Do you create anything or just criticize others?
Why bias for action is one of the most important values
I recently came across this interesting exchange that Steve Jobs had with a popular blogger. The blogger, Ryan Tate, took issue with Apple’s ad claiming that the iPad was a revolution. Ryan felt that words such as revolution implied freedom and thus its usage in this context was misguided. After some back and forth, Steve ended the exchange with the following words:
“Do you create anything or just criticize others and belittle their motivations?”
There is obviously some irony in Jobs calling someone out on criticism. After all, Steve was himself one of the harshest critics and Apple employees were used to his temper tantrums. And yet, Steve made an important point which is often lost. i.e. it is much easier to criticize than to create.
In a similar vein, here’s what Larry Page, the CEO of Oracle, had to say recently to one of Elon Musk’s critics:
"He's landing rockets on robot drone rafts in the ocean," Ellison said. "And you're saying he doesn't know what he's doing. Well, who else is landing rockets? You ever land a rocket on a robot drone? Who are you?"
As someone who finds it easy to criticise work (including self-criticism), I think Jobs and Ellison make a very important point. That people who are doers and have created things deserve much more respect no matter what the ultimate outcome. Words are easy. PowerPoint slides - not a problem. Excel - any analyst worth his salt could create a fancy schmancy DCF model. But creating something that brings value to others - be it digital of physical - is among one of the hardest things.
Admittedly, it is easy to laugh at some of the stuff that gets funded by VC money. The valuations are sometimes laughable and completely disconnected from reality. Public companies sometimes fall into this trap on analyst calls when discussing new innovation. And for good reason - their stocks would likely be degraded to a sell by analysts if CEOs operated their companies like VC operators.
Having said that, the wider fact is that many good ideas seemed crazy at first. Let’s consider a few:
Twitch. A website where people spend hours just watching others people play videogames. Yeah, sure sounds stupid.
Tinder. An app to literally swipe people’s faces for hookups? After all these social movement towards lesser objectification. No chance.
Uber. Getting into a stranger’s car? I think I’ll walk.
Airbnb. Letting a stranger stay in my house? Only if I’m close to defaulting on my mortgage.
Slack. Another chat app? Haven’t we had like hundreds of those.
And so on. So anytime you feel tempted to criticize a person or their idea, Steve’s words should ring in your ears:
“Do you create anything or just criticize others and belittle their motivations?”
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