Steve Jobs shared his ideas with me on whether the plans of the powerful or their mistakes are more significant. During the discussion, Jobs said "Life is not a straight line, it’s a series of unexpected twists and turns - and that’s part of what makes it so wonderful. We can make all the plans we want, but life is going to throw us some curves and it’s how we react to them that ultimately determines our success.”[[i]] This quote was not, of course, from the real Steve Jobs but rather an A.I. incarnation of him. While the two do not share the same mind, the A.I. is based on the perspectives of the real Steve Jobs. This raises the question: “How does someone react when a plan goes awry?” According to A.I. Jobs, that is what determines if we eventually find success; life without plans would still be life because plans often go awry, and most will not go perfectly without any twist or turns. It is one’s ability to learn from and adapt to mistakes that is most significant in many realms of life, and, one could argue, the mark of someone who is truly powerful.

People often learn more from their mistakes than their successes. This, in turn, can transform mistakes into a valuable tool for improvement. People who rise to power make plans that can impact economic or cultural institutions significantly or affect a wide number of people. Plans, however, do not always proceed as intended and mistakes do occur. The Chernobyl disaster of 1986 is an example of how plans can go awry. The Chernobyl power plant was built by the Soviet Union intended to fuel and support the people’s and industries’ growing demand for energy. Yet the facility was misoperated and violated safety protocols which led to an explosion that threw radioactive materials into the atmosphere. The severe impact of the Chernobyl disaster caught the world’s attention and eventually resulted in the emphasis of better safety practices in nuclear plants worldwide, improving their designs and operations. [[ii]] On the other hand, the Chernobyl disaster adversely affected the public image of the Soviet Union as a technological power and created an economic burden as the government had to cleanse the area and care for the victims. The consequences of this disaster demonstrate the importance of environmental protection and sustainability in nuclear energy. The Chernobyl accident also shows that mistakes can unlock opportunities for reflective inquiry for those involved as well as others who can learn from them.

The mistakes of the powerful are the most significant drivers of history because mistakes often create windows for reflection and foster innovation. The powerful can refer to different characteristics of people or groups. The key to a person or group being considered powerful, however, is their ability to effect change or influence other people through their actions, decisions, or positions of authority. Powerful people are often found in politics, such as Winston Churchill who led Britain during World War II, or in social movements such as Mahatma Gandhi whose dedication to nonviolent protest influenced others seeking justice throughout the world. Steve Jobs is undeniably a powerful figure in the field of technology who profoundly influenced the way people communicated around the world. He is also an ideal example of why the mistakes of the powerful impact history more than their plans.

When plans go awry, it is one’s ability to reflect and adapt to mistakes that can spur innovation. Steve Jobs’ ability to consider and learn from his mistakes is one factor that led him to have as much influence on the world as he did. World leaders, wealthy entrepreneurs, and prominent intellectuals all make mistakes, but the true worth of making a mistake lies in a person’s reflection on it and in the adaptation it inspires. Only when a powerful group or individual ponders their mistakes and adapts to them does it become a tool to strengthen their decision making. The Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates believed in “questioning of oneself” [[iii]] as the core of his philosophical system; renowned physicist Albert Einstein reflected on failed experiments and questioned his ideas and changed the way people understand the cosmos; civil-rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. reflected on the history and setbacks faced by African Americans in the United States to lead the Civil Rights Movement to posthumous success. Individuals who made significant impacts on their respective fields often contemplated on their mistakes to contribute to their success. In the field of technology, Steve Jobs is known for his innovations, for making products that revolutionized the online world and influenced how people around the world communicate. Despite being innovative, however, Jobs was also known for his stubbornness. His obstinance brought challenges and missteps to his career at Apple, though with every mistake Jobs made he reflected on his past actions to use them and apply the knowledge gained to his future actions. Jobs’ ability to learn from his mistakes marks him as one of the powerful who often, if not always, increased their impacts on history.

Steve Jobs considered his biggest mistake to be when he hired John Scuelly as the CEO of Apple in 1983. He described it at an interview as, “I hired the wrong guy, he destroyed everything I spent ten years working for…” [[iv]] While John Scuelly was Pepsi’s CEO, Steve Jobs came to him and asked him to lead Apple. Jobs was interested in Scuelly’s marketing techniques and experiences and he wanted “Apple to learn how to market computers the way Sculley had marketed Pepsi.” [[v]] Scuelly was convinced by Jobs and joined Apple in April of 1983.

Shortly after Scuelly came onboard Apple faced a crisis. When sales of the Macintosh computer crashed in 1985, Scuelly and Jobs had conflicting ideas of how to handle this problem. Jobs wanted to direct the marketing focus on Macintosh and lower the pricing so it would get better sales, Scuelly on the other hand disagreed and argued that Apple should keep its focus on marketing the Apple II instead of the Macintosh. The disagreement eventually led to Steve Jobs’ resignation from Apple. He described this moment as his period of downfall. [[vi]] Leave alone Jobs’ reflection and its impact after his departure, Steve Jobs’ resignation itself caused a huge impact on history.

Stepping down as the CEO was devastating news for Steve Jobs. As a result, his position was taken by John Scuelly. Scuelly's leadership drove revenue growth, technological visionary, and contributing for Apple's long-term success. Over the course of the next 10 years with John Scuelly leading Apple, the company’s revenues rose from 983 million dollars in 1983 to 4 billion dollars in 1988. [[vii]] Scuelly made the Macintosh and the Apple II the world’s best-selling personal computers in the 80s and early 90s. Scuelly also released a concept video during his leadership in Apple that described a device called the Knowledge Navigator which “anticipated a personal digital assistant a la Siri, a touch screen tablet computer like the iPad, video-conferencing (FaceTime) and more.” [[viii]] Scuelly also planned future product lines of Apple up to now. His vision significantly contributed to Apple’s success. From a corporate perspective, whether Steve Jobs’ resignation is considered a plan is debatable as Scuelly laid the foundations for Apple’s long-term growth. However, according to Jobs, “in [my] wildest imagination, [I] couldn’t have come up with such a wild ending to all of this.” [[ix]] For Jobs, hiring John Scuelly was a mistake since Jobs did not plan to leave Apple.

Steve Jobs responded to his forced removal out of Apple by taking several former Apple executives with him to start another company he named NeXT. While he was at NeXT, Jobs reflected upon his hiring decisions, no longer selecting employees based on his instinctive judgment but rather took a longer view at them. [[x]] Keeping his ambitions big, Jobs bought Pixar from George Lucas which went on to become the number one computer animation company producing iconic animated films like Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, and Monsters Inc. In addition, Pixar animated Tin Toy, the first computer generated film to ever win an Oscar. Despite the difficulties in technology funding, Tin Toy was a huge success and even inspired the plot of Disney’s Toy Story. [[xi]] Pixar revolutionized and led the animated film industry, due to their cutting-edge animation technologies developed under Jobs’ company NeXT. Jobs’ accomplishments with NeXT and Scuelly’s contribution to Apple both originated from the moment when Scuelly stepped into Apple as its new CEO. Given the authority and influence powerful people hold, the impact of their mistakes branched out into complex and numerous consequences and events.

Some argue that plans of the powerful have a greater effect on history than mistakes since plans act as a foundation for actions and strategies and a roadmap to the goal. Mistakes, however, refine and enhance plans, leading powerful groups, and individuals to often adapt and improve their plans according to mistakes they have made. For instance, The Macedonian King Alexander the Great planned out his tactics during his famous battle against the Indian King Porus, the Battle of Hydaspes in 326 BC. The battle was part of Alexander’s bigger plan of extending his empire towards India. During the battle his tactics failed to counter King Porus’s attack initially, yet after Alexander analyzed his mistakes​ and saw the weakness in Porus’s army, he reordered his troop’s attack, and they succeeded in defeating King Porus. In the field of astronomy, NASA’s Apollo 13 mission demonstrates Another example is the Apollo 13 mission organized by NASA. The Apollo 13 program, started in April of 1970, sent astronauts on the moon, but the explosion of an oxygen tank set the mission down and forced the astronauts to return to Earth. After Apollo 13 NASA examined and revised the engineering and safety protocols of their spaceships. As a result, NASA improved their spacecraft designs and contingency planning regarding future space missions. Both events serve as examples of powerful groups and individuals revising a failed plan after reflection and adapting to overcome the setback.  In the context of Jobs and Apple Inc, Jobs’ plan was to change the way people used to communicate. In his own words he believed, “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly and get on with improving your other innovations.” [[xii]] He would not be able to accomplish his plan of changing the world with Apple with the absence of the mistakes he made. Issues in management, product design, and sales altogether led to reflection, refinement and adaptation contributing to the present Apple Inc.

When considering the impact of the powerful on history, it becomes evident that their mistakes hold greater significance than their plans[1] [2] [3] . Jobs’ mistake in hiring John Scuelly led him to create Pixar which reimagined animated films. Jobs’ reflection on his mistake, however, also resulted in his ability to lead a technological revolution when he returned to the helm of Apple: he had learned how to lead more effectively. While plans may have significant effects in providing a general framework for action, it is mistakes that reshape the course of events. Mistakes serve as pivotal moments, providing a window for reflection and prompting a reevaluation of strategies and approaches. They force the powerful to confront their limitations, question their assumptions, and seek innovative solutions to rectify the consequences of their errors. Powerful groups and individuals who see reflection as beneficial and use it to make informed and ethical decisions often go on to have far greater effects on history than those who do not learn from their setbacks.

[i] Text generated by Character.ai, May 12, 2023, Character.ai, beta.character.ai/.

 
[ii] World Nuclear Association, “Chernobyl Accident 1986,” World Nuclear Association, Updated April 2022, world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident.aspx.

 
[iii] Jeremy Sutton, “Socratic Questioning in Psychology: Examples and Techniques,” Positive Psychology, 19 June 2020, positivepsychology.com/socratic-questioning/#socratic-questioning-defined.

 
[iv] Steve Jobs, “The Lost Interview,” interview by Robert Cringely, CBS News, 1995.

 
[v] Josh Ong, “Former Apple CEO John Sculley says he never fired co-founder Steve Jobs,” Apple Insider, January 14, 2012, appleinsider.com/articles/12/01/14/former_apple_ceo_john_sculley_says_he_never_fired_co_founder_steve_jobs.

 
[vi] Steve Jobs, “Jobs Talks About His Rise and Fall,” interview by Gerald C. Lubenow and Michael Rogers, Newsweek, September 29, 1985.

 
[vii] John Markoff, “John Scuelly’s Biggest Test,” The New York Times, February 26, 1989, nytimes.com/1989/02/26/business/john-sculley-s-biggest-test.html.

 
[viii] Adam Rosen, “Apple Knowledge Navigator Video from 1987 Predicts Siri, iPad and More,” Cult of Mac, October 4, 2011, cultofmac.com/120716/apple-knowledge-navigator-video-from-1987-predicts-siri-ipad-and-more/.

 
[ix] Steve Jobs, “Jobs Talks About His Rise and Fall,” interview by Lubenow and Rogers, Newsweek, September 29, 1985.

 
[x] Tom Relihan, “Steve Jobs talks consultants, hiring, and leaving Apple in unearthed 1992 talk,” MIT Management Sloan School, May 10, 2018, mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/steve-jobs-talks-consultants-hiring-and-leaving-apple-unearthed-1992-talk.

 
[xi] Warped Factor, “From Tin Toy To Toy Story: Pixar's Transistion To Full-Length CGI Features,” Warped Factor, June 14, 2021, warpedfactor.com/2021/06/from-tin-toy-to-toy-story-pixars.html.

 
[xii] Jeffery Young, The Journey Is the Reward (Illinois: Scott Forsman, 1988).

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