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INCREBLEMENTE SIMPLE /INSANELY SIMPLE

ENTREVISTA / INTERVIEWKEN SEGALL

IE S CHOOL OF C OMMUNICATION

Ken Segall (http://kensegall.com) trabajen estrecha colaboracin con Steve Jobs paraNexT y Apple, durante 12 aos; se le atribu-ye ser la persona que puso la i en el iMacy dirigi la legendaria y premiada campaaThink Different . Es el autor de Insanely Sim-ple, que trata sobre cmo la sencillez fue un

aspecto clave para la innovacin y el desarro-llo en Apple.

Cmo concibi la idea para la campaaThink Different ?

La campaaThink Different naci con el es-fuerzo de un pequeo grupo de personas congran talento. Steve Jobs acababa de regresar aApple como CEO interino y la empresa seencontraba en una situacin crtica. El primerobjetivo fue crear una campaa de marca quecontara al mundo que el espritu de Apple es-

taba vivo. Para nosotros, el espritu de Apple sebasaba en la creatividad. Nunca Apple fue paralas personas que piensan como los dems.Esto llev a la idea de una campaa que ce-lebraba las personas que cambiaron el mundoporque tenan la pasin y la determinacin depensar diferente para empujar la humanidadhacia adelante. Nosotros (la agencia y Steve Jobs) creamos que se poda decir mucho sobrealguien por las personas a las que admira; stefue el principio de la campaa.

Acept fcilmente la gente de Apple laidea de Think Different ?

Por supuesto. La campaa estaba destinadatanto a las personas que trabajaban en Applecomo a los clientes de la compaa. Cuando

Steve Jobs regres, nos dijo que estaba encan-tado de ver que muchas de las personas contalento de Apple haban permanecido all du-rante los aos en que Apple pareca estar tam-baleante. Cuando se lanz la campaaThinkDifferent, Steve envi un correo electrnico atoda la compaa explicando la campaa. Pi-

di a todos, sin importar su posicin, pensardiferente sobre su trabajo y encontrar nuevasformas de hacer las cosas mejor. Haba unasensacin inconfundible dentro de Apple deque se estaba en el camino de la recuperacin,y pensar diferente fue una gran parte de ello.

Closely working with Steve Jobs for over12 years, for both NexT and Apple, Ken

Segall is credited as the person who put thei in iMac and led the awarded legendarycampaign Think Different . He is the authorof the book Insanely Simple , about howsimplicity inuenced Apple to innovate anddevelop.

How did you get this idea of the ThinkDifferent campaign?

KS. The Think Different campaign was bornwith the efforts of a small, talented group ofpeople. Jobs had just returned to Apple as theinterim CEO and the company was in direnancial condition. The rst order of businesswas to put together a brand campaign thatwould tell the world that the spirit of Applewas alive and well. To us, the spirit of Apple

was based in creativity. Never for one of thecrowd, Apple was for people who didntthink like everybody else. That led to theidea of a campaign that celebrated peoplewho changed the world because they hadthe passion and the drive to think different to push the human race forward. We (theagency and Jobs) believed that you couldtell a lot about a person by the people theyadmire, and that was the principle of thiscampaign.

Did people in Apple easily accept the ideaof Think Different ?

KS. Absolutely. The campaign was as muchfor the people who worked inside Apple as itwas for the companys customers. When Jobsreturned, he told us that he was thrilled tond that so many of Apples talented peoplehad stuck around during the years whenApple seemed to be oundering. When theThink Different campaign was launched, Jobs

sent out a companywide email explaining thecampaign. He asked everyone -no matter whattheir position- to think different about their jobs and nd new ways to do things better.There was an unmistakable feeling insideApple that it was on the road to recovery, andthinking different was a big part of that.

How was Jobs different from other CEOsto change the inside corporate culture?

KS. Very, very different from most CEOs,he refused to relegate responsibility when it

came to the things he was passionate about and marketing was one of those things.He wasnt dictatorial about it. He simplywanted to be a part of the marketing team,and be involved in the process. He hadrespect for the opinions of talented people(though he did often engage in energeticdebate). What made Jobs really differentwas that he found time for things that otherCEOs did not. He was passionate about somany details, and doing things in the rightway. I have no idea how he found timeto do stuff because, when I was workingwith him, he was CEO of both Apple andPixar. I remember him insisting on takingtime out for his family. He had that kind ofinexhaustible energy and commitment.

por: / by:M H

estudiante / studentMaster in Visual Media

IE School of Communication

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Qu diferenciaba a Steve Jobs de otrosCEOs para cambiar la cultura corporativa?

Steve era muy, muy diferente de la mayora delos CEOs. Se neg a relegar la responsabilidadcuando se trataba de las cosas que le apasio-naban, y el marketing era una de esas cosas.No era dictador al respecto. l simplementequera ser parte del equipo de marketing, yparticipar en el proceso. Tena respeto por lasopiniones de las personas con talento (aunquesola debatir con energa). Lo que haca a Steverealmente diferente es que encontraba tiempopara cosas que otros presidentes no atendan.Le apasionaban los detalles y hacer las cosasde la manera correcta. No tengo ni idea decmo encontraba tiempo para hacer tantas co-sas porque, cuando yo estaba trabajando conl, era el CEO de Apple y Pixar. Recuerdo queinsista en dedicar tiempo a su familia. Tena esetipo de energa y de compromiso inagotables.

Hablemos sobre su reciente libro, ThinkSimple. Cmo lleg a creer que el pensa-miento ms simple es importante?

Fue algo que percib durante un largo periodode tiempo trabajando con Steve Jobs en NeXTy Apple. Y es algo que se reforz en mis perio-dos de trabajo en empresas ms complicadas,como Intel y Dell. Llegu a entender cmo Steve Jobs tena este amor a la simplicidad que afectsu pensamiento en muchos niveles diferentes.l vea todo a travs de esa lente de la sim-plicidad, y luego aplicaba el sentido comn.

Rechaz las cosas que eran ms complicadas,tanto si eran parte del diseo de un producto ode la organizacin de la empresa. Su manera dever las cosas era refrescante y limpia, y se nega pactar con nadie. Fue cuando surgieron cier-tas complejidades que comenzaron a interferircon la capacidad de Apple para seguir adelantecuando se convirti en el Steve Jobs duro delque hemos odo hablar. No es que fuera unapersona difcil, es que tena una pasin inmen-sa por lo que estaba construyendo.

La idea de Think Simple no tiene que vercon pensar menos, sino con pensar ms enla esencia de las cosas. Podra dar algunaspistas para pensar de manera simple?

Pensar de forma simple no es en absolutopensar menos. De hecho, por lo general es mu-cho ms difcil destilar los pensamientos y losesfuerzos en algo que se comunica de formarpida y clara. Esto es a lo que Steve Jobs serefera cuando hablaba de lo difcil del proce-so pelar las capas de la cebolla para llegara la forma ms pura de la idea. Si tuviera quedar algn consejo, me gustara empezar con elque podra ser el ms importante: conar en susentido comn. La mayora de nosotros puededarse cuenta de cuando las ideas se embaru-llan, o cuando una idea creativa est siendoreducida y transformada en algo mediocre. Esnuestra capacidad para mantener las ideas enel buen camino y defenderse de las fuerzasoscuras de la complejidad lo que nos permi-te lograr resultados ms simples y orientados.Igualmente importante es nuestra capacidadde minimizar. Esto signica no tratar de hacerdemasiadas cosas a la vez, u ofrecer demasia-

das opciones, o aceptar una organizacin concomplejidades innecesarias. Comprender laimportancia de minimizar permite crear unamejor organizacin, mejores productos y ser-vicios, y una mejor comunicacin.

Si quieres leer la entrevista completa,visita la seccin/ If you want to read thefull interview, visit theLife at IE School

of Communication - Blog:http://ieschoolofcommunication.blogs.ie.edu

Please tell us about your recent book,Think Simple . How did you come to believethat thinking simpler is important?

KS. It was something I noticed over a longperiod of time working with Jobs at NeXTand Apple. And it was something that wasreinforced by my time working with morecomplicated companies, like Intel and Dell. Icame to understand that Jobs had this loveof simplicity that affected his thinking on somany different levels. He would see everythingthrough this lens of simplicity, and thenapply his common sense to it. He struckdown the things that were more complicated,

whether they were part of a products designor part of the companys organization. Hisway of looking at things was refreshing andpure, and he refused to compromise withanyone. It was when complexities started tointerfere with Apples ability to move forwardthat he became the rough Jobs that weveall heard about. It wasnt that he was a meanperson he had an extreme passion for whathe was building.

The idea of Think Simple is not to thinkless, but think more about the essence ofthings. Would you please share some hintsto think simple?

KS. Thinking simple is denitely not aboutthinking less. In fact, its usually much harderto distil ones thoughts and efforts intosomething that registers quickly and clearly.This is what Jobs was referring to when hetalked about the hard part of the process

peeling away the layers of the onion to getto the purest form of the idea. If I were to giveout any hints, Id start with what might be themost important one: rely on your commonsense. Most of us can tell when ideas arebeing cluttered, or a creative idea is beingwhittled down into something mediocre. Itsour ability to keep ideas on track, and defendagainst the dark forces of complexity, thatallows us to achieve simpler, more focusedresults. Equally important is our ability tominimize. This means not trying to do too

many things at once, or to offer too manychoices, or to accept an organization withunnecessary complexities. Understandingthe importance of minimizing allows one tocreate a better organization, better productsand services, and better communications.