Majora II

There were many critics of my posting called “As Good As Steve.” They sought to refute my contention that Majora is as good as Steve. The criticism misses the most important implication of her speech; or, perhaps more accurately, I did not adequately highlight the implication. But first, let’s set the record straight for the people who questioned my sanity.

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First, “looking down at her notes.” No doubt there are times when she is looking down and reading her notes. However, I don’t think this issue is as pronounced as detractors think. In the scene where she dissects Al Gore, you can see that the stage is above the audience. Also, the camera is above her elevation. Hence, she would appear to be looking down at notes when she may in fact be making eye contact with the audience.

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Second, “rushing.” She had an eighteen-minute limit. It’s true that she could have timed her presentation better, but this sort of time constraint for mere mortals is not something Steve ever faces.

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Third, Steve has infinitely more resources and momentum than Majora. (“Steve Jobs” gets 17,000,000 hits in Google. “Majora Carter” gets 27,000. Incidentally, “Guy Kawasaki” gets 2,950,000, so I’m .176470588 of Steve...which sounds about right.)

• Steve is the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Steve is also the largest shareholder of Disney via his Pixar position.

• Steve has been a highly visible figure for twenty five years. He’s worth billions and makes millions every year. Many of us have heard him speak many times.

• Every product manager of every product Steve demos has worked on her part of the demo for a month as if her career depended on it. And she’d be right.

• Steve has hundreds of employees and billions of dollars of R & D creating the products that he demos for a few minutes.

• In any given Steve audience, the room is filled with Macintosh fanatics. Worst case, if a member of the audience uses Windows, he probably wishes he had a Macintosh and probably does have an iPod. Absolutely worst case, everyone in every audience has heard of him.

• I would bet that approximately twenty-five people help Steve with his keynotes including product managers, VPs, PR flacks, IT geeks, and CEOs of partners and vendors. He can specify the type of stool he sits on and the brand of bottled water that he’s drinking, and they will magically appear. (On the other hand, Madonna gets a new toilet for every concert.)

• When Steve speaks, it’s “his” keynote. No conference manager has set a time limit. No one is signalling him to get off stage. No one’s not going to invite him back next year. And he has unlimited access to the stage for at least twenty-four hours to set up and rehearse.

Up to this point, there are many CEOs who have these sorts of advantages, and yet they aren’t a Steve Jobs any more than Dan Quayle is a John F. Kennedy. Thus, we must acknowledge that Steve is an enormously talented speaker even without these advantages. Clearly, if you take an enormously talented person with enormous momentum, then you get the one and only Steve Jobs.

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Fourth, let’s examine Majora Carter. She does have a MacArthur fellowship, and that smokes, but how many MacArthur fellows are brand names? She has nowhere near the resources, momentum, or Fortune 500 podium. She probably can’t even get a Countryman E6i that’s black. :-)

Some inside facts about her presentation:

• She rehearsed it thirty times.

• As I mentioned, there was an eighteen minute time limit.

• There was a big LED counter in the back of the room to show the time remaining.

• There was no dry run on stage before her performance.

• Her entourage is her fiance.

Despite all these differences, 24% of the poll takers (and I) think that she’s as good or better than Steve Jobs. The fact that anyone, much less 24% of the poll takers, would think she’s as good as Steve is remarkable.

Perhaps we should do Wages of Wins type of analysis (be sure to check out Malcolm Gladwell’s review of the book). If we adjust for factors like R & D budget, marketing budget, number of minions, we might have to conclude that Majora is better, not just as good as, Steve Jobs.

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Now I ask you to ignore whether you think that she’s as good or better than Steve Jobs because this debate, while fun and spirited, is moot. The valuable lesson and key takeaway is this:

Her performance gives hope to the hopeful.

Not just her to “customers” in the Bronx. Not just to every woman warrior, black or white. Not just to every social activist. But to anyone who simply wants to be a great communicator because now “the rest of us” have a data point that proves that...

• You don’t need to be a billionaire, knight, ex-VP of the US, or CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

• You don’t need to be supported by billions of dollars of research and marketing and dozens of minions.

• You don’t need to be white, male, and old.

But you do need a great cause and great passion, though. And these factors are under your control.

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Comments

[henk]

Steve might have a lot more resources, but his job on stage is the more complicated. He's not just making a speech, he's presenting prototype stuff (gadgets and software that's just come out of beta).

There's at least three different gadgets and then there's that "one more thing" that he has to present. And everyone knows, when presenting something, everything that can go wrong, goes wrong.

Don't get me wrong, I think that Majora is a wonderful speaker, but if Steve had to take a 18 minutes speech with a few Powerpoint slides and rehearsed it 30 times, he'd be better.

But then again, Majora has at least 20 years to practice. By the time she's 50, she'll be magnificent.

[Raghavan Mysore India]

Whether Steve is good or Majora is better than Steve is beside the point. The way you have compared and contrasted - marvelous. Hats off to you. You have your unique style - create a discussion and have your say. I am tempted to rate you better than both Steve and Majora!!!

[waveydavey]

I get it... what a great way to generate comments. The king of the wind up blog posts. This surely must go down in history as one of the most manipulative blog posts of all time.

Stage one: Make an outlandish claim, allow comments and a vote.

Stage 2: Completely change your position whilst maintaining you were rigth all along, from "As good as steve Jobs?" to "Take away Steve's support, standing and success, his role in a fortune 500 co, his voice, both arms and legs, eyeballs, shoes and dental work, move 20 years into the future, change the colour of his skin, his age and sex and she's just as good as him - you see 20% of the readership of my blog agree with me, I was right all along". Unless what you are saying is that you forgive her (major/minor) faults because she is "poor", black and female? How patronising!

P.S. I think you mean to say "she gives hope to the hopeless"? Or perhaps not.

[Rimantas]

"If we adjust for factors like R & D budget, marketing budget, number of minions, we might have to conclude that Majora is better, not just as good as, Steve Jobs."

This "ajustment" is wrong.

If we adjust for factors of x, y and z which influenced creation of Creative Zen Micro, we might have to conclude that it is better, not just as good as Apple iPod.

[James Lillis]

This is a really strange discussion. I think all Guy was saying was "I appreciated this presentation as much as a Steve Jobs presentation". Just like saying you enjoy the Strokes as much as the Chemical Brothers - an opinion call on an opinion matter. I think to go to the 'rule book' of presentation and evaluate a speech is pointless - the best presentations break the rules! "Thou Shalt Not Look at Notes" - which gospel is that in?

[Dave Notik]

Thanks for turning me onto this, Guy.

Majora's heart and soul came through in this presentation, and it was obvious she cared very much about something that affected far more people than herself. I doubt Steve is as impassioned. I truly believe that if more people were passionate about what they did, and its affect on others, rather than on what it let them themselves do, this world would be a far greater place. Don't just "make meaning" as you say in your wonderful book, perhaps really "be meaning", literally embody meaningful values and principles as you go about starting (and certainly running) whatever. There are too many people out solely to get rich, gain stature, or for some other self-aggrandizing reason.

The fact that Majora cared so much about what she was doing rang through in her speech, and surely affected everyone that was there. The fact that her speech was well-informed and clear, and that she demonstrated she had a tangible plan, helps translate that into actual participants and contributors. If I were further along with what I was doing and financially able, I'd contact her today to find out how I could help.

Heck, I'm only just starting, and I'm struggling, but from the get-go I've strived to embody meaning. Woven (www.wovenlabs.com) is dedicated to helping people work together, regardless of where they are in the world. I'm using my God-given strengths to work on a web-based system that helps people collaborate. And since money fuels the world in which we live, I have a strong business model, tapping into the major outsourcing boom, focusing first on helping businesses with (globally) distributed software development. There's plenty money to be made, but oh so many things we each need to be doing for others, for the world. And I think there's plenty money to be put to a good cause, especially one with the promise of financial return. Investors wanted.

I believe we're here on this earth, blessed with the ability to affect so much, for a reason. Let's all embody meaning as we go about whatever we're starting.

[weisheng]

I'm nowhere near qualified to comment on Majora but having just watched the clip of her at TED, I personally think she's not as polished or compelling a speaker, irregardless of resources, as Steve Jobs. She seems to read off her notes far too often and her diction is quite monotonous. If you watch Steve's keynotes, rather than dictating he's actually reaching out to his audience, trying to convince each individual listening to him on a personal level. I just feel Majora isn't that compelling a speaker.

In fact, I've watched some of your speeches and find you more interesting than Majora. Nevertheless, one cannot argue against the fact that she's a good speaker. Just not as good as Jobs or even you (yet), imo.

[not_again]

I think it's somewhat disingenuous to title an article "Better Than Steve Jobs", put up a poll, have the poll show around 20% agree with you, and then declare your view the winner and say the debate is moot.

Guy, I don't really understand why you want to die on this hill, but it's your blog. In my view, changing the criteria and continuing to flog this item just acts to destroy your credibility.

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Not again,

The title of the original posting was "As Good As Steve." How could you not even get that right?

Try again?

Guy

[Adrian]

The highest compliment to Majora came from you Guy when you said,
"I would love it if my daughter would grow up to be a warrior like Majora. Heck, I would love if my sons grew up to be a warrior like Majora. At the very least, anyone with a daughter should watch this video."
I second that statement, and will agree she touched some buttons in a way that Mr. Jobs could not

[Stephen Labuda]

Guy,

Just wanted to thank you for introducing me to Majora and her organization. I have become a fan of your blog, enjoyed our telephone conversation a few weeks ago and really, really appreciate you directing me to a great source of inspiration, like Majora.

Best regards,

Stephen

[Josh Maher]

The TED talks came out just as I was preparing for a presentation of my own. I feverishly reviewed all of them to get some tips from these very experienced speakers. To my delight I watched Majora before all the hype. I took away many tips that have all been summed up by Guy and was not lucky enough to have some of Guy's observations handy.

I completely agree with Guy's observations though. I have since re-watched Majora's presentation and see the value in her style and actions.

Thanks for addressing this Guy!!

[Brett Astor]

Guy - I get it. I don't think there is anything more you can say to make your point more clearly. Some people are repulsed by authenticity because it scares them. When we're fearful, it's more comfortable to critque than to allow ourselves to be touched or inspired.

Thank you again for sharing these Majora posts. I hope Majora hears the gratitude as well. She is our teacher.

[Jeff]

Guy:

I think you might be missing the point on what those of us who do not think of Majora as a good speakers are trying to say.

We're not challenging the fact that she has a good and important message. We're also not challenging the fact that she has less resources available to her than someone like Steve (or has constraints on her that Steve will never experience again). And we're not saying that a conference like TED wouldn't be stressful, even for the experienced.

What I, and I believe others, are saying is that at this point in time, Majora simply is not as good of a speaker as Steve. Regardless of whether she got the water of her choice or the microphone to match her skin tone, her ability to communicate is not as developed as Steve's.

Because to be honest, was Majora the kind of communicative wunderkind that she's being made out to be, she would've found a way to present her material within the 18 minute limit without rushing. She would've found a way to make her point in SPITE of the time limit.

My largest problem, however, was not with Majora... but with the endorsement.

(Typepad won't let me do HTML, so I have no choice but to post the link in this manner. My apologies. http://negotiation.blogspot.com/2006/07/comparisons-are-tricky.html)

[bobm]

During lunch today, I watched her talk on my ipod. What transcends the details of her delivery (reading notes, etc.) was the effectiveness of the story itself. The real gift, in addition to her presentation, was how well she weaved her life's story and situation in parallel with that of her South Bronx neighborhood and then to the incredible positive energy that she and others have applied to make things better. The gut-level effectiveness of the combination of the story and her style are indeed the complete package.

As she said: "Please don't waste me!" A powerful statement from someone who means it.

[Mike Johnston]

I'll second that rant. Go Majora! Where can I get one of those green roofs?