New summary available for Leading Apple with Steve Jobs

Feb. 6, 2015 - PRLog -- Jay Elliot, a former senior vice president at Apple, worked hand in hand with Steve Jobs for many years. This close working relationship provided him with many insights into the genius that Jobs brought to the technology world. In Leading Apple with Steve Jobs, Elliot relates Jobs’ management principles, which are unlike anything taught in a traditional business school yet resulted in one of the most successful companies of all time. Jobs’ focus on the whole product and the user experience resulted in innovative products and worldwide customer loyalty.

Steve Jobs was known for having a colorful and unique personality. His phrase "Pirates! Not the Navy" was used as a rallying cry to employees to think differently, and it engendered the following management principles:

*Creating products so great that they can change society starts with a vision, not with product development. Communicating this vision is as important as creating a new product.

*A company culture in which employees are highly valued is one of the key drivers of Apple's results. Its importance should not be underestimated.

*The best staffing results come when hirers are selective; they should hold out for people who are on a similar wavelength and whose passions and focus are similar to others in the company.

*Team leaders must balance day-to-day operations and at the same time be key advisors on the direction of the organization.

*Résumés and traditional interviews leave much to be desired. Jobs used casual conversations to find out a person's motivations, history, and potential contributions.

*Companies that do not set the standards in their markets may find themselves in a dead end. An employee of Kodak came up with the concept of digital photography but the company refused to run with it--and then lost out to the companies that did.

*A product's design is an essential part of how it works. Apple products are designed in such a way that they feel intuitive to most users and are simple to operate regardless of age and technical ability. Jobs always insisted that his products were designed to help users, not frustrate them.

*Creating an environment that supports and encourages innovation is one of the most important roles of a leader.

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