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Comment by oskarth | Hacker News Reader

Have you ever actually met any of these people in real life? Reading headlines about famous people doesn't mean you actually know them.

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There is enough evidence out there to show they treated people they worked with less than well. Are you saying that Steve Jobs wasn't a dick to his staff and to the board? Are you saying that trying to stage a coup in the workplace isn't a dickhead move?

I think you're arguing past the point a little. From what I've read, what got him booted out was Apple hemorrhaging money and the board wanting to keep the Apple II gravy train going and Jobs disagreeing.

My point is that questionable behavior didn't oust him initially compared to it being a fundamental disagreement over the direction of the company.

I'm sure the behavior didn't help, but if they were still making money hand over fist, the board wasn't going to turn around and say "you're too much of a dick so we're ousting you".

The final straw was Jobs trying to oust John Scully. John Scully said me or him. Board went with Scully. The point is that a lot of his actions that directly let up to that made him a dick. In Jobs case, his destructive behaviours didn't help the bottom line.

Being a dick screws over motivation, colleague happiness/satisfaction, increases turnover, etc. These things have an economic cost. Being a dick can cost your workplace lots of money.

This is all rather pointless when Scilly drove Apple into the ground and Jobs subsequently sent it into the stratosphere. I'm no Jobs fan at all, but that much is obvious.

Look at how badly Jobs treated his subordinates and family for an actual criticism of him.

No it isn't. If Jobs wasn't a dick and alienated 90% of people with his behaviour, he would have had more sway.

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