Steve Jobs Called Google's Vic Gundotra on a Sunday About This Icon

[kdarling]

I've worked with some really talented people, and most musicians/directors who are passionate about their work fret over the smallest of details.

Sure, those were your coworkers while you were on a creative project. They were either just as excited as you (or perhaps they were very annoyed with you and never said anything).

That's a far different situation from the way this story was told:

"I laughed nervously. After all, while it was customary for Steve to call during the week upset about something, it was unusual for him to call me on Sunday and ask me to call his home. I wondered what was so important?"

 

[Music_Producer]

Sure, those were your coworkers while you were on a creative project. They were either just as excited as you (or perhaps they were very annoyed with you and never said anything).

That's a far different situation from the way this story was told:

Nope, not just coworkers.. but others not directly related to the project. I've had directors call me in the middle of the night, and I'd dread the call because they catch stuff that the audio pros don't. You guys really don't get it.. being upset or being nervous doesn't mean "Oh god, what does he want now?" It's more like "Is something wrong with my product? What did I miss out on?"

We're showcasing out talents, our projects to the world.. it's the same with Jobs. He probably has way more pressure (as you can imagine) to be more thorough and I think it's refreshing to see a CEO handle all this personally, rather than assign it to someone else.

 

[alecgold]

We're showcasing out talents, our projects to the world.. it's the same with Jobs. He probably has way more pressure (as you can imagine) to be more thorough and I think it's refreshing to see a CEO handle all this personally, rather than assign it to someone else.

I think it isn't the assigning it to someone else vs. doing it yourself that sets Steve apart.
Many managers can't delegate tasks well and want to do everything themselves (that's more OCD). Other managers just slide everything off their desk and let it rain into the organization without ever looking back.
Steve Jobs, IMHO, has a thing for scrutinizing the work of others (and his own, most likely) seeing flaws and faults in them, telling them exactly how he wants it done and checking back how it has become. That might feel for a lot of people like obsessive, it can also be a way of taking care of your people. Not just telling them it stinks, but also telling them what exactly makes it stink and how you can not just fix that, but also improve on it. I also think he can be your worst nightmare boss, that never stops and can be quite unforgiving when dealing with fools or unwilling employees.

Most of us see Steve Job as more than just another CEO, has in some ways been an idealist. A lot of CEO just seem to be there for the money, earning bucket loads of money and when the going gets tough, they have no involvement, no compassion and they just leave. Jobs has *earned* a lot of money, but I think he was never in it for the money.
Another, often mentioned aspect is that he is a visionary. He can see the movement in a product, market perhaps even in parts of the society. With that insight he knows what direction he has to steer the company and what it needs to do. As most of us just plod along, he has a sense of direction.
And for that I envy him.

 

[bereanone]

Attention to detail

In a commencement address at Stanford in 2005 Steve told of his interest in calligraphy and how it shaped his career. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA&feature=mh_lolz&list=FLZ-rxco3nYogl_nCcyHKHeQ)
This is actually the secret I think of his success, a slavish attention to detail. It is the little things which count so much. Many go beyond notice to the masses but it is Apples polish which is such a key factor. After 20+ years of suffering through Windows never ending bugs and user unfriendly features, it was like a breath of fresh air to come to Mac OS X. It just works, and it has the user in mind. The detail and polish is what makes Apple users so fanatical.

 

[bobajoul]

??

i can think of about 7 Billion reasons why SJ probably does not care about some of the comments here. Amazing. This is just like the comments about android vs. IOS, I am guessing that most companies would prefer the balance sheet of Apple over theirs every day. Or to put it into the vernacular, if they had Apple's money and market, they would burn theirs.

 

[fcortese]

I think it isn't the assigning it to someone else vs. doing it yourself that sets Steve apart.
Many managers can't delegate tasks well and want to do everything themselves (that's more OCD). Other managers just slide everything off their desk and let it rain into the organization without ever looking back.
Steve Jobs, IMHO, has a thing for scrutinizing the work of others (and his own, most likely) seeing flaws and faults in them, telling them exactly how he wants it done and checking back how it has become. That might feel for a lot of people like obsessive, it can also be a way of taking care of your people. Not just telling them it stinks, but also telling them what exactly makes it stink and how you can not just fix that, but also improve on it. I also think he can be your worst nightmare boss, that never stops and can be quite unforgiving when dealing with fools or unwilling employees.

Most of us see Steve Job as more than just another CEO, has in some ways been an idealist. A lot of CEO just seem to be there for the money, earning bucket loads of money and when the going gets tough, they have no involvement, no compassion and they just leave. Jobs has *earned* a lot of money, but I think he was never in it for the money.
Another, often mentioned aspect is that he is a visionary. He can see the movement in a product, market perhaps even in parts of the society. With that insight he knows what direction he has to steer the company and what it needs to do. As most of us just plod along, he has a sense of direction.
And for that I envy him.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I couldn't agree with you more.

 

[clauzzz203]

Fast forward 2017: