Shark Tank judge reveals 'signal and noise' technique that Steve Jobs taught him to use every day for success
Topics: Steve Jobs, Apple
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Roy Rochlin/Getty
Topics: Steve Jobs, Apple
A Shark Tank judge and former employee of Steve Jobs has detailed the 'signal and noise' technique that the Apple co-founder taught him to use for a successful career.
Having founded the tech company in 1976 alongside Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Jobs went on to lead one of the most recognisable brands on the planet thanks to the release of the first-ever iPhone in 2007.
Many worked alongside Jobs before his death in 2011, aged 56, including Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary, who worked under Jobs to bring Mac into schools across the country.
And while O'Leary ran The Learning Company, a US educational software company, Jobs taught the 71-year-old all about 'signal and noise'.
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In a piece for Business Insider, O'Leary explained: "He [Jobs] had this concept of signal and noise. He believed that you needed to do three things, and you had to get them done every day.
"You need a ratio of at least 70% signal, which are the three things, and the 30% can be noise, whatever is going to stop you from getting the three things done."
O'Leary noted there's 'no holiday' for those in business, though there's also 'no workday', according to the Shark Tank judge.
He explained regarding Jobs' advice: "It's what you want to do with your time. So I pick three things I want to get done that day, and I don't let anything get in the way until those three things are done."
One thing we've all learnt about Jobs since his premature death is the 'beer test' interview technique.
While deciding on candidates, Jobs asked them to take a walk and even enjoy a beer with him, in the hope of helping them loosen up while he learned more about them.
So, rather than grilling potential employees in a stuffy office, Jobs decided to make things a lot less formal.
When Jobs got interviewees down the local boozer, he would reportedly ask them questions such as: “When was the last time you accomplished something?”
And a simpler and more talkative: “What did you do last summer?”
The aim of such an unusual interview technique, you ask? Well, to essentially find the very best of the best, the 'A-Players' as the Apple co-founder once put it.
"I found that when you get enough A-players together, when you go through the incredible job of finding these A-players, they really like working with each other," he previously explained.