Thinking Big - Michelangelo and Steve Jobs

In the last article, we discussed what ‘Thinking Big’ is and traits that are required to demonstrate it. Today, we will look at examples of two people who demonstrated thinking big - two people who are impactful and changed the course of the world; two people who left a legacy behind that is/will be remembered over centuries; two people who lived 500 years apart yet are very similar – Michelangelo, an artist and Steve Jobs who considered his work as form of art.

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) is one of the great artists of the renaissance period. He transcended multiple forms of art – Sculpture, Painting, Architecture, Poet and created masterpieces that the world is in awe of. He is one of the best documented artists of the 16^th century. Two of his best known works – Pieta and David were sculpted before he turned thirty. His other famous works include Painting on ceiling of Sistine Chapel and Last Judgment on the altar wall of Sistine chapel; Sculpting of Madonna of the stairs, Battle of centaurs, Day and Night, Moses, Rebellious slave, Dying slave; and as an architect, architectural design of St Peters Basilica and its famous dome. Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011) life is well chronicled and read by many of us.

Steve Jobs and Michelangelo share many characteristics and their lives are very similar:

·        Michelangelo transcended multiple areas like Sculpting, Painting, Architecture, Engineering and Poetry. Steve Jobs transcended multiple industries like Personal computing, Animation movies, Music, Telecommunication and Tablets

·        Michelangelo and Steve Jobs were considered egotists but they displayed great passion towards their work and created masterpieces (or world-class products)

·        Michelangelo and Steve Jobs demonstrated their flair for big picture thinking while having great attention to detail. Michelangelo products (Pieta, David, Sistine chapel paintings) are marveled both for the concept and their design. Similarly, Apple products are marveled both for their concept (usage) and simplified design

·        Both of them strived for perfection. There are innumerable stories on how Michelangelo broke many of his own sculptures and destroyed paintings as he was not happy with the finished product (while others felt that they were outstanding). Similarly, Steve Jobs delayed multiple product launches as he was not happy with the finished product, few examples being launch of iPad and launch of Apple stores

·        Both have seen major failures in their lives. Michelangelo faced the ire of Florentines when he left Florence during political upheaval but returned back to Florence to take up 40 year old unfinished project. He worked on it for three years and sculpted David to create a masterpiece that symbolizes defense of civil liberties and gave hope to Florentines. Similarly, Steve Jobs has been ousted from Apple (a company he co-founded) but returned to it to make it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Thinking Big is inherent in Michelangelo and Steve Jobs. To illustrate it better, I’ll take few incidents from their lives and showcase the traits of thinking BIG.

Ø    When Pope Julius II awarded Michelangelo with the commission of painting Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo was taken aback. He was a sculptor and not a painter. However, to the surprise of many, he had taken the commission and negotiated with Pope to change the concept. Instead of painting twelve figures of apostles, as was the original mandate, Michelangelo convinced Pope to allow him to paint episodes from book of Genesis. For five years, Michelangelo worked on this fresco. He had to paint on a wet plaster, lying on a scaffolding seventy feet from the ground, while the water, paint dripped on his face. He fell sick multiple times during that period but never gave up. He painted 300 figures, and at its center nine episodes from book of Genesis, divided into three groups – God’s creation of earth, God’s creation of humankind and their fall from God’s grace. When he unveiled the fresco, it was regarded as a masterpiece and brought in new approach to fresco painting that was followed by many others. Traits exhibited by Michelangelo are Risk taking, Optimism, Perfection, Self-belief

Ø    When Steve Jobs was ousted from Apple, he founded NeXT computer. While his company developed technologically advanced machines, their sales were limited. NeXT ventured into development of operating system (that later became the basis for iOS) and WebObjects (that laid the foundation for Apple store, MobileMe and iTunes store). He also bought Pixar and invested heavily in Toy Story (re-drafted the story board to make it bigger, friendlier). This has laid the foundation to revolutionize animation movies that subsequently saw blockbusters like A Bug’s life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Finding Nemo, Incredibles, Cars, WALL-E, and Toy Story 3. Steve Jobs talked about this period of life in his Stanford speech. In his own words “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life. I am pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine but the patient needed it”. Traits exhibited are Contrarian, Risk taking, Optimism, Self-belief

Ø    When he was 23 years old, Michelangelo was given charge of sculpting Pieta (Pity in Italian that shows Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ). Instead of revealing extreme grief, Mary is restrained and her expression is one of resignation. He completed the sculpture before he was 25 years old and people immediately called it a masterpiece. They marveled at intricate details like muscles, veins nerves and facial emotions being depicted in a sculpture. This sculpture is marveled even today, after 500 years. Similarly, when Michelangelo was commissioned for painting Last Judgment on altar wall of Sistine Chapel, he worked on to create a master piece for four years. It was one of the largest paintings of the renaissance period that depicted humanity face to face with salvation. People visit Vatican museum (that includes tour of Sistine chapel) and St Peter’s Basilica even today to see these masterpieces. Traits exhibited are Risk taking, Perfection, Optimism, Self-belief

There are many more such incidents from their lives. Michelangelo and Steve Jobs demonstrated Contrarian, Risk taking, Optimism, Perfection and Self-belief throughout their life. This has set them apart from the rest. They are great people that left a wonderful legacy behind for us to follow. Thinking Big would set us apart from the rest and enables success in our lives. My perspective is best embodied by the following lyrics from late 1990s ‘Think Different’ campaign of Apple:

“Here’s to the Crazy Ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes...
The ones who see things differently
they’re not fond of rules
and they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them;
about the only thing that you can’t do is ignore them…
Because they change things…
They invent, they imagine, they heal, they explore, they create, they inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or, sit in silence and hear a song that hasn’t been written?
Or, gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world,
are the ones who do.”

Thinking Big

I just returned from a 2 week vacation of Paris & Italy (Venice, Florence and Rome) and I am Inspired. That’s the last thing I expected from a vacation. But, after seeing some of the wonders of the world and works of great people, there was no way I could not be inspired. Eiffel Tower, Leaning tower of Pisa, Pantheon, Coliseum, Mona Lisa, Pieta, Last Judgment, and St Peter’s Basilica, and many other Frescos, Paintings, Sculptures, architecture left me wondering about the thought process of the people behind these achievements. One common theme that kept coming back to me as I went from one place to another was about thinking big. None of these could have been achieved without Thinking Big.

Imagine conceptualizing and executing Coliseum that can accommodate fifty thousand people, about two thousand years ago when concepts like gravitational force, fulcrum, motion and other science concepts were not even in place. Building a structure that is 1,050 feet tall as an entrance archway to the world fair in 1889 knowing that it would be temporary (Eiffel tower); Working for four years on a single piece of fresco (which is not your primary skill and are not known for it) that has become a master piece (Last Judgment in Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo) are all examples of thinking big.

 Inspired by this visit, I’d like to write series of blogs on thinking big. While today’s blog is focused on some of the key traits of thinking big, over next few weeks, I’d like to introduce people like Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and many others on how they thought big. This is more about my own learning as I believe the best way to learn is through sharing the knowledge.

Thinking Big is about setting goals that are way beyond the current realm of possibilities and striving towards achieving them. We start with an intent that is big – not driven by current capabilities or possibilities but from what we would like to achieve (a clear definition of end state that we aspire for). Having the intent in place, all our actions should be oriented towards achieving the intent (in a future article, I’ll discuss power of intention).

What makes thinking big so difficult? Why do some people are good at thinking big while many others struggle to push the limits? In order to think big, it is important to have the following traits;

Contrarian – we should be able to go beyond conventional wisdom. Follow uncharted paths and operate outside of our comfort zone. This is not easy but is required. Conventional wisdom limits our thinking ability. It does not encourage us to push our limits. We should continuously challenge the status quo and push the limits. Following uncharted paths will lead us to newer avenues/opportunities. Even if there are challenges, the learning that we derive from those experiences will help us to be more successful in the future. Hence, we should always explore uncharted paths than following conventional wisdom.

Risk taking – we cannot think/achieve big by playing safe. We should take risks. Most people do not take risks due to fear – Fear of Failure and Fear of criticism. Failure – we covered in an earlier blog that failure is good. History of any successful person in the world shows that they have dealt with failure. As for criticism, people who think big are always in minority. Hence, there will always be criticism (or skepticism). People will laugh at us from behind. But that’s ok. History has also proven that people who criticize are the same people who marvel when they see the achievements. When Eiffel tower design was announced, there was a huge uproar against it stating that a wrought iron monument would spoil the landscape of Paris that has many historical monuments like arc de triumph, Louvre museum etc. However, Gustave Eiffel stuck with the task of building Eiffel tower that has now become a major landmark of Paris.

Optimistic – Thinking big can only be achieved by looking at opportunities, not constraints. Constraints are everywhere. If there are no constraints, then this would become a perfect world. Hence, it is important to focus more on opportunities than getting bogged down by the constraints. When leaning tower of Pisa was built up to the third floor; it sunk into the ground due to weak foundation. Most people have asked the tower to be shelved and a new tower to be built. However Giovanne di Simone saw an opportunity and re-designed the architecture of the tower to build floors four to seven with one side taller than the other to compensate for the tilt. Thanks to its sinking & leaning, it has become world famous and the re-designed architecture enabled it to last more than 800 years. If the tower was not leaning, there would not have been any tourists visiting the tower.

Perfection – People who think big are not easily satisfied. They are difficult to impress. They always strive for perfection. They look to make things that are world class (best in class) and are always looking to make a difference. They would like to make a statement through their work and are willing to be focused, patient and put in lot of hard work to achieve it. When Michelangelo was given the task of painting altar wall of Sistine chapel, he spent four years to paint Last Judgment.  It was a fresco (mural painting executed on a wet plaster of the wall so that when it dries, it shows as a painting on the wall). He spent four years of his life on this one single fresco and was focused on turning it into a master piece. Today, many tourists visit Sistine chapel (and even Vatican museum) just to see Michelangelo paintings. That’s perfection.

Self-belief – Most important attribute of thinking big is having self-belief. As I keep saying to many people with whom I interact - if you do not have confidence in yourself, then how someone else can have confidence in you? It is ironical that we always underestimate ourselves. We should have self-confidence and belief that we are indeed best in the world (well… some might say that is over confidence but I’d any day be on the side of over confidence than no confidence). We should always be willing to learn, have passion for excellence and be enthusiastic.

Thinking Big is important as it drives our lives and actions and catapults us into a different league. Most people are not able to achieve success, not because of the limitation of their capabilities but due to their inability to think big. Thinking Big sets people apart and is an enabler for success. How BIG can you THINK?