Why Jobs, Who Was Ousted from Apple, Made a Comeback as Someone Who Changes the World... The Answer Was in "Art Thinking"
The key to generating new ideas in today's complex world lies in "Art Thinking," a process exemplified by Steve Jobs's comeback.Summary
In an era saturated with information and rapid change, the ability to generate novel ideas is crucial, leading to focus on "Art Thinking," which involves developing one's unique perspective to find personal answers. The book "Art Thinking from Age 13" by active art teacher Yukiho Suenaga explains this concept through six representative artworks from the 20th century. The 20th century was pivotal because technological advancements like photography shifted art away from mere imitation, forcing artists to consciously engage in a process of finding their "seed of interest" and cultivating it into an "expression of a flower"—the essence of Art Thinking. This mindset is also linked to the resurgence of Steve Jobs, who was famously ousted from Apple at age 30. Jobs later emphasized the importance of loving what you do, which fueled his success with NeXT, Pixar, and ultimately his return to Apple to create revolutionary products like the iPhone. The author posits that Jobs overcame great loss by centering on what he loved, mirroring the Art Thinking process of pursuing one's inner curiosity to create unique solutions, unconstrained by convention. Art is thus essential today because it acts as a catalyst to reclaim one's personal way of seeing and thinking in daily life.
(Source：ダイヤモンド・オンライン)