喬布斯在斯坦福的演講稿是他自己寫的嗎?有什麼幕後故事?
讀過《喬布斯傳》的人應該都知道,那篇演講是他自己寫的,在《Becoming Steve Jobs》這本書里又寫到了很多原來不為人知的細節。
2005 年 6 月 16 日早上,當喬布斯醒來時,他只覺得胃裡天翻地覆。勞倫斯說:「我幾乎從沒見到他那麼緊張過。」
史蒂夫是一個天生的表演家,能把商業演講提升到接近藝術的境界,但要在斯坦福大學 2005 級畢業生們面前演講還是讓他焦躁不安。斯坦福大學校長 John Hennessy 幾個月前向他提出做演講的請求,他同意了。在此之前他曾多次受邀發言,但都拒絕了。事實上,喬布斯受到的畢業典禮演講邀請實在太多,以至於勞倫斯和那些拿到了學位的朋友總拿這個來開玩笑。喬布斯表示,他接受這次邀請,只是為了做個了結。「如果你仔細觀察他是怎麼打發時間的,」蒂姆·庫克說,「你會發現他幾乎不去旅遊,也不像很多 CEO 那樣頻繁參加聚會。他只想回家吃頓飯。」
不過斯坦福不一樣,雖然在那裡發表演說不會讓喬布斯變成「喬布斯博士」,因為這所大學不提供榮譽學位,但他從家裡開車到那兒只用七分鐘時間,這意味著他不需要將太多時間花在路上,也不會錯過晚飯。更重要的是,斯坦福大學與矽谷的關係很深。這所大學的教育是一流的,他認識的那些教授,比如 Jim Collins,也都是頂尖人物。儘管中途輟學,但喬布斯一直都很享受和那些聰明的大學生們在一起。
撰寫演講稿是件麻煩事,喬布斯不得不讓一些朋友提供建議,甚至還去找了編劇 Aaron Sorkin 尋求靈感。不過這些幫助都不大,最後喬布斯決定自己寫稿。他花了一晚上的工夫打好草稿,然後讓勞倫斯、庫克以及其他朋友提些意見。勞倫斯說:「他真的很希望做好這件事,他希望說一些自己真正關心的東西。」經過修改,演講稿中的用詞有了少許變化,但整體的結構和喬布斯要表達的核心仍舊保留。在畢業典禮的前幾天,他從樓上走到樓下,從卧室走到廚房,一直在背誦文稿,就好像應對 MacWorld 或是 WWDC 那樣。有幾次喬布斯在晚飯時向家人朗讀演講稿。
在那個周六的早晨,正當一家人準備前往斯坦福大學時,喬布斯卻一下子找不到 SUV 的車鑰匙了,這個時候他突然決定不親自開車了,他要利用這個短暫的時間進行最後一次準備。在前往校園區的路上,喬布斯和勞倫斯突然發現,VIP 停車證似乎被落下了。
直到一家人準備到達斯坦福的時候,他們才意識到自己應該提前動身才是 —— 23000 名學生將會到場,而以往很容易進入的體育場現在由於道路被封堵,變得似乎遙不可及,勞倫斯只能一個路障接一個路障地繞行。這時候喬布斯開始緊張了,他怕會錯過自己唯一一次答應發表的畢業演講。
終於,喬布斯一家來到了體育場前的最後一個路障。一位女警揮手讓勞倫斯停下。她慢慢地走到駕駛座一側,說:「你不能走這裡,女士,這裡不能停車。」
「不,不,不,」勞倫斯說,「我們有停車證,只是剛才丟了。」面對女警狐疑的眼光,她繼續解釋:「我們這有人要去演講,他就在車裡!」
女警朝車內看去,只見裡面有三個孩子,還有一個衣著沒法用「光鮮」來形容的男人。她顯然十分懷疑:「真的?哪一個?」
這時車內的所有人都忍不住笑出了聲。喬布斯舉起手說:「真的,就是我。」
喬布斯在斯坦福大學的演講雖然只有短短的 15 分鐘,但它被廣泛引用,成為影響最深遠的畢業典禮演說之一。
目錄 從喬布斯身上我們可以學到哪些好的精神與品質? - 知乎用戶的回答這是一年之後的答案。確實是 Steve Jobs 自己寫的。傳記裡面有披露:
最開始,他曾向著名劇作家 Aaron Sorkin 求助,但是這傢伙一再拖延敷衍,到六月末,他什麼也沒有發給 Steve Jobs,這時 Steve 慌了,雖然他一直都是自己準備 Keynote,但是從未試過寫畢業演講稿。所以最後他用了一晚上的時間,除了徵求妻子的意見,沒有任何其他人的幫助。
以下引用 TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY MACS - The Stanford Commencement
_____
Jobs kept his continuing battle with the cancer secret—he told everyone that he had been 「cured」 —just as he had kept quiet about his diagnosis in October 2003. Such secrecy was not surprising; it was part of his nature. What was more surprising was his decision to speak very personally and publicly about his cancer diagnosis. Although he rarely gave speeches other than his staged product demonstrations, he accepted Stanford』s invitation to give its June 2005 commencement address. He was in a reflective mood after his health scare and turning fifty.
For help with the speech, he called the brilliant scriptwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The West Wing). Jobs sent him some thoughts. 「That was in February, and I heard nothing, so I ping him again in April, and he says, 『Oh, yeah,』 and I send him a few more thoughts,」 Jobs recounted. 「I finally get him on the phone, and he keeps saying 『Yeah,』 but finally it』s the beginning of June, and he never sent me anything.」
Jobs got panicky. He had always written his own presentations, but he had never done a commencement address. One night he sat down and wrote the speech himself, with no help other than bouncing ideas off his wife. As a result, it turned out to be a very intimate and simple talk, with the unadorned and personal feel of a perfect Steve Jobs product.
Alex Haley once said that the best way to begin a speech is 「Let me tell you a story.」 Nobody is eager for a lecture, but everybody loves a story. And that was the approach Jobs chose. 「Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life,」 he began. 「That』s it. No big deal. Just three stories.」 The first was about dropping out of Reed College. 「I could stop taking the required classes that didn』t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.」 The second was about how getting fired from Apple turned out to be good for him. 「The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything.」 The students were unusually attentive, despite a plane circling overhead with a banner that exhorted 「recycle all e-waste,」 and it was his third tale that enthralled them. It was about being diagnosed with cancer and the awareness it brought:Remembering that I』ll be dead soon is the most important tool I』ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
The artful minimalism of the speech gave it simplicity, purity, and charm. Search where you will, from anthologies to YouTube, and you won』t find a better commencement address. Others may have been more important, such as George Marshall』s at Harvard in 1947 announcing a plan to rebuild Europe, but none has had more grace.
_____Steve Jobs: Walter Isaacson: 9781451648539: Amazon.com: Books | http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-Isaacson/dp/1451648537推薦閱讀:
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