Steve Jobs and the Romanian Real Estate professionals. We admire him, but do we really follow his ideas?

Last week a living legend died. Steve Jobs marked our world as very few people have during times of peace. I think that you’ve already read 1.000.000 different stories about him, plus lots of nice words, so I will not add more.

Just in case you want to read something more, check these 2 links, I liked them a lot:

http://www.economist.com/node/21531529

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/steve-jobs-in-memoriam-10062011.html

Steve Jobs and Romania

Romanians are among the best in the world in the IT business, plus they love gadgets and everything that combines quality with style. This is why Apple and Steve Jobs himself are extremely popular here, like almost everywhere else in the world. This is why since Thursday there are thousands of articles and posts regarding his death.

We admire him, but do we really follow his ideas?

So I keep on reading about Steve… how great he was, how unique his ideas were etc. I see almost everyone around me here in Romania describing him as a person who was “larger than life” and he will remain as one of the most important ones in modern history.

At the same time I noticed everyone stating that he would like to follow Steve’s example, to create something great and change the world. So many people declare their faith in what Steve Jobs represented.

But wait a minute… do we really believe in what we are writing / saying? Do we really try to follow his business model and ideas?

I will not try to talk about the whole Romanian society, I will focus only on a part of the Real Estate community. Let us think for a bit… Before we follow Steve’s dream, do we start with the basics liket he did and like all serious CEOs of companies?

“Simple, clear products, without any difficulty for users or hidden trap while using them”

What Steve Jobs created with the iPod was a gadget that was extremely easy to use. He did the same with almost all his devices. Apple is famous for its stylish simplicity.

When we work in our daily business, do we…

·         Also try to keep everything clear and simple? Or do we talk / write a lot in order to hide the lack of serious work?

·         Try to deliver projects without any difficulty for users? Or do we keep things complicated, in order for just US to be able to understand them and the others should come to US for the solution, paying more?

“Deliver when was expected. Deliver what you promised. Every day, every single time”

Like all other big companies, Apple announces new products and delivers them on time. When you buy their products, you know what to expect in them, there are no surprises (or your money back). Do we…

·         Deliver what we promise, when we promise, how we promise? Or we meet someone, tell him stories and then disappear or deliver something irrelevant to what we promised with weeks or months of delay?

·         Promote a better business environment? Or we do anything, without rules, where promises are kept just by the one who hears them?

“Good quality at stable prices, justified by the device’s advantages”

Apple is not cheap, but it delivers good quality products and its prices are quite stable. In order to price a product more than the competition, they adds value, creating advantages that justify this price. Do we…

·         Try to sell good services at stable price? Or we do whatever at any price, just to get some revenues today?

·         Base our work on the advantages we have and our work? Or we simply don’t care about them, searching only for the easiest solution to help us sell.

“Legalize it and sell it, thinking about the future”

Steve Jobs changed the way we listen to music, by creating Apple Store. Since then billions of songs were sold. The previous chaos was replaced by several platforms of sales with Apple leading the market. It does not sell very low just for one day, it tries to preserve its market for the years to come. Do we…

·         Prefer to work by the law, trying to have everything in order? Or we like the “constructive chaos” where “everyone is free and no one is protected”?

·         Do we really work trying to respect ourselves and our clients, thinking of the future as well? Or we just want “money now” and “we will see what happens tomorrow”?

“Better than the competition through work and innovation”

Steve Jobs won his competition combining hard work, devotion and innovation. He was not a “wise guy” who tricked the others and made some money today, gaining temporary glory. Together with his team, he worked hard and devoted himself to the mission he decided to accomplish.

I could use tens of examples from his career, but I am sure that you all got my point. Steve Jobs had not become a legend due to the fact that he was a… smecher. He was a tough and hard negotiator, but he built his empire by working.

I am very glad to see so many people appreciating him around us and wishing to be like him. But do we really know what it means to succeed through work? Are we really ready to devote ourselves to work and not to see it as just the means of our survival?

Do you think that Romania is following his example?