The Master Stumbles

I watch Steve Jobs' keynote presentations in part because I'm an Apple fanboy, but mostly because he gives outstanding presentations.  It's inspirational and instructive to watch the master at work.

It's also instructive when the master fails.

The recent antenna-gate press conference was Jobs not at his best.  This is a quick look at where I thought he could have done better.

Rehearsal.  Clearly, the usual Jobs presentation is very well rehearsed.  This isn't just about practice, this is also about editing - as you practice, you realize this bit is a little too wordy, this slide is a little too busy and it helps hone the overall presentation, not just the act of presenting.  The antenna-gate presser didn't have the usual polish.  The slides were overlong, some of the material as presented was a bit long winded and, worst of all, Jobs came across as peevish.  I understand where he's coming from, this had an engineering "you just don't get it" quality which I've seen many times, but that's no excuse.  He clearly had his facts down, but that's only part of the equation.  Rehearse, polish and, when the time comes, present with the right attitude.  Don't stint on rehearsal, no matter what the pressure.

Dead Time.  There was a dull stretch while antenna-gate problems were demo'd on competing phones.  This was a good idea and good points were made, but waiting for bars to drop was like waiting for paint to dry.  Not something you wanted to watch.  It might have been more fun to have had a more thorough and crisp introduction (some algorithms will respond slowly for the following reasons, your mileage may vary in these other ways, etc) and then have all the phones up at the same time racing towards their fail points.  Kind of an antenna-gate pinewood derby.  Silly, but something to make the point more lightly rather than the "and this one sucks too" march through the competition.  Don't be boring.

Core Values.  Towards the end, Jobs walked through what was, in effect, a core mission statement that I'm sure he believes and any company would be proud of.  He loves making stuff that looks great and is easy to use and, sure, Apple makes a bunch of money along the way.  Seriously, every company could adopt that strategy tomorrow, be more successful and the world would be a better place.  But, again, the tone was just wrong.  I believed it, but he sounded tired and defensive.  He rambled.  When you say you love your customers, when you are stating your core values, make it a love song.

Oddly, the best moment was at the beginning, showing the goofy YouTube clip somebody had posted the night before.  It was sweet, silly and not produced by Apple.  It was funny and, by itself, said things that needed saying.  Showing it made Apple look smart, hip and alert.  The rest of the presentation should have done the same.

Steve Jobs, at his best, is the Thomas Edison of our time.  I don't think I've said anything here that he doesn't know himself.  But he was not at his best on this particular day and we can learn from that.