What makes Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Different?

Jobs and Gates when they were young

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are the 2 tycoon that have revolutionize the computer industry and change the world. There were so many debates made by people saying that which one is better. And if you were the Mac hardcore user, you will think that Jobs is better. While on the other hand, if you were hardcore Windows especially programmer or a corporate IT guy, you might vote for Bill Gates. After all, what I learn in Directive Communication - there is no such thing as Fair because it is very subjective. (I am also biased because I think Steve is way supercool!)

But what I am going to discuss today is not about who is better (or cooler). Both of them were the best in a different way, but what makes them different? Both really did well in evolving computer industry, and both of them did it in a different way. What makes them different?

Syed Mokhtar Albukhary

I have a high Growth Emotional Need. It is typical me to buy so many books because I might think that I can benefits from the content. However, I hardly finish reading book because of so many reasons (or excuses). Yesterday, I bought a book - a biography of Malaysian tycoon, the only bumiputera that makes into the list of top 10 riches man in Malaysia (according to Forbes) for more than a decades. He ranked no. 6 in Malaysia and no. 344 of riches man in the world from the latest Forbes list. This book really interest me and for the first time I managed to read the whole book, cover-to-cover in less than 18 hours.

This book really reveal how Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar started the trading business after skipped his SPM examination because the family could not afford to pay for the examination fees. He is really a genius in doing business and there are some strategies that he used which most of people wont. He did not become rich overnight. He really did it step-by-step from a sole-proprietorship. He has his own principle of doing business since the beginning of his venture.

"It was based on the idea that every business needs two key figures who must work together to succeed: one to run the business, another to manage the finances."

Visionary Leadership - the Red Brain

Recently I have a talk with one of my good friend. He is from Indonesia. We talk about the development of our country and how Jakarta is different with Kuala Lumpur in terms of the traffic, facilities etc.

Some of our key-point of discussion is about leadership. Malaysian leadership have a vision which I totally agreed upon. The biggest example of this is the Wawasan 2020 (or Vision 2020). Wawasan 2020 was actually announced by our fourth Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 1991 - during the 6th Malaysian Plan. Wawasan 2020 is a 30 years plan, a plan that Tun introduce at the time he is not sure whether he will still be alive when it is achieved.

What makes a person a visionary?
Tun Dr. Mahathir is a red brain person. It is obvious in many ways.
- Red brain is very good at establishing long term planning. In other words, they are visionary.
- Tun is very blunt when addressing specific issue. This is because Tun focus on the objectivity of the issue. Not personal and not because he is insensitive.
- Tun is a very structured person. This is very obvious when you read his blog. Everything is very structured and he puts the clarity in every points he make.