your momentum will keep you moving forward.
You only need permission from one person to go out and do something insanely great. It is your job to change the world.
Steve taught me that.
-Jeremy