From Steve Jobs’ Life: Fall From Grace Through Management Incompetence

Fall From Grace Through Management Incompetence:

Scully thought that Jobs was a perfectionist, while Scully didn’t care about products at all. Scully did not learn quickly in his new role but was instead focused on marketing and management rather than the products according to Steve Jobs’ recollection. In addition, Scully seemed to be clueless that Jobs was manipulating him with flattery, while Scully believed in keeping people happy and worrying about relationships.  Outside of Apple, the market responded negatively to Macintosh and by mid-84 into 85 a crisis was growing. By early 1985, the managers had told John Scully that he was supposed to run the company and be less eager to please Jobs. Also, Steve Jobs was told to stop criticizing other departments in Apple which was becoming difficult to stomach. Sales in the first quarter of 1985 were only 10% of their projections. Management changes were on the horizon.

Steve Jobs’ abuse of others increased through character assassinations and intense and direct criticism but this was also coupled with a quickly declining market share. Many middle managers rose up against Jobs. Noting the increased tension, Steve Jobs asked Scully if Jobs could create a Macintosh in a book-like format while also heading an “Apple Labs” project as a new R&D off-shoot of Apple Computers. From Scully’s perspective, if Jobs agreed to leave Macintosh, this solution would solve the management issues and get rid of Jobs’ presence at Apple’s head office. Jean-Louis Gassee would move in to take over the Macintosh only if he could avoid working under Jobs. The problem was that Jobs did not want to quit MacIntosh but wanted more responsibility by running both Macintosh and the new R&D project. Finally, Scully had a meeting with Mike Murray. By mid-1985, Apple executives started to blame Jobs for the miscalculated forecasting of Mac sales and resentment built up due to Job’s management style. Mike Murray, Jobs’ lieutenant in marketing, wrote a memo summarizing the problems that Apple had. Murray laid a lot of  blame on Steve Jobs which was a coup considering his closeness to Jobs. Murray pointed out that Jobs had a controlled power-base within the company which created a strategic alliance amongst high value employees. When Scully confronted Jobs, he said that it wasn’t going to work with Jobs’ approach at the Macintosh division. Jobs said that Scully did not spend enough time teaching Jobs as an excuse for the demotion that Scully was proposing ie start an R&D division outside of Apple. Jobs was erratic, he would reach out to Scully, and then lash-out at him behind his back. Jobs would phone one manager at 9pm to discuss Scully’s poor performance, and then he would phone Scully at 11pm to say that he loved working with Scully. The end of the line for Jobs was approaching quickly.

Being Vindictive Is Part Of Leadership:

In 1985, Jobs refused a $50,000 bonus for Macintosh engineers who went on vacation during the bonus awarding period. Andy Hurtzfeld quit because he didn’t like Macintosh’s team, or Jobs. Woz and Jobs were no longer friends. As an expression of that, Jobs also shot down Wozniak’s universal remote control company ‘Cloud 9’ by arguing that the design agency should not be allowed to work with 3rd party companies such a Woz’s. Steve Wozniak left Apple saying that the company was not being run properly for the past 5 years. Jobs was vindictive, and convinced himself that Woz’s remote control designs was a problem because it resembled other of Frog’s designs which were used to design Apple products. In 1999, Adobe refused to write programs for the iMac, so when the iPhone was released, Steve Jobs refused to allow flash on its products arguing that these products ate too much battery power, when in reality the core problem was that Adobe had screwed Apple in the past. In other words, being vindictive is part of business leadership as far as Steve Jobs is concerned.

This is an analysis based on Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and other sources of research. Enjoy.

 More from Steve Job’s Life by Walter Isaacson
Location Really Does Matter for EntrepeurshipChildhood Shapes Your Thinking
Go Get What You Want, If You Have the CourageEducation Is For Conformists
Assume That You Will Die YoungGo To India
Pranking People Requires Creative ThinkingStarting A Company Is Very Difficult
Meet a Brilliant & Nobel EngineerMeetups Bring Insanely Great Ideas Together
Knowing What You Wanted to Do Exclude Relevant Information Where Necessary
Have Discipline Over Body and MindPicking A Name is as Simple As Picking Apples
Crime Does Pay!!??Sharing Ideas Is Fine Up To A Point
Most Good Ideas Have to Be Force Down Peoples ThroatsXerox Parc
Run Your Company Our Of Your Parents HouseMike Markkula’s Marketing Theory Is Built Around Three Areas
MacKenna’s Advertising Style WorkedDon’t Worry About A Business Plan Until You Need Investment in a Serious Venture
Create A Simple Product For HouseholdsYour Product Needs to be a Full Simple Package
Jobs’ Management Style Was “Shit” from ’77 to ’85A Startup Will Become Impersonal With Success
Apple III was a bastard childBeing Abandoned = Ignoring Reality
Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists StealSurround Yourself With “A Players”
Reality Distortion FieldBe At The Nexus of Humanities and Technology
Believe In A Closed System & Product ControlMarket Research Is For Idiots
Motivate With The Big PictureUnhealthy Competition Within A Company Can be Corrosive
The Best & Most Innovative Products Don’t Always WinEras Are Defined by Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 1
Genius Versus Shit-HeadThe Boardroom Showdown & Emotionality
Advertising Does MatterA Messy Company Can Still Work
A Clean Factory Is Insanely Great But The Product Has To SellBeing Right Isn’t As Important As Winning
Imperfection Is A Moral WrongBringing In An Outside Expert Can Be Costly
The Original Macintosh Had Bad SalesFall From Grace Through Management Incompetence
Finding Similarities Between Yourself & Your Business Partner May Not Be GoodEras Are Defined By Partnerships & Rivalry – Gates Versus Jobs Round 2
Force An Ultimatum To Get Control of a CompanyNever Tell The Allies of Your Opposition That You’re Planning a Coup
Brilliant Failures Help You GrowDesign Should Not Trump Processing
Do Not Disrespect Your Potential Business PartnersGet Real On Your Lean Startup
Get A VC Who Missed Out On A Previous Winning OpportunityAvoid The Problem of Focusing on the Small
Gain Financial Control Against Your Business PartnersRivalry of the Ants & Breaking With Disney
Build A Board That Cannot Operate Independently of the CEODo Not Chase Profits, Chase Value
Do Not Force Other Businesses Into Your Closed SystemHow To Save A Dying Tech Company – Fire the Board Or Resign
Merge Your Venture With A Giant That You Can Take OverTargeting the Education Market Is Not Lucrative
How to Save Dying Tech Company – Return To Your Successful RootsHow to Save a Dying Tech Company – Make Products Not Profit, Fundamentally
Skate Where the Puck’s Going, Not Where It’s BeenThe Loser Now Will Be Soon To Win
The Internet Is Made For MusicBrand Yourself Differently
Don’t Be Afraid to CannibalizeCreate Complimentary Product Offerings Without a Lead Loss Generator
Focus On What People Really Want…1,000 SongsGoogle’s “Don’t Be Evil Mantra” is Bullshit
Get Yourself Into the Cloud & A CastleDon’t Fear Change In Industry, Anticipate It
Create An Inventory Management System & Build a Store That WorksConverge Old Devices Into 1 New Device
Do Not Ignore Medical Diagnoses Make Peace With Your Old Enemies

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