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Managing by meaning
Is recognizing that people are human: they have rational, cultural, and emotional dimensions, and they appreciate the person who creates a meaning for them to embrace. For Jobs, design was not only beauty, but creating new meanings for users.
He also offered meaning to his employees - they worked hard on visionary projects, striving to meet targets and to satisfy their leader's maniacal attention to detail, because he infused them with a sense of mission: Apple had to leave a mark in the world of computing, improve people's lives, be bold and, of course, "think different."
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
Steve Jobs has always been considered an anomaly in management: his leadership style was something to admire or to criticize, but definitely not to replicate.
He was navigating a territory that is often obscure to management: the creation of meaning, both for customers and employees.
It puts people at the center. But it is definitely not user-driven: it does not listen to users, but makes proposals to them. Customers do not buy Apple's products because of utility or functionality.
Apple products are more meaningful to users. The products have great design - and identity.
is scared by culture and the humanities. They are not measurable and cannot be codified in processes. They depend on the person.
Jobs showed that business and culture are not in contradiction, but rather they sustain each other. Personal culture can give you the capability to create meaning, to create visions.
RELATED IDEAS
- Find out if the problem really exists, and why. This will open a path to alternative ways of solving it.
- Some problems, which seem complex, often have simple solutions.
- What is the surest thing in that complex problem? That becomes your First Principle, your starting point.
- List out the possible solutions
- Focus on one good solution while removing the rest.
- Do what you love. Passion is everything.
- Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. Don't lose sight of the big vision.
- Make connections. People with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. Connect ideas from different fields.
- Say no to 1,000 things. Say no to quantity, and focus on the quality of your best products.
- Create insanely different experiences. The motive is to enrich lives, not just to move products.
- Master the message. Instead of simply delivering a presentation, inform, educate, inspire and entertain.
- Sell dreams, not products. Customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves. If you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.
- Follow your passions. Without it, any rational person would give up.
- Find your noble cause. For Jobs, making computers accessible to the average person wasn't just a business strategy; it was a calling.
- Simplify everything and focus on the gems. You have only so much energy and attention to give to projects or projects.
- Unleash your creativity. Creativity doesn't just happen. Expose yourself to ideas outside the field you're working in.
- Create "insanely great" customer experiences. Hire for personality and culture fit first.
- Don't introduce products; tell a story.
- Sell dreams, not products. Your audiences don't care about your product, company or idea. They care about themselves, their hopes and their dreams.