3 ms·

One part of his legacy that will forever be misunderstood is that being brutally honest, being demanding, being abrasive is a trait that only translates to succ

One part of his legacy that will forever be misunderstood is that being brutally honest, being demanding, being abrasive is a trait that only translates to success when you are at the top [0]. Countless mid level managers believe it is the only way to lead. > For Steve Jobs, it's not that being an asshole was his secret sauce. It's that his unique position allowed him to survive the downsides of his personality. [0]: https://idiallo.com/blog/you-cant-be-an-asshole-as-a-manager https://idiallo.com/blog/you-cant-be-an-asshole-as-a-manager

FollowingTheDao 1y ago
If Steve Jobs were on HN he would be ruthlessly downvoted.
- IAmBroom 1y ago
  Yes. He was inflexible, and that made him very difficult to get along with - if you weren't either a yes-man, or able to look past his social skill issues to see his capabilities. Nothing about social media is friendly to looking past social skill issues.
cheschire 1y ago
yeah but try explaining that to the narcissistic sociopaths that embody those traits and they'll think you're absolutely right, those other guys should listen to you.
Razengan 1y ago
I just now posted a top-level comment expecting this lol, about how Job gets hated for being an asshole in private, while Linus Torvalds gets forgiven and even admired for being much worse in public. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45482539 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45482539
- wredcoll 1y ago
  Torvalds has publically apologized and taken some kind of "being nicer" class and people, here at least, constantly criticize his rudeness. Obviously he has defenders and fans for various reasons, but I think its nice to see.
somenameforme 1y ago
By all accounts he was an asshole from the earliest days, long before he was a known quantity. I'd argue that brutal honesty is a good thing. So many people try to be agreeable, but don't people stop to think what they themselves think of agreeable people? Generally they seem fake or insincere. When an asshole tells you 'That's an interesting idea.' they mean it. What an agreeable person says it they might mean it or they might mean 'Wow, that's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard.' So it makes their opinions, or even discussion with them, rather pointless. And broad agreeability can also make a person seem quite daft.
- ksec 1y ago
  >agreeable Being agreeable is what leads to design by committee. And being agreeable gets you out of being called an asshole.

FollowingTheDao 1y ago

If Steve Jobs were on HN he would be ruthlessly downvoted.

IAmBroom 1y ago
Yes. He was inflexible, and that made him very difficult to get along with - if you weren't either a yes-man, or able to look past his social skill issues to see his capabilities. Nothing about social media is friendly to looking past social skill issues.

cheschire 1y ago

yeah but try explaining that to the narcissistic sociopaths that embody those traits and they'll think you're absolutely right, those other guys should listen to you.

Razengan 1y ago

I just now posted a top-level comment expecting this lol, about how Job gets hated for being an asshole in private, while Linus Torvalds gets forgiven and even admired for being much worse in public. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45482539 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45482539

wredcoll 1y ago
Torvalds has publically apologized and taken some kind of "being nicer" class and people, here at least, constantly criticize his rudeness. Obviously he has defenders and fans for various reasons, but I think its nice to see.

somenameforme 1y ago

By all accounts he was an asshole from the earliest days, long before he was a known quantity. I'd argue that brutal honesty is a good thing. So many people try to be agreeable, but don't people stop to think what they themselves think of agreeable people? Generally they seem fake or insincere. When an asshole tells you 'That's an interesting idea.' they mean it. What an agreeable person says it they might mean it or they might mean 'Wow, that's one of the dumbest ideas I've ever heard.' So it makes their opinions, or even discussion with them, rather pointless. And broad agreeability can also make a person seem quite daft.

ksec 1y ago
>agreeable Being agreeable is what leads to design by committee. And being agreeable gets you out of being called an asshole.