What You Can Learn From History's Greatest Innovators | Walter Isaacson | The Knowledge Project 121

What do Steve Jobs, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Jennifer Doudna all have in common? Celebrated journalist and author Walter Isaacson calls upon his years of research to explain how curiosity has always fueled creativity among history’s greatest innovators, and how each of those individuals shaped the world around them. On this episode Issacson dives deep into the curious obsessions of Jobs, da Vinci’s ability to develop a brilliant mind, Ada Lovelace and how she developed the algorithm, and how Doudna’s work with gene editing could shape the future to come.

A journalist by trade, Issacson served as the editor of Time and then chairman and CEO of CNN before eventually spending 15 years as president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, the international research institute and think tank. Isaacson has also written bestselling biographies on Jobs, da Vinci, Franklin and Albert Einstein, and in 2021 released his latest biography, The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race.

00:00 - Intro
01:27 - Why did you choose to study who you did?
02:22 - What’s your method for studying people and telling a story about them?
03:07 - Isaacson explains his editing process
03:41 - Steve Jobs and “imputing”
06:08 - What lessons can we learn from Steve Jobs?
07:58 - Where did Jobs’ intensity come from?
09:27 - How did Jobs’ perfectionism help and hurt him?
11:05 - What “wow” moments did you have while researching Jobs?
12:31 - What did you censor from Steve Jobs’ book?
13:52 - What would Steve think of remote work?
17:16 - Why do pockets of creativity burn out?
21:49 - How did Steve stay grounded to himself?
23:02 - Have we lost intellectual honesty?
26:07 - What happened at CNN and what lessons did you learn?
30:37 - On Leonardo DaVinci:
38:11 - Davinci’s Relationship with Michelangelo
41:08 - How is perfect the enemy of good?
45:40 - What surprised you the most about DaVinci through your study of him?
46:39 - Ada Lovelace
51:25 - What lessons can we observe from innovators?
52:50 - Writing about different subjects
54:51 - On Einstein
56:15 - How important are primary sources?
59:27 - How do you get information from people?
1:00:00 - What is CRSPR?
1:02:30 - What are the ethical implications of CRSPR?
1:12:02 - The great race for CRSPR
1:21:59 - How do you want your work to be remembered?

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[gcarrillomonroy]

Omg, the last part of the episode was the best! The first book I read from Isaacson was the one about Steve Jobs, and believe me, it has been inspiring me since then (personally and professionally)! Isaacson has the ability to make anything "understandable" in a very so elegant way, i.e. simple!!! Shane, thank you! Great interview!

[Jbalaji]

An excellent interview
I started reading books of Walter Isaacson just for the past 6 months and read Leonardo da Vinci, Steve Jobs, Benjamin Franklin… at present reading Innovators… after listening just ordered Code Breaker…..

In the above interview I loved the view of Walter Isaacson… intention to inspire… I wholeheartedly say that he already inspired me and my son… 🙏

With warm regards
Balaji- Sydney-Australia

[suzakico]

Well done. Once I worked at the Boston Consulting Group as consultant and learned the lessons of how to do the interview and what we may get - such was the beginning. Then, I followed up for the next 40 some years doing the same. I asked and asked with curiosity and inquisitiveness. Most of the time, things flow, people feel at ease that we can communicate in some way or other. I maintain that at the age 75 and practice it endlessly to find what this life is about what we may learn from whomever I meet. My books and my life may be made with such a principle as well. I happened to find on my own re the Mac casing with many signs of people which was shared in this video. Also, about the story of alignment of parts on PC board, I verified that story at TEC's Ohito factory in Japan where Jobs visited. - In short I feell compassion must be at the base of all of these ideas. (I sense there is a spirit of Zen in such act) I have watched only 18 min. of the video so far - Hope I come back later...when I have time.

[frankwang]

I love how Walter's books all carry a theme of the truly great innovators and how they are similar in how they think and are curious. Great interview Shane!

[DannyWadeson]

Incredible guest. Good to hear from CEOs etc but i think the best knowledge projects are with writers, psychologists and people who can talk about more than their own career.

[vnoriega]

This is a massively important episode! Thanks Shane!!

[eric.aaron.castro]

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein

[baloou]

I love your podcast and your guests! Thank you for bringing this to the world!

[hodgmoe]

he makes a great point that The creative human spirit can't be reduced to a formula. Steve retained the childhood quality of being lost in the wonder of creation. Like great architecture, it evokes an appreciation on the subconscious level. You can't necessarily describe why you like it, but you do

[frederickleung]

Walter, you are absolutely correct to state that "you have to be you", your books are no how to books" and "you have to study a lots of people". Creative people are born?

[rohan__]

Einstein his life and universe and Leonardo Da Vinci are my favourite biographies.

[JoaoVitorBRgomes]

At around 10:00 min It is really nice to know that Steve Jobs essence came from his dad. Today we average Men, fence painters, been excluded by a fraction of radical feminists who think a child doesnt need a good dad that can pass good values to their own children...

[RoslyndeMesa-ne]

You are great biography writer.I curious if you can write ordinary woman with extraordinary professional works in her life.

[Indomitablespirit]

Hey Walt talk about all the Narcissists in Aspen and how little they've changed the World for the better!

[ghnabikhan]

Hi Shane ..you're amazing ..keep up with this good stuff

[MrDMAGNUM]

Shane - you need to build 2 video courses - one based on "mental models" book as a whiteboard motion graphic and second on "Influence" 2, 0 by Robert Cialdini preferably the way you understand them...

[kishorebodha]

Hello, very interesting and inspiring. Is there a possiblity to communicate to Walter Isaacson?

[davidwilkie]

As one who was familiar with measuring grains and liquids in square and cylindrical volumetric devices, "Squaring the Circle" must have been as obvious in the world as breathing, you can imagine how easily grains and liquids are poured from one standardised container to another.

So advancing the idea of an interchangeable statistical area of incremental measurement to Newtonian Fluxion-Integral Temporal superposition Calculus in the Observable context of e-Pi-i 1-0-infinity Singularity positioning thermodynamical real-time condensation of Bose-Einsteinian 2-ness i-reflection containment, is as "obvious" as the First, Second, Zeroth, Law adaptation of Equivalence Principle to the concept of Logarithmic Time Duration Timing Holographic Principle Imagery projection-drawing Perspective.

Sciencing is not even wrong without careful training in Observation via Singularity-point Entanglement positioning "Artistically", ie with respect for Relativity in Actuality.

[cumulusterraticus]

We all are relative relatives ! So ! Stay decent !

[hodgmoe]

Steve Jobs would observe or create product features that he thought were "really cool". A lot of entrepreneurs try to do that but not many are nearly as successful in evoking that feeling in the customer. like Elon Musk, his was a focused and dedicated vision. You can't create that with a committee