Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were interviewed at the D:All Things Digital conference last week.  The press made a big deal about the two rivals appearing on stage together. The Wall Street Journal, which sponsored the conference, provided an abridged transcript of the interview, highlighting the two reminiscing about the early days of the computer industry and their pivotal roles.

What caught my eye was this quote from Steve Jobs, reflecting on Apple’s position relative to Microsoft’s in 1997:

"Apple was in very serious trouble. And what was really clear was that if the game was a zero-sum game where if Apple wanted to win, Microsoft had to lose, then Apple was going to lose. But Apple didn’t have to beat Microsoft. Apple had to remember who Apple was…"

This is abundance thinking. Focus on what makes you great. If you do that, the competition fades away pretty quickly. As much as this applies to businesses, it also applies to people.

In addition to reading the transcript, you can see video clips from the Jobs-Gates interview here.  Ahhh…the wonders of today’s Internet!