<ul><li>Whether in product design (like the iPhone), communication, or decision-making, Jobs relentlessly sought elegant simplicity.</li><li>He believed removing the unnecessary reveals the essential.</li></ul>“Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean.”

1. Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication

<ul><li>Jobs focused intensely on how people feel when they use a product—not just what it does.</li><li>Design and technology must serve human intuition, not complicate it.</li></ul>“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.”

2. Obsess Over the User Experience

<ul><li>Jobs didn’t aim to please everyone—he aimed to create insanely great products.</li><li>He held himself and his team to incredibly high standards and wasn’t afraid of being demanding.</li></ul>“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

4. Pursue Excellence, Not Consensus

<ul><li>Jobs saw Apple not as a tech company, but a place where engineering meets liberal arts.</li><li>He brought emotion, storytelling, and design into the world of technology.</li></ul>“Technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with the humanities that makes our hearts sing.”

6. Merge Art with Technology

<ul><li>From dropping out of college to launching Apple, getting fired, and returning—Jobs consistently trusted his intuition and curiosity.</li><li>He believed in doing work that mattered personally—not just what was expected.</li></ul>“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

7. Follow Your Inner Voice

<ul><li>Jobs emphasized that you can’t connect the dots looking forward—only looking backward.</li></ul><ol><li>He encouraged following your curiosity and trusting it will make sense someday.</li></ol>“You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”

9. Trust the Process, Even When It Doesn’t Make Sense Yet

<ul><li>To build something great, you need to love what you do—because the process will get hard.</li><li>Passion is what keeps you going when logic and motivation run out.</li></ul>“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

10. Passion Fuels Persistence

TRUST THE PROCESS

<ul><li>He challenged norms and encouraged others to see the world from a different angle.</li><li>His life was a rejection of mediocrity, bureaucracy, and “business as usual.”</li></ul>“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

3. Think Different

<ul><li>One of his greatest strengths was saying no to distractions, features, or ideas that diluted the vision.</li><li>He believed focus equals clarity, and clarity leads to breakthroughs.</li></ul>“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”

5. Focus Relentlessly

<ul><li>Jobs believed creativity isn’t about creating from scratch — it’s about seeing patterns others don’t.</li><li>His experiences with calligraphy, design, and even Zen Buddhism shaped how he approached product design.</li></ul>“Creativity is just connecting things.”

8. Creativity is Connecting the Dots

Steve Jobs had many principles guiding his work and life, but several core threads tie them all together. Here’s a breakdown of the common themes that run through Steve Jobs’ principles, drawn from his speeches, interviews, leadership style, and product philosophy:

2. Obsess Over the User Experience

Similar ideas to 2. Obsess Over the User Experience

Experience before Technology

The prototype mindset

8 Lessons From Beyoncé