"We believe it's the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney started it all with the release of Snow White 50 years ago."
When Jobs made that statement he was talking about the animated film "Toy Story."
Jobs is a great conveyor of rhetoric. What's interesting about the use of it in many of the cases with Jobs, is he would insert himself into his own rhetorical world and believe what he said.
Was Toy Story the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney? I don't know. I'm not familiar with the history of animation to comment on it. I do know one thing, it was the beginning of a string of animated hits by Pixar that to this day haven't failed yet. Eight animated films in a row have come out of the animation studio that have performed in a big way; the latest being Ratatouille.
The thing that separates Jobs from a lot of other business leaders in this area, is most the time the things he hypes up and says have a basis in reality. Not all the time, for example NeXt Computers, but most the time.
What he does in the way he speaks and communicates is make his people believe in it to the point of becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. As long as he's done his research and job right, and has a legitimate product with a legitmate chance of making it, the motivation works.
Is there a weakness in this? Yes. The very passion that creates great products and services for Apple (AAPL) and Pixar (in the past) can turn against him when he's wrong and carry a momentum the wrong way ... which can be difficult to stop and turn around.
Still, to downplay passion and inspiration to keep from making mistakes isn't an option either. The thing that must be balanced is in making sure we're right more times than we're wrong, and when we're wrong, make sure it's not something that could take the company down with us.
Wherever Jobs is at, he'll probably produce wider swings and unpredictability than possibly anybody else in a business leadership position. As he's proven at Apple, he is now helping bring out products that are more than compensating for some of the times he may be wrong. In the end, that's really all someone running a business can do.
Other Steve Jobs Resources:
You've got to find what you love
Steve Jobs, Business Personality
Steve Jobs' Greatest Presentation
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