Connecting the Dots
26 June 2011

teve Jobs is one of the most remarkable CEO in modern history despite him never graduating from university.

His speech at Stanford University summarized his life to date in ways that can be easily understood, connecting the major turning points in his life that formed his skills, experience and character that made him who he is, and led to many of his practical, highly creative innovations. 

From caligraphy classes that led to the design of the typograhy of the computers which we enjoy today, to him experiencing several sharp up and downs at the corporate level, all of which had enormous global impact.

Even when he was seen as totally down at some point, he managed to rise even higher, e.g. The moment that he was out of Apple, he built Pixar to become the world number one animation studio, and the company he founded, Next, had the technology which was to propel Apple even higher and bring him back to the top.

If it was another person, quite possibly the world would have got completely different outcome. So many people have learned caligraphy before, yet Steve Jobs was the one with sharp enough clarity, positive mental attitude and brilliant mind to be able to utilize the skill to its highest and best use.

We too have our own experiences, our dots, which we can connect. They are the memorable experiences that form our lives. However, as Steve pointed out, they can only be connected backwards as we reflect upon them.

As the dots emerge, they are often unforeseen, unpredictable. What differentiates someone successful from those less so are the ways they respond to them. Some may choose to ignore opportunities as they look down upon them as they come, while others may give total attention to them. Most often, people fall in between the two responses.

In that regard, total undivided attention from moment to moment, which then makes the most use of an experience, and the mind's flexibility in connecting that with previous skills, talents and experiences, can be handy. Doing what one loves helps in that when life hits the head with a brick, one can go on to finally taste the fruits of success. Hence another advice from Steve Jobs is that one should continue to seek what he/she loves and then, do great work in it.

We cannot connect the dots looking forward. Hence those excessively reliant on fortune telling are often the ones with limited success. The most successful people are often the ones who embrace everything with positive mental attitude without losing sight of where they are meant to be. You just have to believe in God that somehow these dots will connect. And looking backwards, as they connect the dots, things really make sense why the path they have walked through was indeed the most sensible way to go.

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Connecting the Dots (26 June 2011)

We cannot connect the dots looking forward. Hence those excessively reliant on fortune telling are often the ones with limited success. The most successful people are often the ones who embrace everything with positive mental attitude without losing sight of where they are meant to be. You just have to believe in God that somehow these dots will connect.

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 Indonesia is basically a very wealthy nation. It just needs more positively minded entrepreneurs who uphold the principles of sustainable living and business ethics to work on it consistently, persistently.

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Figur Sosial
Muhammad Yunus
Early years The third oldest of nine children, Yunus was born on 28 June 1940 to a Muslim family in the village of Bathua, by the Boxirhat Road in Hathazari, Chittagong, then in British India (now in ...
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