PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE: Steve Jacobsen and the Art of Obsessibility
I have never known a more brilliant human being than my dear friend, the late robotics engineer and inventor Steve Jacobsen. Nor have I spoken with anyone who knew Steve that did not share my assessment of his intellect and creativity.
“I am convinced that IQ point for IQ point, Steve might well have been the most intelligent person on the planet,” said Steve’s longtime friend and collaborator Brad Bertoch, retired CEO of VentureCapital.org. Brad recounts an incident when a venture capitalist asked him about Steve. When Brad said that Steve was “the smartest guy in the room,” the VC rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, one of those guys.” Brad shook his head and said, “No, you don’t understand. Steve is truly the smartest person in any room.“ The firm made the investment.
When Steve passed away in 2016 at the age of 75, he left a dazzling legacy of innovation and creativity, including a host of one-of-a-kind inventions and a truckload of patents.
Renowned researcher and scientific leader ,John Seely Brown once told me in a private conversation that “Steve Jacobsen may well be the greatest robotics genius of all time.“
Yet for all of his brilliance and his accomplishments, for me what was most extraordinary about Steve was his capacity to inspire. His vision, leadership and example ignited unbridled passion, engagement and performance in the people who worked with him. And his creations have instilled a sense of wonder and awe in the people who experienced them.
During one of our frequent conversations, I asked Steve to name his core guiding principles for the people he chose to work with and the projects he chose to work on.
He answered with a single word of his own creation: “Obsessibility.”
I paused, waiting for him to elaborate. “ I won’t take on any projects that I can’t get obsessed with,” he said. “I can only get obsessed with things that no one else has done before. Otherwise, I would lose interest and focus. And everyone I choose to work with closely in anything meaningful must have the ability to get obsessed.”
I was honored when Steve asked me to write and direct a retrospective video about his career and legacy. The sections in italics that follow are adapted from the script of that video.
Conceived in the creative maelstrom of one of our time’s most daring imaginations. Forged in the fires of the Tunnel of Terror. Steeled by the tempering influences of engineering, science, business and art. Steve Jacobsen and his team of dynamic technologists created a dizzying array of ingenious inventions.
Into these machines, made from the elements of metal, earth and intellect, their human creators instilled the breath of life and endowed them with the power to expand human performance, including strength and endurance. To stimulate our intellects, thrill our senses and fire our imaginations.
During the course of his legendary career, Steve tallied more than 400 projects in the medical, commercial and military markets during his career. He worked with more than 80 top industry and government clients, including many of the world’s most iconic organizations.
Steve’s clients included, among many others:
The United States Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines and for the VA.
Abbott
Baxter
Bailey's
Disney & Company
Universal Studios
Ford
Pfizer
Merck
The US National Institutes of Health
Baxter
Carnegie Mellon
Raytheon
Among his many brilliant inventions are the Utah bionic arm, still widely considered one of the greatest medical device innovations of all time. The legendary Carnegie Mellon robot. The waving Bellagio Hotel fountains. The Jurassic Park theme park ride at Universal Studios. And a host of others. Steve was acknowledged by key members of the creative team for the Avengers movies as one of the primary guides for Tony Stark's exoskeleton costume.
Steve was mentored by some of the world’s greatest luminaries. He was the first employee hired by Willem Kolff, father of artificial organs, at the University of Utah. He also worked closely with prosthetics pioneer Robert Mann at MIT.
Steve put the lessons he learned from his legendary mentors to full use by creating innovative products and companies. The process of turning unformed ideas into living products and companies on time and on budget is not for the faint of heart.
“So once you have committed, you enter the Tunnel of Terror because you have to perform,” said Steve. “Because the only real asset is your reputation. So above all you have to provide creative solutions that solve the problems, and they have to be done on time."
What emerged from Steve’s Tunnel of Terror was a rich and startling kaleidoscope of animate systems that fire the imagination…Groundbreaking artificial limbs and organs... Surgical and drug administration systems, aided by tiny full-functioning cameras with the ability to travel freely inside a watch or a human brain….The waving Bellagio fountains, which together weigh in at 750,000 pounds…Lifelike robots with the capacity to learn, to play air hockey, focus intently on a moving object, and instill a sense of wonder in children of all ages…Next-generation exoskeletons that multiply the strength and stamina of their human wearers.
Steve's seemingly boundless creativity was recognized by science and technology leaders throughout the world.
According to Steve’s graduate school roommate at MIT, the late global robotics visionary and pioneer Woodie Flowers, , "Steve is not one in a thousand. He is not even one in 1 million. Maybe one in 1 billion is OK. In fact I think if you had 1 million young smart people and you took 50 years and taught them all of the codified information in Steve's head and then you lined them up and interviewed them, there is not likely to be one Steve Jacobsen in the bunch. He sees details and concepts in full. Beauty has currency with Steve. He sees it and he can create it."
In my mind, Steve is one of the most inspiring individuals I will ever encounter. May we all, like Steve, be blessed with the gift of “obsessibility.”
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