Why Steve Jobs Was Fired (And Why It Mattered)

28 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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1:26

In this monologue, the speaker examines Steve Jobs' distinctive philosophy of blending technology with art, arguing that this approach turned Apple products into personal expressions of identity. The talk highlights Jobs' pioneering use of color in Macs as a literal and figurative break from the industry norm of monochrome, and it reflects on how such aesthetic choices signaled a broader cultural shift. The speaker then reframes perceived failures—specifically the NeXT venture and Jobs' 1985 firing from Apple—suggesting that these setbacks were not inherent flaws but rather consequences of prevailing corporate instruction sets and expectations. By challenging the conventional definition of failure, the narrative posits that innovation often requires breaking established standards, and that what appears as a failure can become a catalyst for future success.

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What is also interesting is that Steve Jobs was vehement about a standard for, at least for Apple, I assume for Pixar too, but for Apple, it was how I define it is the blending of technology and art. Where every other organization, IBM, all these other companies that made technology, it was about the best tech, so to speak. Steve Jobs said the most artful tech. And I'm not saying that was his words, but you can see the products it made became a representation of who you are as a consumer. The Apple phone is not just a phone, it's an expression of who I am. The first Mac I had had an orange kind of shell to it, wherever the computer was off-white or black. He was the first to add color. Right. Figuratively and literally. I wonder if having this, again, beacon of where you head allows you to navigate failures. NeXT was a failure defined as it was not a sustainable company. Kudos to them, it was acquired by Apple. Steve Jobs was a failure according to the Apple leadership when he was first fired. But in the moment, They were probably right. Based upon their rules and expectations and all the stuff they had, he wasn't a fit. So a failure can simply be a setback, and it could be because the judgments around you are wrong. Right. It could be because the instruction set you followed wrong, or maybe it's just everyone's following the generic instruction set of make it a black or white computer, and someone's got to be the first to say, that is a failure, the way we've been doing it, and introduce something new.