Godspeed, Steve.

« Customer Lifetime Value: Calculate LTV in a few simple steps

Four Essential Business Lessons from Chef Gordon Ramsay »

Godspeed, Steve.

August 25, 2011 by Olivier Blanchard

Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs? Will Apple’s stock bounce back? Is this the end of innovation and genius at Apple?

Who gives a shit. Companies come and go. Innovation still happens. If Apple falls apart a decade from now (and it would take at least that long for that to happen), another company will take its place. Maybe a Sony. Maybe an LG. Maybe a company some kid working out of his parents’ garage half a world away will start a year from now with some friends. And maybe in twenty years, Apple will still be the innovation juggernaut it is today, the game-changer, the company that year after year, manages to both redefine and advance the way human beings interface with technology.

So who gives a shit. Really. There’s something bigger here than the race to predict Apple’s future and write this week’s definitive article on Steve Jobs, and it’s this: Steve Jobs. The human being. The husband. The father. The friend.

Maybe you’re worried iPhone 5 and iPad 3 won’t come as fast or be designed as well as their predecessors. Well, maybe it isn’t really about you and that fancy little piece of technology that you think makes you the coolest kid in the coffee shop. Maybe there is more to Steve Jobs than being CEO of Apple. Maybe this is really just about a guy fighting for his life.

If Steve were my son, my father, my brother, my best friend, I would trade Apple and all of its success and revenue a thousand times over if it meant saving his life. No hesitation. Not even a hint of it. You can always rebuild a business, start over, change the world again. People though, when they’re gone, they’re gone.

So can Apple survive without Steve Jobs? Who gives a shit. It’s a selfish question. Get over it. The baker is dying and we’re sitting around wondering if his apprentice’s croissants will be as delicious? Seriously? Forgive me, but that seems a little cold, doesn’t it? We can do better.

So today, this week, next month, I won’t sit here and add to the fray of discussions and opinion pieces regarding Apple, the future of the company or the evolution of the brand post-Steve Jobs. There’s no need, and I don’t need the traffic that badly. Will I write about Apple again? You bet. Will I dig into Apple’s universe for insights into brand management, the importance of design, leadership lessons, the importance of vision and a million other topics? Of course. I just won’t do it now. Not under these circumstances.

Mr. Jobs, sending good vibes your way, sir. Beat this thing.

55 Responses

on August 25, 2011 at 13:53 | Reply Karima-Catherine (@karimacatherine)

“If Steve were my son, my father, my brother, my best friend, I would trade Apple and all of its success and revenue a thousand times over if it meant saving his life. ” That – is what it is all about. Well done Olivier.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:02 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I’m a little amazed that a guy to whom we owe so much and whose health has been a concern for quite some time would be treated as a side note in so many articles that choose to focus instead on what his “departure” might mean to the future of cool little gadgets. It’s disappointing.
  
  The ice cream man can’t drive the truck anymore, and the kids are thinking more about the ice cream than the ice cream man. Isn’t that a little sad?
  - on August 25, 2011 at 14:11 Karima-Catherine (@karimacatherine)
    
    It is very very sad and unfortunate. I have lived that when my father died when I was 9. He was a state figure and people moved on to the next state figure the day he died because he wasn’t good to anyone anymore.
    
    It is very sad that people forget that there is a human soul in each one of us. Our departure from this earth impacts deeply many people.
    
    Thank you again for reminding people that they should act with a little bit more tact. Really! that is why I can call you my friend. You are a decent human being.
on August 25, 2011 at 13:57 | Reply Gabriella

Amen – my sentiments as well. Sure, the world “cares” about the stock prices, the technology and the innovation for the latest iPhone, iPad, etc. But seriously, so what? I have always been in love with Steve – the man, the tyrant, the founding father of cool. I used to go to every Mac World Expo religiously when I lived in SF, just so I could feel his energy in the building. I’m really sad; I can’t shake this doom and gloom feeling. I’m not big on prayers – heck, I’m not even religious -, but if it helps keep him around for another 20 years, so be it. Point me to the nearest church; I’ll even pitch in to light a candle.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:05 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I told a friend of mine yesterday, who is also dealing with a potentially life-threatening illness, that if I believed in prayer, I would be praying for her a lot. The best I can do is send good vibes her way.
  
  What I also learned yesterday is that “curable” is one of the most beautiful words in the world.
  
  I hope both she and Steve pull through and recover completely. 🙂
on August 25, 2011 at 13:58 | Reply Kim Brater

Leave it to you Olivier…to say what some are thinking but won’t say. Well put. Totally agree. It’s people before profits. People.

My mother-in-law battled pancreatic cancer. It’s a horrible, horrible cancer (if one can be worse than another). Painful. The treatment is painful. The outlook typically not good. She beat it. I hope Steve Jobs does too.

@KimBrater
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:08 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I hear that in the world of cancer, that one is a particularly nasty bastard. It sucks to have so much technology around and still have to deal with crap like this. I really hope Steve pulls through.
  
  I also hope we don’t all start losing track of what’s really important.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:04 | Reply emanuelbrown (@emanuelbrown)

My thoughts exactly, Olivier. I’m way more worried about my biggest hero’s health and well being (as well as that of his family) than the company he helped to create.

He’s done more than most of the folks chattering endlessly about him (myself included) and we can all appreciate that. Right now, I’m digging every anecdote that points out more about his humanity and less about his mythology.

Thanks for writing this.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:31 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  “more about his humanity and less about his mythology.”
  
  🙂
  
  Good man.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:10 | Reply Ken, Phoenix, AZ

Olivier,

A wonderful post, and timely for me. I’ve been thinking these same kinds of thoughts in general today, as my father-in-law passed away early this morning.

Life is short. All the arguments, all the bull shit, all the attempts, failures, successes and roads taken can lead to a small room where you’re tied to beeping and pinging machines while you’re body is pumped full of pharmaceuticals. All that matters at that moment, the moment when the people you love the most are saying goodbye to you for the last time, is that while you lived you loved, and were loved back.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:33 | Reply emanuelbrown (@emanuelbrown)
  
  My heartfelt condolences to your family Ken.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:33 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Shit, Ken. You just made me tear up. That doesn’t happen a lot.
  
  I’m really sorry to hear about your father-in-law. My most sincere condolences to you and your wife.
  
  Thank you for posting this comment. It’s powerful.
  
  And so spot on it hurts.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:34 | Reply kellymrivard

This hits home, as I’m experiencing a similar situation on a smaller scale. While my volunteer involvement and contributions to grassroots efforts are hardly as pivotal as Apple’s innovations through Steve Jobs, it’s a situation that ordinary (and extraordinary) people face everyday. At what point do we decide that personal well-being overrides the desire (or need) to contribute to society? It’s a situational decision, one that I should have made a long time ago and was too weak to make. I commend Steve on his ability to focus on what matters.

Great post, Olivier. As always, you’ve summed up vital points in a candid, blunt, and no-nonsense way that is interesting to read and strikes a chord. Best wishes.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:39 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I hope everything’s ok. You good?
  - on August 25, 2011 at 14:52 kellymrivard
    
    Going public about and getting treatment for some long-standing problems. I’ll shoot ya an email if you’re interested, but I respect you more than to plaster your comments with my issues.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:40 | Reply Bradley Leimer (@leimer)

Great post Olivier. While we owe a lot to Steve for his vision and the amazing things he has done at Apple, Pixar, and Next, none of that compares to the precious nature of life itself. We all wish Steve well, and should stop writing eulogies for the man because we simply do not know the details of his current health. He will hopefully be with us for a long time to come. And if he isn’t, we should still focus on what he brought to this earth as a person, and not just the technology and machines that he and his teams built.
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:44 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Bingo. Thanks for the comment, Bradley. Spot on.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:41 | Reply david lee king

Thank you – I SO appreciate seeing this!
- on August 25, 2011 at 14:44 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Thanks for the kind words.
on August 25, 2011 at 14:42 | Reply Hilton B

Oliver. Artfully done mate. A nice ray of humanity and empathy amidst the hyperbole. Tip of the hat mate.
- on August 25, 2011 at 15:06 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Thanks. 🙂
on August 25, 2011 at 14:42 | Reply Michael R.H.Stewart (@jerichotech)

Olivier,

I have been a huge fan of your blog since you wrote about your wonderful dog. But this post takes your ever-rising star to an entirely new level. It’s a galactic change.

I am tremendously proud of you.

I have read countless articles in the last 24 hours about Apple’s future. But you’re right. Who gives a sh*t.

The poet John Dunne said it best, “No man is an island unto himself … Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”

I hope and pray that we do not hear the bell for Steve Jobs — at least not for many, many years — because if we do we will all be diminished in an incalculable way.

The world is a much better place with Olivier Blanchard and Steve Jobs in it.

Thank you for being the voice of the human soul.

Thank you even more for being the soul of the human family.

When you finally put your “pen” away and retire to a porch somewhere, you can take great pride in the legacy you will have left behind.

As I first remember writing to you after your heart-wrenching dog article, this is the best blog posting I have ever read.

Warm Regards,

Michael

Michael R.H.Stewart
President
Jericho Technology, Inc.
- on August 25, 2011 at 15:07 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Holy crap, Michael. Thank you! 🙂
on August 25, 2011 at 14:51 | Reply Raúl

I think Steve wanted to make a dent in the Universe… I have to agree that health is first but so many people want him to stay even for selfish reasons.

On the other side I agree with you completely. Being that my dad has been díagnosed with early stages of cancer make me believe even more that Steve’s priority is his health.

The best post on Steve Jobs yet.. Thanks again Olivier
- on August 25, 2011 at 15:07 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Thanks, Raul. 🙂
on August 25, 2011 at 15:08 | Reply Julien

this post and others are why i love the french.
- on August 25, 2011 at 15:09 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Sacrebleu!
  
  Merci, Julien. 🙂
on August 25, 2011 at 15:20 | Reply Jim Mitchem

I wrote a post today as well. Similar sentiment. I only wrote it because of a quote of his I saw last night:

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” – Stanford commencement address, 2005
- on August 25, 2011 at 15:43 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  That is kickass.
on August 25, 2011 at 15:43 | Reply Deena

Nice post. One of my favorite pictures of Jobs: http://i.imgur.com/nNyxS.jpg
on August 25, 2011 at 16:19 | Reply Kevin M. Pedraja

Well said. It’s easy to forget that this is a story about a real person first and a company second.
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:44 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Seems that way, doesn’t it.
on August 25, 2011 at 16:34 | Reply Liang Shi (@liangs)

That was refreshing. Thank you for shedding a different light on this topic. Best wishes to him!
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:44 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I hope he’s feeling the love.
on August 25, 2011 at 18:53 | Reply Multispeed

Excellent article!!

Thank you for pointing what’s more important in this situation, the person behind the brand.

Thank you very much!!
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:45 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  You’re very welcome.
on August 25, 2011 at 19:24 | Reply Michele Price (@prosperitygal)

Olivier being focused on work today it has annoyed me when I do take a second to log in to facebook and I see post after post people saying the same damn thing, “What will happen to Apple”.

You had the courage to say what I was thinking… “wow, seriously you are worried about the company when you should be giving thanks to the man?” (only you said it with more honesty)

Having lost a Grandmother to bone cancer, I have seen first hand the effects it has on the person, then the family.

You would think that with all the serious challenges we have seen in our worlds these past couple years, that people would be recognizing what is most important. Guess they need more tragedies to turn on their human buttons.

Spot on!
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:47 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  It’s bizarre, isn’t it? How easily we can be steered towards the trivial and the self-serving when far more important things stare us in the face?
  
  It worries me a little bit.
on August 25, 2011 at 20:51 | Reply Karl Sylvester

Beyond our professions, fancy titles, world recognitions, and every other tangible we use to measure our self value, lies a clue of who we are.

I hope many more can see Steve for what he was an still is.

-Best to him, and to you as well.
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:49 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  I hope so. Thanks, man.
on August 25, 2011 at 21:29 | Reply jackiepurnell

Thank you for putting the humanity back into business.

It just goes to show how skewed the world has become when the primary concern is the future of apple.

The world would be a different place if we placed as much care and concern on humanity as we did on the almighty dollar.
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:52 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  No kidding.
  
  Sad, isn’t it?
on August 25, 2011 at 21:48 | Reply Cassandra Wunsch

Thanks for that… everyone needs a touch of humanity now and then and I think it’s really easy for us to forget, sitting behind computer screens, that the things we write about are happening to real people.
- on August 25, 2011 at 22:52 | Reply Olivier Blanchard
  
  Indeed.
on August 25, 2011 at 21:51 | Reply Steve Jobs and the big Apple | 10% Inspiration, 90%…

[…] to know what’s going to happen… but the best piece I’ve read on the subject was this one from the Brand Builder Blog. So can Apple survive without Steve Jobs? Who gives a shit. It’s a […]
on August 25, 2011 at 23:43 | Reply ArtsySF © (@ArtsySF)

Powerful article! Thanks for writing it.
on August 26, 2011 at 09:23 | Reply Rodger (@getsocialpr)

This a great level-set. While I am an Apple fan, the fact that Jobs is sick grieves me as it should anyone. Whether Apple the company goes on with out Steve is a no brainer. Sure it will. But nothing will be as it was without Jobs. But isn’t that how it is with anything. When one of my students became ill and died, even a insignificant class in a junior college was changed. We lost something.

All of us will be without.
on August 26, 2011 at 13:54 | Reply Viva Bolova (@VivaBolova)

Kudos to you.
on August 28, 2011 at 06:42 | Reply Michael Said

Powerful and thought provoking blog and you are right, the person is important, lets all hope that Steve beats this thing.
on August 28, 2011 at 21:13 | Reply WeWatchWeb (@WeWatchWeb)

Amen!

But I am not sure the following people share the same kind of bread :
http://www.macstories.net/news/apples-succession-proposal-rejected/
on August 30, 2011 at 10:35 | Reply Session de rattrapage : Google+, Facebook... | Buzz Angels

[…] bien d’autres choses se sont produites en 2 mois. On ne parlera pas du départ en retraite de Steve Jobs, ni des mises à jour de Facebook notamment au niveau du contrôle de […]
on September 2, 2011 at 20:35 | Reply Jenifer Olson @jenajean

Drat, got busy and almost missed this post, and that would have been my loss. Excellent thoughts, Olivier. Thanks for saying what many of us needed to hear. 🙂
on October 5, 2011 at 22:32 | Reply Thank you, Steve Jobs « kellymrivard.com

[…] Wrapped up in all the stresses of college, internships, cross-country travel, and learning who I am, I lost track of Steve Jobs over the summer. I remember vaguely hearing that he was ill, but never really registering the severity of the situation. A well-crafted and no-nonsense blog post by one of my heroes, Olivier Blanchard, about Jobs’ w…. […]
on October 19, 2011 at 01:27 | Reply Micro Niche

I simply could not depart your website prior to suggesting that I really loved the standard information a person provide in your visitors? Is gonna be again continuously in order to check up on new posts
on December 9, 2011 at 12:33 | Reply Social Sentiment Blog

The Wizard of Jobs. What a genuis, will be missed.