Simon Cowell, Steve Jobs & the art of motivation

Rather ordinary people can do rather amazing things

Here in the UK we are a modest and restrained lot. Don’t blow your own trumpet, don’t listen to anyone else blowing theirs …. is the way Brits tend to view both themselves and others. We even find it difficult to know what to do when someone else blows our trumpet for us… “It was really nothing ….. I didn’t really do anything…“ are words that come easily on receiving a genuine compliment when maybe sometimes we should say “Thanks– that was really hard work!”.

There is something to be admired in this British reserve, but there are also shortcomings. We find it easy to belittle our own achievements and aspirations and those of others too. It’s easy to pour scorn on other people’s attempts to achieve beyond the norm… “YOU’LL never do that …. You’ll look stupid”. It is perhaps best contrasted with the US. I have visited the US numerous times and maybe some of that culture – and language – is rubbing off. Their well-known American Dream, often accompanied by a strong sense of patriotism, is the idea that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. The social class you are born into does not prevent you achieving fulfilment, renown, and success (whatever success means). Barriers of race, religion, sex are all removed.

We Brits complain about those loud Americans – it’s easy to mock — but we don’t actually have a dream ….. do we?

Simon Cowell and the X Factor

One example of a change in popular UK culture is with the advent of Simon Cowell’s X Factor and its spin-offs. These seem to create a kind of bubble within which people are wildly encouraged to “go for it – you can do it!” Some would say we are encouraging the wrong type of achievement. These shows can be places where people with zero talent can grab the attention of millions. But while that is sometimes true, the net effect seems to be that people are inclined to believe they CAN achieve something, they CAN dream. Of course there is a difference between achieving through years of hard work, and achieving through 5 minutes of talent (or complete luck) as in the X Factor, but I for one am fascinated to see an emerging ethos in popular culture, a new belief where some see beyond their immediate surroundings to something they consider greater.

Steve Jobs and the Reality Distortion Factor

An impressive example of getting people to see and achieve beyond their expectation was provided by the late Steve Jobs and his “Reality Distortion Field”. This name was applied by Jobs’ co-workers after an episode of Star Trek in which aliens created an alternative reality through sheer mental force – a “reality distortion field”. Jobs had a way of changing people’s sense of proportion and making them see that “completely impossible” tasks were in fact possible.

There is a wonderful story of Jobs one day marching into the office of Larry Kenyon the engineer working on the original Apple Macintosh operating system. Jobs complained it was taking too long to boot-up. Kenyon said the code had been optimised, nothing else could be done, there were no more savings. The unbelieving Jobs then asked Kenyon “if it saved a person’s life could you cut 10 seconds off the boot up time?” Kenyon, slightly confused, said it might be possible. Jobs then used a whiteboard to show that if 5 million Apple Mac users saved 10 seconds every day, that is equivalent to 10 lifetimes each year! Kenyon was bowled over – he went away and, within a few weeks cut 28 seconds from the boot time!

Some referred to Jobs as bullying but he was able to convince people to buy into an ideal, a dream, by getting them to see something outside their field of vision.

Your Life and the Faith Factor

As Christians, dreaming and performing beyond our human ability should be a natural consequence of a living faith. However, there’s a big difference. The Spirit of Jesus freely given to believers enables us to perform not only beyond our nature but wholly opposite to our nature. I remember frequently giving away my lunch to tramps in the city and being aware that this idea simply didn’t come from me (.…I really did want the sandwich). Moreover, there are countless examples of Christians taking on new ventures, and performing acts of charity and forgiveness in a manner contradictory to their nature. Being a Christian can create empathy, character, we simply didn’t have before.

It’s not 5‑minute fame — it takes a lifetime, and it’s not reality distortion– it’s seeing things as they really are.

Phil 4.19: “I can do all things through him who gives me strength”… including those I prefer not to!