Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn't really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while.

Steve Jobs made this remark while reflecting on how innovation at Apple often came from synthesizing existing ideas rather than inventing from nothing. In interviews from the mid-1990s, as he was leading NeXT and advising Pixar (before returning to Apple in 1997), Jobs frequently emphasized “taste,” observation, and the ability to draw connections across disciplines—technology, design, typography, and the liberal arts. The comment fits his broader narrative about learning from diverse experiences (including his interest in calligraphy and design) and then recombining insights into products that feel inevitable in hindsight.

The quote argues that creativity is fundamentally combinatorial: it arises from noticing relationships among existing things and arranging them in a new, useful way. Jobs also highlights a psychological dimension—creative people may feel “guilty” because their breakthrough can feel like recognition rather than laborious invention. The line “It seemed obvious…after a while” points to hindsight bias: once a connection is made, it appears self-evident, masking the perceptual skill and breadth of experience required to see it first. The statement elevates curiosity and cross-domain exposure as prerequisites for innovation.