Combining the Structural and Human Resource frames through Steve Jobs

I recently came across this interview by John Sculley (former CEO of Apple) about Steve Jobs. In the interview, he talks in-depth about Apple's successes and failures and the reasons behind both. What was of particular interest to me was his description of Steve Jobs as a leader. He attributes most of the company's success to Jobs, noting that it was (and is) through his unique methodology, the "Jobs methodology" as it's been dubbed, that Apple has thrived as a leader in the tech world.

The profile of Jobs, as depicted by Sculley, is one of a man who isn't just an effective leader but a visionary and a perfectionist. The article really strings together the two things we've talked about in class so far - the structural and human resource frames.

The "Jobs methodology," which is essentially the belief that "the most important decisions you make are not the things you do – but the things that you decide not to do" separated him from many of his contemporaries. Unlike Bill Gates, who was more "interested in being able to dominate a market," Jobs was always focused on creating products from the "vantage point of being a designer." The user, and not the bottom line, was the most important part of informing his process. "User design" as it's known now is precisely what has made Apple stand apart from its competitors.

What's also interesting is how the "Jobs methodology" has informed Steve Jobs' management style.
From a structural perspective, he has created an extremely close-knit team. "Steve had a rule that there could never be more than one hundred people on the Mac team." He was intent on keeping the Mac team, which would eventually become the product development team, small so he would know everyone on the team personally. This would enable him to "touch everything." He didn't have much respect for large organizations as he believed they were "bureaucratic and ineffective." He hires the best and the brightest people for the Mac team and even now that Apple has grown considerably, Jobs keeps the product development team small so he can have a hand in all the decisions.

At the same time, from a human resource perspective, Jobs created an environment that fosters creatitivy while nurturing it so it can continute to thrive. Because Jobs was so focused on perfecting the user experience, he has been known to challenge his team to go above and beyond what they think is possible. On the one hand, "he would be almost merciless in terms of rejecting their work until he felt it had reached the level of perfection that was good enough.." In most instances, I would think this would create a hostile working environment for his employees. But on the other hand, he "would shift between being highly charismatic and motivating and getting them excited to feel like they are part of something insanely great."

As a leader, Steve Jobs' vision for creating beautiful and efficient products is what has driven Apple to the forefront of the tech world. As a manager, his ability to properly structure the organization and foster creativity for his workers is what may have made the company a real success.

This article is incredibly detailed and really very interesting. If you can get the time to read it, I highly recommend that you do.

Conchita Campos