Leading Apple With Steve Jobs Management Lessons From a Controversial Genius

Jay Elliot was hired personally by Steve Jobs just in time to accompany Steve on an historic visit to Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, the visit that changed the course of computing. As Senior Vice President, Jay served as Steve's right-hand man and trouble-shooter, overseeing all corporate operations and business planning, as well as software development and HR. This book is about how Steve managed and motivated his people-and what every manager can learn from Jobs about motivating people to do the best work of their lives-an experience described by many who worked for him. Steve Jobs used "Pirates! Not the Navy" as a rallying cry-a metaphor to "Think Different". At Apple in the days of developing the Macintosh, it became the de-facto mantra of the Macintosh group-a four-word mission statement. It expresses the heart of Apple and Steve. Those lessons form the backbone of this book. People are eager for practical examples from Apple and Steve Jobs that show how his principles can be used in the everyday worlds of business and managing people. "Managing With Steve Jobs" will answer those requests. Overall, this book is a guide to shifting a person's paradigm to become Steve Jobs-like, to assemble and lead innovative teams. For example, one of the most critical requirements is finding the right talent. Steve had a unique way of interviewing that was less an interview than a conversation-describing where he wanted to go and waiting to see if the other person would jump in to suggest how he or she could make a contribution to that effort. Also, he wasn't much interested in a person's resume as in what he thought they would be able to bring to the team: will this person be so committed to the vision that they will provide their own motivation? Steve wanted people who would have allegiance to the captain and to his/her shipmates, the ability to come up with original, unique ways to approach a problem, and be self-guided with a strong sense of direction.

Preface Why I Wrote This Book ix

Chronology xiii

1 A Ding in the Universe: Everything Starts with an Inspiring Vision 1

2 Steve’s Business Philosophy and Values 15

3 People Who Know More than You: Choosing and Leading Your Lieutenants 29

4 Steve’s Secrets for Selecting Great People 41

5 Unusual Interviewing Techniques 53

6 To Protect Innovation, Create a Company within a Company 61

7 “No More Crap Products”: Creating Excellence 73

8 More on Product Strategy: Design Is How It Works 85

9 Entrepreneurial Confidence and High Standards 93

10 Employee Owners: Rewarding the Product Stakeholders 99

11 The Apple Workplace: Fostering Creativity 107

12 When Selling Becomes More Important than the Product 121

13 “And One More Thing”: Looking into the Distance 139

14 Flowers at His Doorstep: The Heritage of Steve Jobs 149

Notes 161

Acknowledgments 165

Index 167