Meanderings of an Old School Sales Dog

Befuddled, I gazed around the small dimly lit auditorium.  The air in the room was somewhat oppressive, with a tinge of a clean, chlorine-like yet burnt smell.   Behind the audience of less than one hundred people, an audio-visual production staff scrambled incessantly, like army ants.  The popping noises emanating from the rear of the room had finally subsided, yet most of the audience remained fixated on the person at the front of the room…Steve Jobs.

I had arrived in San Jose the previous day, a new employee of Apple Computer, Inc.  The first two weeks of January had been a whirlwind, professionally and personally. Onboarding in the Apple office in Tampa was hectic and disorganized…to be expected as the final fixtures were still being installed and people introductions were in the predictable awkward state.  I met my new boss, Mr. Z, who like the rest of his new direct reports tried to wrangle the chaos into some semblance of normalcy. “We are flying out to Cupertino on the 15^th,” he said during one of the many meetings.  “We will spend the week there, so be prepared.”  Prepared I wasn’t…

I watched as Jobs ran to the back of the room, in a “miffed” state being an understatement.  The audience’s demeanor remained subdued, yet we all felt the level of anxiousness (maybe it was the lingering Ozone) as this meeting now turning into a mini spectacle continued to evolve. The conversations in the rear were inaudible, yet no one could mistake the tone…unless you never saw how a sergeant dealt with new recruits. “Break,” someone shouted, again emanating from the rear of the room, “be back in 15!”

“Smoke’em if you got ‘em,” the person next to me remarked as a group of us sauntered outside.  The audience was a mixture of me…twenty to early thirty somethings finding themselves in a transitional professional work environment of the unknown. I had been used to a much more causal (unprofessional?} work atmosphere prior to this phase of my career journey.  I had experienced regimentation (education by Oblates and Jesuits) and had found that base level of conformity somewhat comforting, yet over the course of the last several years that pendulum had swung in the opposite direction.  The dichotomy in working in a small business environment vs where I found myself now would take some getting used to (understatement.) 

“What do you think?” one of the smokers said.  Not wanting to be the first to respond, I continued to observe.  “Jobs is over-the-top invigorating,” someone quipped. (I had to agree.) “I have never seen such passion…makes me want to follow him blindly into wherever he wants to lead us,” another added. (Had to agree again.}  Jobs had that “it” factor in spades: possessing the imagination necessary to create a vision of something not yet created or present combined with the ability to make it a reality.  He painted a picture every time he spoke, and his musings were captivating especially to this audience of young minds of mush.  I left the smoking group early, returning to the auditorium wanting more fire and brimstone.  I was about to be rewarded.

One of the benefits of being somewhat well-read is the ability to understand context and associate references when they are presented. Orwell, Rand, Huxley, Bradbury et al. were part of my base line reading curriculum in school. I found their philosophical visions intriguing and empowering and to this day prophetic. I am sure there are many present-day authors that could hold a candle to say Huxley, but my mind-set and experiential references remain fixated on the contributions of these visionaries and oracles. What came next illustrated this to a “t.”  

As the audience returned, Jobs made his way back to the front podium. His demeanor had cycled back to one of enthusiasm and effervesce, gone was the semblance of darkness he demonstrated just minutes prior.  “Run it” he shouted.  Without introduction, the lights came down and we were punched in the face with the following:

The audience, in one unified motion, erupted like a volcano, explosively rising to our feet.  I found myself breathless, even to the extent of gasping.  Never have I observed such a surge of combined emotion, never have I felt such shared euphoric enthusiasm. The roar was deafening and continued for what seemed an eternity.  Jobs beamed and shot his arms up in the air in celebration.  Not attempting to calm the crowd, he shouted into the mic, “Run it again, I think they like!”

Hundreds of articles have been published about the iconic 1984 ad.  The articles justly analyze it for what it was, one of the greatest commercials of all time.  Beyond Ridley Scott’s direction, Chiat/Day’s creativity, and Jobs’ vision to make it happen, no one can ever understand what it meant to the audience that day and to me personally.  The screening was the impetus for us to move forward as a team, a cathartic and emotional starting point for the rest of our time with Apple and the reason for our professional being.  I was blessed to be there and thankful for such a life-changing emotional experience.

Meandering thoughts on Blog 7

• Orwell, Rand and Huxley are even more relevant today.  Read.
• True visionaries are rare, “wanna be” imitators are prevalent.
• There are flash points in your life that change you in a moment’s notice.
• Sometimes you are just blessed, be thankful for those moments.
• The pendulum of conformity vs rebellion swings relentlessly.

Stay tuned for chapter 8…