MIT Student’s Simple Question That Silenced Steve Jobs for 18 Seconds
By Benzinga

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs answered a simple question from a student after being silent for 18 seconds.

This was a moment that showed Jobs’ habit of thinking deeply before speaking.

Jobs’ 18 Second Silence Showing Deep Thinking

The scene, which has recently been re-examined on social media, took place during a Q&A session at MIT Sloan School of Business in 1992.

An audience member asked Jobs, who was the CEO of Next at the time, “What is the most important thing you have learned from Apple that you are currently practicing at Next?”

Jobs said, “That’s a good question,” after staying silent, and explained his management philosophy briefly and clearly.

“I now look at people from a longer-term perspective.”

As confirmed in the video, there was a time of 18 seconds between the question and the answer.

Lessons on patience and building a sustainable team

“This isn’t something I learned firsthand when I was at Apple, but it’s something I learned from my experience at Apple. I now look at people from a longer-term perspective,” Jobs said.

He stressed that it is important to help team members “learn through mistakes,” not “go right to fix it” as the first reaction when something goes wrong.

The reason, he explained, is that the goal is to create a sustainable team that “can be together for the next 10 years, not just one year.”

Link Between Next Days and Apple’s Return Time

These answers are in line with his situation at the time. Jobs founded Next after leaving Apple in 1985, returned to Cupertino when Apple acquired Next in 1997, and later became CEO.

According to a Inc.com report, this was not the first time Jobs was silent before the question.

When an audience member said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” at the 1997 Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, Jobs remained silent for a moment and calmly answered the importance of focusing on customer experience.

This is often cited as a moment that symbolizes his leadership in the era of his return.

Jobs’ long-term perspective on talent development also has something in common with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.

Bezos is known for looking at decision-making from a long-term perspective, from “minimizing regret” to combining “sticky stubbornness” and flexibility.