Inside Steve's Brain
by Leander Kahney
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Book Summary Information
Author: Leander KahneyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-17
ISBN: 1591841984
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
Book Reviews of Inside Steve's Brain
Book Review: There's certainly a great deal in there.
Summary: 5 Stars
Paradoxically, Steve Jobs continues to be one of the best known and yet least understood CEOs in recent business history. It is probably true that most of those who once worked or who now work at Apple Computer will learn more about Jobs as they read Leander Kahney's book than they knew previously. For years, they and others shared the opinions expressed in this brief excerpt from the Introduction:
"Jobs is a control extraordinaire. He's also a perfectionist, an elitist, and a taskmaster to employees. By most accounts, Jobs is a borderline loony. He is portrayed as a basket case who fires people in elevators, manipulates partners, and takes credit for others' achievements. [Alan Deutschman, The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, Pages 59, 197, 239, 243, 254, 294-95 and Jeffrey S. Young, icon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business, Pages 212, 213, and 254]. Recent biographies paint an unflattering portrait of a sociopath motivated by the basest desires - to control, to abuse, to dominate. Most books about Jobs are depressing reads. They're dismissive, little more than catalogs of tantrums and abuse. No wonder he's called them `hatchet jobs.' Where's the genius?" All or at least some of this is may be true and yet....
He is a "control freak" and yet "throughout his career, Jobs has struck up a long string of productive partnerships - both personal and corporate. Jobs's success has depended on attracting great people to do great work for him. He's always chosen great collaborators [as well as] "forged (mostly) harmonious relationships with some of the world's top brands - Disney, Pepsi, and the big record labels." Kahney also points out that "through judicious use of both the carrot and the stick, Jobs has managed to retain and motivate lots of top-shelf talent...and then given them the freedom to be creative and shielded them from the growing bureaucracy at Apple." As Jobs sees it, "My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay."
I was especially interested in the material in Chapter 6 ("Inventive Spirit: Where Does the Innovation Come From?") because in dozens of recently published books about innovation, their authors' opinions vary (sometimes significantly) in terms of what it is and isn't, to what extent (if any) people can learn how to think innovatively, and whether or not innovation can be institutionalized. I was curious to know what Kahney's research (especially various interviews with Jobs and others) revealed about a company that is annually ranked among the most innovative companies in the world. For example, what's the system? Jobs once explained to BusinessWeek, "The system is that there is no system." When asked by Rob Walker (a New York Times reporter) if he ever consciously thinks about innovation, Jobs responded: "No. We consciously think about making great products. We don't think `Let's be innovative! Let's take a class! Here are the five rules of innovation, let's put them up all over the company!" Nonetheless, we are told, "Jobs has an almost mystical reverence for innovation." According to Jobs, it is Apple's "secret sauce" and helps to explain why Apple continues to produce blockbuster products such as the iMac, iPod, and iPhone but, Kahney adds, "there's also a long list of smaller, yet important and influential products" such as the Airport and the AppleTV. Innovation at Apple is a process with a mindset, not a project with a formula.
Given Jobs's obvious scorn for most efforts to "become more innovative," and there is no recipe to produce its "secret sauce," how to explain the company's "innovative spirit"? The answer to that question is too complicated to be summarized in a review such as this, nor can a complete answer be found in any one chapter of Kahney's book. However, a partial answer reveals a great deal about what's inside Steve's brain and how it becomes pervasive throughout the organization. First, Apple determines which markets to target and how to target each. Knowing who you are and what to do are obviously important but no more important than knowing who you aren't (and shouldn't attempt to be) as well as knowing what not to do. Also, Apple remains constantly aware of all new developments in the markets in which it competes (especially those in relevant technologies) and is always receptive to new ideas. It fully embraces the business model Henry Chesbrough so brilliantly discusses in his Open Innovation and then Open Business Models.
It should also be noted that Apple is always receptive to new or better ideas wherever they are and appropriates whatever serves its purposes. Jobs agrees with Picasso that good artists copy, great artists steal. "And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas." Then there is Jobs's concept of the digital hub, best explained within the narrative, in context. (Please see Pages 185-188.) Based on what Kahney shares in this book, there are two principles on which the success of the company in all areas and in all markets continues to depend. First, hire only those who will contribute "insanely great" ideas that will enable the company to create "insanely great" products. Also, create a culture of constant creative confrontation. "Day to day at Apple, Shawney explains, "meetings with Jobs can often be arguments - long, combative arguments. Jobs relishes intellectual combat. He wants high-level discussion - even a fight - because it's the most effective way to get to the bottom of a problem. And by hiring the best people he can find [and then retaining them], he ensures the debate will be at the highest level." If a "bozo" somehow survives the rigors of Apple's unorthodox interview process, she or he does not last long and those responsible for hiring that person are viewed with ridicule, if not contempt.
Few people at Apple meet with Jobs but everyone knows what those meetings are alike because most (if not all) other meetings at Apple also resemble a crucible that is expected to generate precious metals in the form of insanely great ideas, the best decisions, etc. Clearly, Jobs determines the style and sets the tone for interaction at Apple. He wholeheartedly believes that "good" is the enemy of "great" and thus has zero tolerance of anyone and anything that falls short of his "insanely" high standards. It should be added that talent alone is seldom sufficient. Jobs also demands - not expects - that people at Apple be warriors, eager to engage in combat to "win" arguments with associates. Intellectual combat is a key ingredient in Apple's "secret sauce" and Jobs is the company's master chef. Despite the efforts of most employees to avoid him, there is always the chance of encountering him unexpectedly in a hallway, elevator, rest room or parking lot. He will immediately grill them about what they are doing, how they are doing it, etc. Although some have described Apple as a "regime of terror," it continues to be an almost pure meritocracy.
In this book, Kahney provides an extended tour inside Steve's brain. What is it like in there? Obviously, the Apple culture is an extension of Jobs's personality and style. To me, it resembles a minefield, a lush garden filled with beautiful flowers and plants, a fireworks display, a demolition derby, a six-year old's birthday party, a torture chamber, a vast green meadow, a shooting gallery, and a state fair. I urge you to take your own tour with Leander Kahney. I promise that it will never be dull. With Steve Jobs, nothing ever is.
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