Even after building a trillion-dollar tech giant, Steve Jobs never pretended to have all the answers.
That’s the lesson that stuck with Jony Ive, Apple’s former chief design officer, who worked alongside the late cofounder for nearly 15 years in designing iconic products like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
In his 2024 “Letters to a Young Creator” submission recently published by The Steve Jobs Archive, Ive shared the mindset that shaped one of the most valuable companies in the world.
“We had lunch together most days and spent our afternoons in the sanctuary of the design studio,” Ive wrote in his letter. “Being curious and exploring tentative ideas were far more important to Steve than being socially acceptable,” Ive continued. “For Steve, wanting to learn was far more important than wanting to be right.”
Jobs’ “insatiable curiosity” wasn’t restrained by his extensive expertise. Ive said the tech pioneer was “ferocious, energetic and restless” in learning new things until the end. And that mindset could be the secret sauce to launching trillion-dollar successes like Apple, which has sold over 3 billion iPhones worldwide and is one of few companies boasting a market cap over $4 trillion. After three pioneering decades at Apple, he still harkens back to this wisdom as he leads his own design firm, LoveFrom.
“Our curiosity united us. It formed the basis of our joyful and productive collaboration,” Ive explained. “I think it also tempered our fear of doing something terrifyingly new.”
Even Brian Chesky and Tim Cook credit Jobs for shaping their work philosophies
Ive is just one of many tech founders and creatives who were touched by Jobs’ work philosophy.
Even Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, and cofounder and CEO of $78 billion short-term rental giant, received some invaluable wisdom while speaking with Ive on how the Apple cofounder led his legion of workers. Chesky has observed that Jobs was notorious for being a detail-obsessed “micromanager,” but after talking it over with Ive, it’s clear Jobs’ actions didn’t make him a helicopter boss. Above everything else, Ive said Jobs was invested in growing his talent.
“I said, ‘Do you ever feel like Steve Jobs micromanaged you? Because he was in every detail,’” Chesky told CNBC earlier this year. “And he said, ‘No. He didn’t micromanage me. He partnered with me. We were working on problems together, and I felt like him being [into] the details made me better.’”
Apple CEO Tim Cook also credited Jobs for teaching him skills, like the importance of being able to evolve from past beliefs—a trait he said few leaders actually possess. Cook explained that Jobs valued people who could admit they were wrong, encouraged lively debates, and enjoyed being challenged by other workers. Even though Jobs would play devil’s advocate to stimulate deeper ideas in conversation, Cook believed this was the best way to learn.
“He loved to debate, and he loved someone to debate him,” Cook told The Wall Street Journal in 2024. “You could always change [Jobs’] mind if you had the best idea. We changed each other’s minds, that’s the reason it worked so well.”
Corning CEO Wendell Weeks also told Fortune that Jobs helped him confront his fears. Back in the mid-2000s, Jobs saw potential in Corning’s technical capabilities to produce durable glass screens for its upcoming 2007 iPhone launch. However, Weeks told Jobs that he couldn’t make it happen, worried about scaling to meet Apple’s needs.
“Do you know what your problem is?” Weeks recalled Jobs telling him. “You’re afraid I’m going to launch the biggest product in history, and I’m not going to be able to do it because you failed, and I’m going to eviscerate you”
The reality check was exactly what he needed: Weeks admitted that he was afraid, fixed his mindset, and followed through on the deal. Fast forward to 2025, and Apple has committed $2.5 billion to produce all iPhone and Apple Watch cover glass at the facility.
