A reality distortion field for 2012: a lesson learned from Steve Jobs.

• Author: Gochnour, Natalie
• Position: Economic Insight

I love the start of a new year. My mood turns decidedly positive as my Christmas lights are taken down, cards are recycled and tree is turned into compost. I begin the mental shift from ending a year to beginning a year, and everything gets better for me. It's a time for reflection, refinement and renewal, and I soak it in like a warm sun on a winter day.

Much of my inspiration for a new year comes from reading great books, and I found a winner in Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. Isaacson tells the story of Jobs' inventiveness, creativity, intensity and flaws. There is much to learn.

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Jobs was driven to "make a dent in the universe" as he called it, and that's exactly what he did. By the time he died on October 5, 2011, he revolutionized six industries--personal computing, digital publishing, animated movies, music, phones and tablet computing. His economic legacy in my lifetime is without peer; we would all do well to replicate his magic, in our own personal way.

Part of this magic came from what Isaacson describes as a "reality distortion field" a term drawn from Star Trek to describe the ability of aliens to create a new world through sheer mental force. Jobs possessed and shared an ability to bend any reality to serve the purposes of his profound ideas. Expressed through his charisma, willpower, rhetoric and actions, Jobs willfully defied reality in order to invent the future he thought was best--a mouse, no cursor keys, a graphical user interface, and products like the iMac, iPod, iTunes, iPhone, iPad and so on.

As we begin 2012, let's take the time to imagine the power of a reality distortion field. We can make Utah not what it is, but what it should be. I'm fond of the saying that the future is not a gift, but an achievement ... Steve Jobs is a modern day example of this truism. We have the power to achieve greatness for our communities and ourselves.

Just think of what would become of our state if we put a good old reality distortion field to work.

* We could end...