Jony Ive recalls how Steve Jobs taught him to say no, especially when it hurts to do it

Late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs taught his chief designer Jony Ive not only how to say no, but to reject ideas that personally excited him. That process continues to help him to achieve a level of focus — one that he said that Jobs himself had mastered.

Ive spoke Friday at The New Yorker TechFest, where AppleInsider was in attendance. When asked about his relationship with Jobs, Ive lit up.

"Even if it's something that you think passionately about, focus means ignoring it and putting it to the side." - Jony Ive

"I had the most wonderful teacher in Steve," he said. "And I have never — I have never met anybody with his focus."

He recalled that Jobs frequently asked Ive how often he would say no. And to appease Jobs, Ive said he would say no quite a bit — but to things that he wasn't actually interested in doing.

The lesson from Jobs, Ive said, was to say no, and to say it with great sacrifice.

"The art of focus — even if it's something that you think passionately about — focus means ignoring it and putting it to the side," he said. "And often it's at real cost. And he (Jobs) was remarkable at that."

While Jobs was a master of focus, Ive admitted it is still something he struggles with to this day. He said that there have been a few occasion where he felt like he achieved that true level of focus.

"It's a little eerie," he said.

Ive did admit that Jobs could be hard on him. The New Yorker's David Remnick asked Ive if the abrasive nature of Jobs ever upset him. But Ive responded by recalling the dire situation Apple found itself in at the time — on the verge of bankruptcy, having gone through a number of leadership changes, struggling to stay alive.

"The situation," he said, "was harder than his words."

39 Comments

randominternetperson 3095 comments · 8 Years

About 7 years ago

justme12 said:

Hey Jony - you should have said no to the camera bump and the notch. Steve not only would have said no - he would have laughed that you thought they were design options.

I could probably list 100 things I would change about Apple products before those two less then trivial distractions would be considered. Jony and Steve weren't infallible, they were focused. Oftentimes that means deciding what small stuff can be not-sweated.

Avieshek 100 comments · 7 Years

Maybe, he's the right CEO, after finding a successor.

StrangeDays 12962 comments · 8 Years

justme12 said:

Hey Jony - you should have said no to the camera bump and the notch. Steve not only would have said no - he would have laughed that you thought they were design options.

Another guy who doesn't get how things work in real life. There are what we in real life call "constraints", such as the physics and physical space required for light optics in lens elements. Note that nearly every single leading smartphone camera now has a bump. And guess what? Non-OCD normal people don't give a shit.

As for trotting out Jobs ghost, congrats on using a very old, very bogus troll trope. You don't know what he would or would not have done or thought because you are a random person a rumors site with no actual personal knowledge or data relevant to anything other than spouting off personal opinions. And you know what they say about opinions and assholes.

Bacillus3 67 comments · 8 Years

Joni you should have said "no" to ApplePark trees and doorlocks.
And made for gradual progress in iPhone design - instead of 4 years of lamentation and now all sorts of complications & compromises as you didn't imagine a bezelless phone in a timely manner. You selfimage has become a blockade. You seem your own, pedantic parody

kamilton 283 comments · 11 Years

I am saying no to how quickly this thread has degraded into stupidity