So what was the real reason for his hesitancy in taking over at Apple? For all of his willfulness and insatiable desire to control things, Jobs was indecisive and reticent when he felt unsure about something. He craved perfection, and he was not always good at figuring out how to settle for something less. He did not like to wrestle with complexity or make accommodations. This was true in products, design, and furnishings for the house. It was also true when it came to personal commitments. If he knew for sure a course of action was right, he was unstoppable. But if he had doubts, he sometimes withdrew, preferring not to think about things that did not perfectly suit him. As happened when Amelio had asked him what role he wanted to play, Jobs would go silent and ignore situations that made him uncomfortable.

那么，他在接管蘋果這件事情上猶豫不決的真正原因是什么？盡管他非常固執(zhí)并且永遠(yuǎn)有強烈的控制欲，但是當(dāng)他對某件事感覺不確定時，他也會遲疑并有所保留。他苛求完美，并不太善于退而求其次或適應(yīng)可行的方案。他不喜歡復(fù)雜的東西，無論是產(chǎn)品、設(shè)計還是房子裝修，都是如此。在涉及個人承諾時也是這樣。如果他明確知道一個行動是正確的，他將是不可阻擋的。但如果他有懷疑，他有時會退縮，傾向于不去想那些并非完全適合他的事情。就像當(dāng)初阿梅里奧問他想擔(dān)任什么角色時那樣，喬布斯會一言不發(fā)，對那些讓他不舒服的狀況視而不見。

This attitude arose partly out of his tendency to see the world in binary terms. A person was either a hero or a bozo, a product was either amazing or shit. But he could be stymied by things that were more complex, shaded, or nuanced: getting married, buying the right sofa, committing to run a company. In addition, he didn’t want to be set up for failure. “I think Steve wanted to assess whether Apple could be saved,” Fred Anderson said.

這種處事態(tài)度的部分源起，是他傾向于認(rèn)為所有事都是非黑即白的。一個人不是英雄就是蠢材，一個產(chǎn)品不是奇跡就是垃圾。但是他可能會對更加復(fù)雜、不清晰或差別不明顯的事情表現(xiàn)出困惑：結(jié)婚、買沙發(fā)，抑或是承諾經(jīng)營一家公司。另外，他也不想做注定失敗的事情。“我想史蒂夫是想評估一下蘋果是否可以被挽救。”弗雷德·安德森說。

Woolard and the board decided to go ahead and fire Amelio, even though Jobs was not yet forthcoming about how active a role he would play as an advisor. Amelio was about to go on a picnic with his wife, children, and grandchildren when the call came from Woolard in London. “We need you to step down,” Woolard said simply. Amelio replied that it was not a good time to discuss this, but Woolard felt he had to persist. “We are going to announce that we’re replacing you.”

伍拉德和董事會決定繼續(xù)向前推進(jìn)，解雇阿梅里奧，即使喬布斯還不確定作為“顧問”他將承擔(dān)多少職責(zé)。當(dāng)伍拉德從倫敦打電話時，阿梅里奧正要跟妻兒以及孫子孫女們一起去野餐。“我們需要你下臺。”伍拉德簡單地說。阿梅里奧回答說現(xiàn)在不是討論這個的合適時間，但是伍拉德決定他必須要堅持。“我們將會宣布要把你換掉。”