The Mac was Jef Raskin's baby, Steve tried to kill it multiple times because it inteferred with his pet project of Apple III and Lisa. Eventually with both project a proven failure in the market, he jumped ship to Raskin and took over the Mac project.
NeXT was a dismal failure. The product was too expensive for its market, it sold little in its market. They made NeXTStep, true, but due to a bit of Gassee's inability to market it properly, BeOS lost out despite how many internally wanted it instead.
All that said though, no, I don't think it's Steve's luck that's gotten him to where he is. His ability I believe is in leadership, vision, and strategy. Having seen him in action, I think his greatest asset is his ability to effect others. He makes them better, he knows what he wants immediately and has the strategic vision to see it through. His ability to get certain products right has propelled him higher and higher into upper management. Now that he's the CEO his vision only elevates and pushes more product out the door. The chicken and egg problem for others emulate though is: how do you get into a position of power, or, how do you push out people to push out the right product?
As for Marine boot camp and the subsequent combat tours, I can tell you without a doubt FMJ, nor any other movie, even come close.
Depends on what you consider success. No NeXT, no WorldWideWeb by Tim Berners-Lee. I consider changing the world forever to be a success condition.
due to a bit of Gassee's inability to market it properly, BeOS lost out despite how many internally wanted it instead.
Be != NeXT
Raskin's Mac was wildly different from Jobs's Mac. Raskin's idea for the Macintosh was a sub-$1000 consumer appliance. No GUI. It's really only because of the cross-pollination between the Lisa and Mac teams that the Mac became as revolutionary as it did.
I hear you. This is why I prefer to talk with veterans rather than actually becoming one. :)
"... A reality distortion field. In his presence,
reality is malleable. He can convince anyone
of practically anything. It wears off when he's
not around, but it makes it hard to have realistic
schedules. And there's a couple of other things
you should know about working with Steve. ...
Well, just because he tells you that something is
awful or great, it doesn't necessarily mean he'll
feel that way tomorrow. You have to low-pass
filter his input. And then, he's really funny about
ideas. If you tell him a new idea, he'll usually tell
you that he thinks it's stupid. But then, if he actually
likes it, exactly one week later, he'll come back to
you and propose your idea to you, as if he thought
of it. ..." [0]
Andy Hertzfeld has probably the best description of how Jobs does what he does best. http://folklore.org has the best articles describing the inner workings of Apple from the blokes who worked there.
[0] http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story... and here http://folklore.org/ProjectView.py?name=Macintosh&topic=...
But if Steve's secret is being in the right place at the right time, he sure has a knack for finding that place. First the Apple II. Then the Mac. Then NeXT (which, once rebranded as "Mac OS X", finally became a huge success). Pixar. The iPod. The iPhone.
I think Steve Jobs is more than merely lucky.
And the fact that so many of the engineers who worked for Jobs are famous is evidence of his management skill. I've heard it said that the job of a good manager is to hire the best engineers and then get out of their way. You have to relentlessly clear all obstacles from their path, give them whatever they need to do great work (which includes holding them to high standards) and constantly promote them and their work, both inside and outside the company.
I'm not saying that Steve Jobs is necessarily the perfect manager. I often wonder whether I would enjoy working for him. (Just as, when I watch a movie like Full Metal Jacket, I wonder whether I would survive basic training.) But you can't argue with the results: people who work with Steve Jobs become geek legends. Woz. Raskin. Hertzfeld. Atkinson. Ive.