Steve Jobs was wrong about middle management | Hacker News Reader

Steve Jobs was wrong about middle management

fiveeasypieces.substack.com

18 pointserikbe14 comments

Steve didn't believe most of the stuff he said. I used to work for him, and he got monthly reports from his PR firm. One section each month was filled with pages of quotes for him to say to be perceived as a visionary. He used them regularly, and most of his most well known quotes came from those pages. They were completely unrelated to the way we were doing things. And, obviously, we had plenty of middle managers.

This is a an exceptional claim. Not saying that I don't believe you, but do you have any evidence that might help us verify this suggestion?

None at all. Just sharing my experience as somebody who was there.

Steve Jobs had implied on multiple occasion that they didn't do user testing on prototypes because their technology was too advanced for users to "get". It was associated with a quote from Henry Ford that if you asked consumers what transportation they wanted in the late 1800's, they'd say "a faster horse", not a car.

However, it turned out Apple did do user testing of pilot products during Steve's time. The claim was an exaggeration on Steve's part. There are other similar anecdotes that proved exaggerated. Thus, it appears Apple did indeed have a "bullshit kit" of some kind.

I know your background, you've been there and saw it at multiple companies in the Valley.

Exceptional claims require exceptional evidence

You could just be someone with an axe to grind

Their claim is not very exceptional, in fact it sounds more or less like what you can expect as the standard.

He is and he's been doing this for more than a year. See comment history for some more outrageous claims. And of course when challenged 'he will say he made it all up...'.

Look, One person's exceptional is another persons routine life. I'm 60, started as an electronic hobbyist in Silicon Valley wire wrapping computers for startups - worked for a bunch of early famous names in Silicon Valley, then studied for an EE and started writing software all over the valley. I've been a PM three times, managed multiple dev teams, managed support and training, and written many hundreds of thousands of lines of code. Part of that was at NeXT where I sat next to Steve as he was creating his conference talks (he didn't sit in his office to create them.) So grow up. The world doesn't match your limited perspective. And it isn't appropriate for you to play policeman when you don't know what you're talking about. I consider you one of the people who makes Hacker News a less welcoming place for those who might have actual insights - as opposed to opening their minds to hear others perspectives.

(And every major CEO that I know of has PR teams. Bill Gates was reported to have all three of the major PR companies working on his personal image. So open your mind to new things you haven't experienced. Isn't that why something like Hacker News should exist?)

When did Steve made the claim they have no Middle management? I don't recall one. He said lots of middle management, and lack of authority in decision making. Time and Time again all the bio and interviews coming out was Steve gives lots of Autonomy to people, as long as they gets things done. He said there is a DRI ( Directly Responsible Individual )

And more often what Steve hate was the process, people are too stuck with the process and forgot the most important thing was the content, or the Product, or the end user.

Of course that is only half true because if you don't have a proper process, your content may not sell, made, shipped in the best possible condition, maximising profits. Steve knew this the 2nd time he was back to Apple and that is why he bought in Tim Cook to keep up in tact.

> Middle managers are in the unique position where they are close to production, but not producing themselves

No, those are line managers. Middle management is the layer between top management and line managers. Their reports are managers.

When you create the most valuable company in the world you can comment on effective management

Empirical studies (which were cited) are worthwhile. Maybe more worthwhile than reality distortion fields. Of course, you can still argue that Steve Jobs created an exceptional environment where the usual rules don't apply. But just because Jobs wore a turtleneck doesn't mean we all should.

Apple isn't a company without a middle management layer and never was, of course. The quote is used to illustrate a point.

Middle management is a structural requirement in an organization past a certain size. If it's not working out, it's more likely just _poor_ management skills that's the cause.

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