Success Quote by Steve Jobs

Jobs turns failure into a feature of the brand. The line is ostensibly humble - yes, mistakes happen - but it’s also a managerial sleight of hand: it reframes error not as incompetence but as evidence you’re playing in the only arena that matters, innovation. The first sentence normalizes missteps as a tax on ambition. The second sentence is the real operating system: admit quickly, keep moving. Not apologize deeply. Not linger. Don’t let the mistake become the story.

The subtext is speed and narrative control. “Admit them quickly” sounds ethical, but it’s also tactical: own the problem before the market, the press, or your rivals define it for you. Then “get on with improving your other innovations” shifts attention away from the blemish toward the next product, the next reveal, the next cycle of desire. Mistakes are contained, then eclipsed by momentum.

Context matters because Jobs led in a culture obsessed with perfection - minimalist design, frictionless experiences, the myth of the visionary who “just knows.” That mythology doesn’t leave much room for ordinary trial-and-error. So he supplies a sanctioned script for failure that protects the aura: errors are allowed, but only if they’re promptly metabolized into iteration. It’s a philosophy that fits Silicon Valley’s move-fast logic, and it doubles as leadership advice: decisiveness beats purity. You can be wrong; you just can’t be slow, defensive, or publicly confused.