( H T T P: / / W W W . F AST CO MPANY .

CO M/ )
STEVE JOBS GAVE LITTLE HEED TO
PRECONCEPTIONS ABOUT WHAT COULD AND
COULD NOT BE DONE. SHOULD WE ALL FOLLOW
THAT EXAMPLE?
Reading "Steve Jobs":
The Upside Of
Unreasonable
Demands
[Steve Jobs (//www.fastcompany.com/person/steve-
jobs) is the most consequential figure in the history of
design. So Ive been taking it slow with Walter Isaacson
(//www.fastcompany.com/person/walter-isaacson)s
definitive biography of the man, hoping for insights into
how Jobss personality, timing, and influences
managed to produce so much innovation--and what
the rest of us might learn from his example. I wanted to
share those thoughts with you, in a regular series. I
hope you enjoy, and, if youre reading the book as well,
I hope youll add your own thoughts in the comments
below.--Ed.]
Steve Jobs was an exceptionally unreasonable man. In
the first 100 pages or so of Isaacsons book, you hear
constantly how he cajoled, swindled, and browbeat
those around him into doing what he wanted. Mostly, it
was the latter: If Jobs wasnt crying about getting his
way, he was usually making those around him cower in
fear--and his tirades felt particularly acute because he
had a way of spotting personal weaknesses, and calling
them out to devastating effect.
Its a testament to his vision and
other virtues
MOST MANAGERS RISE
IN THE RANKS BY BEING
ADEPT AT ACCEPTING
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/mona-
simpsons-eulogy-for-steve-jobs.html?
_r=1&pagewanted=all) that so many around him
continued working for him--and even loved him,
despite all those failings. But reading the book, you
often get the feeling that so much of what Jobs
accomplished was, at least partly, because his
management style was so awful. Heres a telling quote
from the book, on p. 122:
One day Jobs barged into the cubicle of one of the
Atkinsons engineers and uttered his usual "This is
shit." As Atkinson recalled, "The guy said, 'No its
not, its actually the best way,' and he explained
to Steve the engineering trade-offs hed made."
Jobs backed down. Atkinson taught his team to
put Jobss words through a translator. "We
learned to interpret 'This is shit to actually be a
question that means, 'Tell me why this is the best
way to do it.' But the story had a coda, which
Atkinson also found instructive. Eventually the
engineer found an even better way to perform
the function that Jobs had criticized. "He did it
better because Steve had challenged him," said
Atkinson, "which shows you can push back on
him but should also listen, for hes usually right."
This struck me for a couple of reasons. For one, I think
that most companies dont create many products of
note because they lack this basic attitude of always
attempting things they dont know they can pull off.
Most companies are managed in a way that keeps
them producing what they already know how to
produce. They play it safe.
TRADE-OFFS.
Thats simply how most managers are taught: The ideal
line manager in a typical company oversees a process
that is, first and foremost, predictable. You rise in the
ranks by being a superstar at accepting trade-offs, and
having the trade-offs youve made accepted as the best
practice. Put another way, most companies encourage
their employees to simply do what theyve always
done--that makes investors happy, and it keeps your
employees content in jobs they know they can do. But
If there was one thing that Steve Jobs was known for, it
was asking people to do ridiculous things that everyone
around him said were impossible.
Isaacson continues:
Jobs prickly behavior was partly driven by his
perfectionism and his impatience with those who
made compromises in order to get a product out
on time and on budget. "He could not make trade-
offs well," said Atkinson. "If someone didnt care to
make their product perfect, they were a bozo." At
the West Coast Computer Faire in April 1981, for
example, Adam Osborne released the first truly
portable personal computer. It was not great--it
had a five-inch screen and not much memory--but
it worked well enough. As Osborne famously
declared, "Adequacy is sufficient. All else is
superfluous." Jobs found that approach to be
morally appalling, and he spent days making fun
of Osborne. "This guy just doesnt get it," Jobs
repeatedly railed as he wandered the Apple
corridors. "Hes not making art, hes making shit."
You begin to get the sense that Jobs was the
conscience of the people around him--think about that
engineer who later found an even better solution,
simply because Jobs told him, at some point, "This is
shit."
To be fair, Jobs could have accomplished this without
being such a jerk. Moreover, not everyone has a reserve
of untapped genius inside of them, as that engineer
did. I could berate a class of 8th-grade science
students all day, and they still wouldnt produce the
Theory of Relativity. But theres a distinction to be made
between the demands one places on average talent
and the demands you place on exceptional talent. The
latter needs to be pushed, because exceptionally
talented people can unwittingly settle on what comes
easy to them. (Just think of professional endurance
athletes: Its often said that theres no talent gap
between winners and losers; rather, its the mental trait
of not accepting your limits that decides who wins as
this superb episode of Radiolab points out
(http://www.radiolab.org/2010/apr/05/limits-of-the-
body/).) Jobs knew that: He always thought that his
own impossible demands had a way of weeding out
everyone who didnt want to exceed their own
expectations.
Obviously, we cant all be Steve
Jobs. We cant all have his perfect
timing. And we cant (and
shouldnt) all be dictators in our
companies, as he was able to do
as Apples exalted founder. But we
can still recognize that its
precisely those talents that a stable company
encourages--smart trade-offs, an emphasis on the
practical, and a sense of the possible driven by inertia--
which keep most companies from making anything
remarkable.
Entrepreneurs are sometimes able to escape that trap,
because of the embrace risk more readily than most of
us. The work of a good designer also pushes what
seems possible, by solving problems that havent been
articulated yet. Jobs, as it happens, had the soul of
both an entrepreneur and a designer. That is what
made his irrational expectations something more than
wild fantasy. We should all have a few more irrational
YOU PLACE DIFFERENT
DEMANDS ON AVERAGE
VS. EXCEPTIONAL
TALENT.
expectations in our work lives--and the way to do that
is to encourage both the entrepreneur and the designer
in each of us.
Read Design Crazy: Good Looks, Hot Tempers, and
True Genius at Apple, our captivating oral history of the
company that "taught the world taste." The ebook is
available through Apple
(https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/design-
crazy/id697961602?mt=11), Amazon
(http://www.amazon.com/Design-Crazy-Tempers-
Genius-ebook/dp/B00EX9C14M) and Byliner
(https://www.byliner.com/originals/design-crazy?hbl).
(http://www.fastcompany.com/user/cliff- kuang)
CLIFF KUANG
(HTTP://WWW.FASTCOMPANY.COM/USER/CLIFF-
KUANG)
October 30, 2011 | 6:10 AM
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COMMENTS
CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
The cost of this kind of stress.... (I'm doing a paper on
academic/achievement stress - that's all I can think of as I
read this piece). Tutoring Asians has made
me very aware of this, as well - and its physical and emotional
effects. It makes sense - and why Apple products are as they
are. Thanks, Cliff.
DESPI
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Awesome stuff. I've been as anti-Apple as I could be for
many years now due a perceived "superiority complex" exuded
by Apple and Jobs. Reading how Steve Jobs actually worked
behind the scenes has actually changed my perception of him
and his company. Thanks for the good read(s).
ANDY
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Cliff,
Your contemplative pace through Walter Isaacson's Biography
of Steve Jobs is appreciated. Please continue the insightful
exercise. You just became the first writer added to my iPad 2s
"Reading List."
I have been reading my copy slowly but, for reasons
associated with work and fitness goals. You just challenged
and inspired my reflective capacity.
Looking forward to your series and thoughts posted by
others.
DAVID POOLE
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Cliff. Nice writing talent. Why not go the extra mile and pick
up a good old fashioned book on the use of typography. You
seemed to have missed one important basic practice. Design
in your articles. One of the most important decisions Steve
Jobs made in his early computers other then keeping them
simple and easier to use. Typefaces! There were many of
them. These were the bridges and options he allowed to his
Mac users. A way for them to make their Mac's personal and
he never stifled creativity. Gates wanted more for less. Jobs
wanted to give the consumer more for more. Gates knew that
everyone wanted technology yesterday. He was nothing more
then a salesman. His motivation was to use the old sales
method get them to sign by clicking on the accept terms
button. Jobes wanted his consumers to interact and enjoy.
Where gates only wanted them to react and sign. React vs
act. Who won? Roger Wingrove
WINGROVEUSMC
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
I worked for the Byte Shop selling Apples and Osbornes when
the Osborne came out. Apple's mean time between failures
was so outstandingly low we could sell them out of the box
with no testing or burn in. Osborne's failure rate was almost
50%. My first computer was an Apple. I never wanted nor
bought an Osborne.
RAS
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
I believe his greatest trait is able to see beyond the idea and
realised what it can do much much beyond the premise as
laid down by the one who pitched the idea.
$656629
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Many of the folks at 3M including management, also seem to
have the "Apple" attitude of pushing through the status quo to
try things they aren't sure they can do. From what I have
heard, the majority of 3M's annual revenue comes from
products that are less than 5 years old. They constantly
innovate and get those innovations to market ASAP.
CAROL S.
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
"This IS
SHIT"-- love those words from Steve Jobs which he
intentionally uttered as
he confronts an Apple employee trying to 'pitch' a new
product/prototype/idea
in front of him! To me, Steve as Apple CEO played the role of
representing the
"status quo (Mona Simpson mentioned how Steve did not
mind being 'misunderstood') and it is up to the Apple
employee to have the audacity and conviction to
prove that Steve "the status quo" needs to change!
My insight as to his seeming ' intentional brusqueness" was
his way of
encouraging his employees to challenge him and the status
quo--as a result made
Apple the most innovative, progressive company ever!
That is what is impressive about Steve--he is willing to be
challenged, and if
you prove to him that your point/ idea/product is greater or
better than his
existing one--he is willing to listen, and implement the neidea,
even if it
SJ4EV3R
is NOT his!! That is a mark of a confident LEADER! Willing to
be proven wrong,
and humble enough to admit it!
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
i have to agree with this last statement. as a designer, i am
also a perfectionist, and appreciate the smallest of details. in
fact "god lives in the details" is a motto i have carried all my
career, from one such imposing individual whom i worked for
as a junior. to this day he remains my most influential mentor.
on the flip side of things, one isnt always just a jerk, as
imposing as they may and even in his worst brash period
(his 20's), neither was jobs.
G.RONDEAU
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
It's easier to take a jerk if you know they're being a jerk for
something that you agree with. Engineers and Designers all
have at least some perfectionism in us. This is a different
animal from the boss that's a jerk to just get more done faster,
or just for the power trip of it.
GUEST
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Jobs may have been the typical dictator and without doubt
many have learnt the art of perfectionism from him however
this could be seen as workable only in the last 5 years where
did this attitude to perfectionism get him in the early part of
his career. The inference one can draw is the more visible you
are and successful you are even your negatives are viewed as
delibarately yielding positive results. For instance fill in the
SAVIO
shoes of the engineer and more likely than not he could
deliver better results when led by a leader with three distinct
qualities Compassionate, magnanity and innovative...
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
It's funny that Guy Kawasaki (Apple's former VP Marketing)
said:
"Don't worry, be crappy. An innovator doesn't worry about
shipping an innovative product with elements of crappiness if
it's truly innovative. The first permutation of a innovation is
seldom perfect--Macintosh, for example, didn't have software
(thanks to me), a hard disk (it wouldn't matter with no
software anyway), slots, and color. If a company waits--for
example, the engineers convince management to add more
features--until everything is perfect, it will never ship, and the
market will pass it by."
This contradicts Steve's apparent disgust for trade-offs or
creating anything that is less than perfect. What do the other
readers think? Is it best to be first to market with a crappy
product then reiterate and perfect it over time (i.e: Hyundai,
Honda) or launch with a perfect product but risk missing a
market opportunity? Should we all become perfectionists with
zero tolerance for anything short of perfection?
ADRIAN SALAMUNOVIC
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
15 years ago I worked for an "asshole" of a boss who was
uncompromising in his standards for design and advertising
etc.It was the hardest job I ever had but the most satisfying
and we created some amazing things. If you were strong
enough to cope he also proved to be a very loyal and
considerate employer. I still use tactics I learned from him to
this day and appreciate what he taught me. I expect Steve
Jobs was very similar.
CJPERRIE
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
This is a comment on the comments. I've worked for at least
two of the advertising greats: Lou Dorfsman, and Onofrio
Paccione. Everyone wanted to work for them, even for poor
salaries. Because they produced great work. No matter what
the cost! And it was known going in that they were tough. I
suspect that at Apple people stood in line to take Steve's
mercurial or whatever-it-was personality because they knew
that at the end they'd have something to show and brag
about. (And portfolio to sell at their next job interview.) They
took it, in stride, because they knew he stood for quality that
would rub off. Look at today's cellphone and pad
commercials: his agency shows us the product, simply,
sometimes with almost barren simplicity. His long-running ad
agency has imbibed that quality, adding its own. Now look at
competitors' TV spots: Photoshop tricks. Baloney to hide lack
of substance. No quality. Lack of trust in the
viewer/prospective customer. To be simple you gotta be
honest. Maybe that was Steve's "fault": He was honest.
LARRY MILLER
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
@CK OK.
STEVEN LEIGHTON
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Your comment regarding good design is universal, leads me
back to the Bauhaus; an extremely influential group of
designers that affected our lives in ways we cannot always
comprehend
KHARSHMAN
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
All it really takes is a genius mind. Everything else is
opinionated views on how he conducted his work and why he
has succeeded. Let's not overanalyze the genius that was
Jobs. Simply put, be a genius, apply yourself, succeed.
CHRIS
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
i <3 my apple products :)
2000 clamshell iBook is adorable
apple stores + employees are enlightening
steve jobs aesthetic inspires-catalyzes creativity
MOD*MOM
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
I believe you have clearly articulated the management style
(behavior) of most American based companies.....accepting
trade-offs.... don't try to achieve something unknown. I
worked for a Fortune 100 company for 25 years...one that
claimed to be an innovator.....but innovation was not
nourished nor encouraged.....it happened mostly frequently
by accident. The had some of the very best in their fields of
expertise but were "beaten-down" to conform, and not
encouraged to explore...how unfortunate. This company
continues to be successful but will never achieve it
greatness..... Apple has achieve that greatness through the
inspiration ( albeit difficult) of Jobs.
MIKEC
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CLIFF KUANG 2 YEARS AGO
Bad behavior should never pass as creative management,
even (or especially) in the post-mortem. Getting "the best" out
of people who won't be bullied is one thing--but who knows
what kind of innovation left the company with people who
simply thought, "no, working for management with this little
respect is shit."
CHRIS G
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