I started my foray into the tech sector around 2006. Back then Facebook was a little-known website for US college students. The height of mobile coolness was the Blackberry with its physical keyboard. And software updates were delivered by CD to be installed on individual computers.
It was a different time back then we could only catch a tiny glimpse of what would happen. Ubiquitous computing via the cloud. Ultra mobility via mobile web devices. Societal collapse via social media platforms whose stock in trade is causing mental distress amongst vulnerable people. All innovations that have added to, or taken away from society depending on your context and perspective.
One of the benefits that came from being involved in the tech sector during that time was having a front-row seat to watch those innovations roll out. I still recall Steve Jobs’ legendary unveiling of the iPhone back in 2007, it was a masterclass in hype and Jobs was at his best. Almost cult-like, it must be said, but incredible to watch nonetheless.
I’ve been thinking about Jobs recently, not in relation to these incredible devices he shepherded into the world, but rather his approach to leadership and management. The impetus for this cogitating was some discussions I’ve had with people around the right ways to maximise the performance of ones team.
For those who haven’t heard of Jobs’ legendary management style, he was an unashamed tyrant. Jobs was famous for not only micro-managing but aggressively berating anyone for performance that he considered subpar. Legends abound that when entering a lift, Jobs would immediately question other passengers about exactly what they did for the company and fire them if the answers weren’t up to scratch. Jobs put winning above everything else and did little to help his team help him win.
He would scream over the tiniest detail. Despite being the CEO of a massive and complex company, he would personally vet every single marketing campaign and advertisement and obsess over the tiniest product details.
Now I would be the first to admit that Apple is an incredible company and that, under Jobs’ helm, Apple reinvented multiple industries – consumer technology, obviously, but also music, movies and more. And quite possibly it was Jobs’ slightly sociopathic tendencies that drove those outcomes. But, and there are a couple of big buts here, I wonder whether it was actually worth it and if the Apple playbook can be exported elsewhere.
The first question is one of morality and humanity. From a personal perspective, even Jobs, towards the end of his life, questioned whether his obsessiveness was really worth it. The price he personally paid, and the price he extracted from others, was hugely damaging. He arguably conceived of the loveliest devices on the planet, but at what cost?
But it is the second question, that of the applicability of this approach to other organisations, which I’ve been thinking of recently. I was chatting with an individual who would similarly strive for perfection the way Jobs did. This individual has wavering faith in the ability of others to deliver and, possibly with some validity, believes they could do most jobs better themselves. They’re loathe to give others autonomy, or subordinates license, out of fear that tasks will be delivered in a subpar manner.
But the problem with that attitude is that one simply can’t do everything oneself. The ability to scale an operation or activity is directly related to the ability to hand off tasks to others. One can’t grow an enterprise unless critical tasks are sufficiently documented and democratized so that one can find individuals to shoulder the load. Unless you want to rule a one-person-empire, you have no option but to let others do stuff, even if it means they’ll do stuff in a poorer manner than you yourself could.
The hard part about delegation is that it means losing control, giving over autonomy and trusting others. It strikes me that if you want to win in business, these losses are the price you have no option but to pay.
