Steve Jobs was famous for his fanatical devotion to making breathtakingly good products. You know this to be true Test.
His actual standard was to ensure that no work produced by Apple was less than “insanely great.”
Jony Ive, his legendary design partner at Apple, once shared a story about this.
After a meeting in which Jobs had been extremely demanding of his team because the result wasn’t yet at the level he believed it could be, Ive questioned him about why he had been so hard on them.
Jobs’ response contained a lesson that has still stayed with me.
“Jony,” he said, “you just want people to like you. And I'm surprised at you because I thought you really held the work up as the most important thing, not how you believed that you were perceived by other people.”
No one is suggesting that we should ever be disrespectful, unkind or careless with people. Yet when the ego screams loudly for applause and approval, perhaps we become a little less focused on making the work A+, and generational.
The pursuit of approval and the pursuit of mastery rarely lead us to the same place.
This is one of the key reasons I created The Fully Human Series: Living with Greater Meaning, Mastery and Freedom in an Artificial Age.
It is a four-part live learning experience, based on my new book The Robot and The Gardener, designed to help you protect what is most human within you while doing your finest work—and leading your richest life. You can learn more here.
When you join me for this online experience, you’ll receive:
• 4 live teaching sessions with me
• 4 live Q&As [that follow each session]
• Full access to all recordings
• Each session builds on the previous one, creating a complete program for becoming fully human—and uniquely successful—in this artificial age
• Those who invest in the complete series will also receive early access to and an extended free trial to my upcoming platform called Humanitara
Investment for the complete four-part series: $1,000.
If this speaks to where you are in your life and work right now, I’d be delighted to have you join me.
And here’s a quick summary of what I’ll be covering live on in each session:
THE FULLY HUMAN SESSIONS
4 Live Teachings for Living with Greater Meaning, Mastery and Freedom
SESSION ONE — PROTECT BEING HUMAN
How to Fortify Your Greatest Gifts in the Artificial Age
Strengthen the human gifts technology cannot replace—creativity, empathy, instinct, courage and presence—while using technology without surrendering what makes you human.
SESSION TWO — DO A+ WORK
How to Achieve Mastery, Leadership and Exceptional Productivity in a Distracted World
Learn to protect your attention, deepen your focus and produce exceptional work through craftsmanship, disciplined execution and doing fewer things extraordinarily well.
SESSION THREE — THE DNA OF A RICH LIFE
How to Find Greater Happiness, Fulfilment and Joy in a World That Never Stops
Discover how to cultivate greater joy, meaningful relationships, inner peace, peak health and a deeper appreciation of the ordinary moments that make life rich.
SESSION FOUR — THE LIVE FREE FRAMEWORK
How to Break Free from Fear, Approval and the Expectations of the World
Break free from fear, comparison and external validation to make braver choices, live by your deepest values and build a life that truly feels like your own.
Very best wishes,
Robin
