I have been exploring ways to articulate and define what artistry in business is. It’s something I have been regularly thinking about and reflecting on for the last 20 years.
One day, while researching for a course I developed called “Continuing Steve Jobs’ Legacy: Building Creative Companies,” I stumbled upon a rare interview with Steve Jobs. This interview, conducted by Daniel Morrow for the Computerworld Technology Award Program in April 1995, featured Jobs in his role as head of NeXT, a company he founded to develop advanced computer workstations for higher education and business use. Throughout the conversation, Jobs repeatedly used the word “art.” Intrigued, Morrow pressed him to elaborate on what he meant. Job's response to the question was something that I have been hearing expressed by many artists - this was a moment of revelation for me.
Before we dive into what Jobs said, it’s important to understand how artists think about art to appreciate the link between their perspective and Jobs' philosophy.
Paul Klee’s Artistic Philosophy
There are endless examples I can provide, but for the sake of our discussion, I chose to include Paul Klee, an artist who eloquently captures the essence of art and its role, particularly in the context of Apple. Klee once said, “Art does not reproduce the visible but makes visible.”
When Klee talks of the visible, he seems to be using it in two senses: what is commonly seen—our every day, surface-level perception—and what can be seen through deeper, intuitive insight. Thus, art does not reproduce what is visible or what is commonly seen. Instead, it makes visible what is NOT commonly seen, but still, the artist has intuited in his or her own uncommon seeing.
Klee’s perspective underscores that art is not just about copying reality, but about creating something new. Artists are not simply recorders of the visible world, but active participants in making new realities visible. This process of making the invisible visible reveals deeper truths and insights that aren’t immediately apparent in everyday life.
Klee’s concept aligns very well with Apple's philosophy. I would argue that Apple wasn’t about creating needs; they focused on intuiting existing unconscious needs and then providing creative solutions for them. They made the invisible need visible and, more importantly, helped us be a little bit better and make our lives easier.
Steve Jobs’ Vision of Artistry
Now, let’s go back to Jobs.
In the interview, Jobs articulated a profound connection between artistry and technology [Quotes are provided as Steve Jobs said it]. He said,
“We generally use the word artist to mean visual artists of some sort, but I actually think there’s really very little distinction between an artist of that type and a scientist or engineer of the highest caliber, and I’ve never had a distinction in my mind between those two types of people. They’ve just to me been people that pursue different paths but basically kind of headed to the same goal, which is to express some something of the of what they perceive to be the truth around them so that others can see it and can benefit by it.”
How refreshing it is to think about technological innovation in this way—as an outcome of finding truth in the world. This perspective encourages us to see both artists and technologists as seekers of truth, each revealing deeper insights through their unique approaches.
When asked if the artistry is in the elegance of the solution—a point often raised when people talk to me about artistry in their work (this might be more linked to craftsmanship, which I wrote about in an earlier post)—Jobs replied,
“No. I think the artistry is in having an insight into what one sees around them, generally putting things together in ways that no one else has, and finding a way to express that to other people who don’t have that same insight so that they can get some of the advantage of that insight that makes them feel a certain way or allows them to do a certain thing.”
How incredible is this definition? Jobs essentially encapsulates the essence of true artistry: gaining a profound insight, creating something unique, sharing it with the world, and providing value to others.
Isn’t that what art is fundamentally about? It is the process of observing the world, seeing it differently, creating from that unique perspective, and enriching the lives of others through this shared vision. Jobs’ perspective beautifully bridges the gap between technology and art, showing us that, at their core, both seek to make the invisible visible and enhance our collective experience.
The Macintosh Team’s Creative Expression
Jobs goes on to reemphasize this point as it pertained to the Mac.
He explained, “I think that certainly a lot of the folks on the Macintosh team were capable of doing that and did exactly…in the 70s and 80s, the best people in computers would have normally been poets and writers and musicians… They went into computers because it was so compelling, fresh, and new, and it was a new medium of expression of their creative talents. The feelings and the passion that people put into it were completely indistinguishable from a poet or a painter…People put a lot of their expression about how they felt about other people or the rest of humanity in general into their work that other people would use. A lot of people put a lot of love into these products and a lot of expression of their appreciation into these things it’s hard to explain.”
Artistry in business, as articulated by both Paul Klee and Steve Jobs, goes beyond creating elegant solutions or merely reproducing what is visible. It involves observing the world carefully, gaining profound insights, seeing the world differently, and expressing these unique perspectives in ways that others can understand and benefit from. Many business leaders try to learn from Jobs about marketing, operations, or design, but Jobs understood it differently—for him, it was about artistry. That is why it is so hard to achieve; it takes time, patience, commitment, and an understanding that it is not about technology; it is about people.
As Jobs emphasized, true artistry lies in combining elements in innovative ways and communicating these combinations to provide value. In my work environment—the technology and business worlds—it is about individuals infusing their creative talents, emotions, and love, not just their technical skills, into the products and services they create. It is not just about making products that sell.
Artistry, therefore, is about making the invisible visible, revealing deeper truths, and enriching the human experience through thoughtful, innovative expression. For a painter, this might be in a painting; for a technologist who approaches their work with an artist’s mindset, it might be in a computer.
No matter the industry nor the product, Jobs reminds us—something we preach very often—that art is not an object but a mindset. As we move forward in the tech-driven world, perhaps the true measure of innovation will be our ability to blend art with technology, making the invisible visible.
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This is so cool, encouraging and inspiring. Especially in the world that just chases money. Thank you so much for sharing🙏