Steve Jobs as the Poster Child for the Upside of Assholes

Michael Malone has a great opinion column in today's Wall Street Journal called iGenius, which digs into the question of why Apple under Steve Jobs continues to produce such great new designs, now the iPhone that -- at first blush -- will change what it means to carry a portable device. I too am constantly impressed with parade of products that have come out of Apple since Jobs returned, but also, let's face it, Jobs has a track-record of demeaning others and taking credit for their work. 

Malone -- who once wrote a book about Jobs and his company -- points out "there will always be things about him that are unforgivable -- cruelties and manipulations (especially to Steve Wozniak), early crimes (illegal telephones, ironically), megalomania, and an unquenchable need to take credit from others (Do you know who led the original Mac team? Invented the iPod? Devised the new iPhone? I don't think so) -- and that no achievement will ever erase." And, as Malone concludes, despite all the smart people out there, competitors seem incapable mimicking Jobs' ability to pull one rabbit after another out of the hat, and so, "For all his demons, thank God for him in this age of cookie-cutter CEOs. For a decade now (and for another decade at the beginning of the PC age) he has run the most enthralling and rewarding show in high-tech."

I agree with Malone and, in fact, when I was writing The No Asshole Rule, one Silicon Valley insider after another after another argued to me "What about Steve Jobs, doesn't he show how being an asshole make leaders and their companies more effective at times?  Doesn't he show that assholes are worth the trouble" which led me to write a chapter on "The Virtues of Assholes" that starts out with the curious case of Steve Jobs, and goes onto make an empirical case for the upsides of assholes. BUT I also make clear that I still don't want to work with assholes -- there are plenty of other successful companies that aren't led by assholes. Jobs is famous for saying the "the journey is the reward," and for my tastes, even if the journey ends well, it still sucks when you have to travel with an asshole, or worse yet, a pack of them.  If you are successful asshole, you are still an asshole and I don't want to be around you.

Comments

[Post Resume]

I still try not to focus on style as much as possible - except when someone's an asshole. At that point I've finally come to the conclusion that I don't care what substance they have to offer.

[Asshole]

Steve Jobs is an asshole. The success came simply because he has initially foreseen the future in Personal Computer Industry and he stuck to that goal..... If he was not an asshole with his employees he had the ground to achieve more than both IBM and Microsoft did....
What that asshole actually did, is to face both his competition and his goals aggressively and pationately....His staff have never produced to its peak Never. Team spirit was always low...That asshole and the other CEOs assholes around him had major leaks in staff performance. What saved them, was the early penetration into the market.....
What that asshole said?
"Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal...."
Guys he is just a lucky asshole. This is what he is....

[funky]

I noticed, alot of assholes I know seem to worship Jobs and give him ALL credit for anything that comes from apple.

They think he is a genius, but thats because they are all assholes themselves I think.

[Julie Dirksen]

Well, it also begs the question -- Is Steve Jobs a great CEO *because* he's an asshole or *in spite of* being an asshole? Arguably he leads Apple to produce great designs because he is passionate, focused and uncompromising, which I think inspires a different flavor of asshole-ness that someone who is insecure, bullying or needlessly agressive or cruel. The source seems different, even if there is some overlap in behaviors. Do we need a taxonomy of assholes?

[Jan Barkhed]

You can compare the presentations of Apple’s CEO with that of the Cingular CEO on the MacWorld Expo. I would have been depressed if I had worked on Cingular.

[Mark Howell]

As I often say...there's an upside and a downside to everything.

mark

[Wally Bock]

Say, boys and girls, here's a challenge. Find someone who actually likes Steve J.

I've known lots of folks who've passed through Apple and the industry over the years. Many think he can turn the water of design into the wine of market dominance, but I honestly can't remember anyone who said they liked Steve Jobs. If that's the true state of things, it is sad indeed.

My own take is the hubris will get him again, but I've been wrong before.

[Hamilton Chua]

Some say that "if it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger".

There are stories that tell of their experiences working with Steve Jobs as a boss. Here's one (http://writersblocklive.com/part-143).

While some may border along the lines of "hero worship" there are others where I feel that they subtly acknowledge that the guy is really an asshole but conclude in the end that they are better people after the experience

Perhaps Steve Jobs and people like him are an anomaly in the "No Asshole Rule".

[ann michael]

"...even if the journey ends well, it still sucks when you have to travel with an asshole." - How true!

I sometimes find that being around an asshole makes me really look at myself and see if I'm doing anything like that. The other thing I realized was that for the longest time I would try to focus on content (what they said and accomplished) and not style (how they did it - they were an asshole).

I still try not to focus on style as much as possible - except when someone's an asshole. At that point I've finally come to the conclusion that I don't care what substance they have to offer. Someone else that isn't an ass will be able to offer it as well.