3 ms·

The only reason it worked for Steve Jobs is that he was Steve Jobs. Almost every other person with that attitude would be, and arguably should be, fired (or at

The only reason it worked for Steve Jobs is that he was Steve Jobs. Almost every other person with that attitude would be, and arguably should be, fired (or at least talked to seriously about it). Someone like that would be extremely detrimental in a team environment. Except in the case where someone truly has demonstrated that their decisions and opinions are genius, most of his behavior would simply not be tolerable. Would you really want to work with someone like that? It's even called out in the biography (I forget if it's a quote or a comment by the author) that he probably could have been just as effective without being as abrasive.

taligent 14y ago
I personally would love to work with people like that and thousands of other people wanted to as well. Remember the apt quote, "A grade people hire A grade people, B Grade people hire C grade people". The fact is that A grade people understand that in order to be A grade you have to be passionate, dedicated, committed and have strong convictions. Very few people can have those qualities without coming across as arrogant, non team oriented or abrasive.
- creativename 14y ago
  I think it's one thing to be passionate, and another to tell people that work for you that their work is "shit". It might be one thing to say that to a good friend of yours, but if you constantly tell your employees that, they're just going to think that you're an asshole and it's probably going to be very detrimental to morale. The OP's point was that he would have been fired for the way he acted, not his abilities. Of course we would all love to work with passionate, talented people, but just because someone has those qualities it doesn't mean you can ignore how they interact with others. To your point, it's hard to have (and demonstrate) these qualities without coming off as abrasive.
trueneverland 14y ago
This comment is like a double edge sword. The problem with "someone truly has demonstrated that their decisions and opinions are genius" is that often it never gets the chance to go that far. This is especially true for non-technical guys. And if I had to make a bet, while Steve understood technology, he probably couldn't actually code it himself. Putting others in that position in the modern day without a track record, and even if they were genuinely a genius in decision making, the likelihood of them being shut down by upper management, biases that exist, and several other things make the scenario bleak.

taligent 14y ago

I personally would love to work with people like that and thousands of other people wanted to as well. Remember the apt quote, "A grade people hire A grade people, B Grade people hire C grade people". The fact is that A grade people understand that in order to be A grade you have to be passionate, dedicated, committed and have strong convictions. Very few people can have those qualities without coming across as arrogant, non team oriented or abrasive.

creativename 14y ago
I think it's one thing to be passionate, and another to tell people that work for you that their work is "shit". It might be one thing to say that to a good friend of yours, but if you constantly tell your employees that, they're just going to think that you're an asshole and it's probably going to be very detrimental to morale. The OP's point was that he would have been fired for the way he acted, not his abilities. Of course we would all love to work with passionate, talented people, but just because someone has those qualities it doesn't mean you can ignore how they interact with others. To your point, it's hard to have (and demonstrate) these qualities without coming off as abrasive.

trueneverland 14y ago

This comment is like a double edge sword. The problem with "someone truly has demonstrated that their decisions and opinions are genius" is that often it never gets the chance to go that far. This is especially true for non-technical guys. And if I had to make a bet, while Steve understood technology, he probably couldn't actually code it himself. Putting others in that position in the modern day without a track record, and even if they were genuinely a genius in decision making, the likelihood of them being shut down by upper management, biases that exist, and several other things make the scenario bleak.