I love this story about Steve Jobs from Adam Lashinsky in Fortune:
Apple doesn’t often fail, and when it does, it isn’t a pretty sight at 1 Infinite Loop. In the summer of 2008, when Apple (AAPL) launched the first version of its iPhone that worked on third-generation mobile networks, it also debuted MobileMe, an e-mail system that was supposed to provide the seamless synchronization features that corporate users love about their BlackBerry smartphones. MobileMe was a dud. Users complained about lost e-mails, and syncing was spotty at best. Though reviewers gushed over the new iPhone, they panned the MobileMe service.
Steve Jobs doesn’t tolerate duds. Shortly after the launch event, he summoned the MobileMe team, gathering them in the Town Hall auditorium in Building 4 of Apple’s campus, the venue the company uses for intimate product unveilings for journalists. According to a participant in the meeting, Jobs walked in, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question:
“Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?” Having received a satisfactory answer, he continued, “So why the f*ck doesn’t it do that?”
There’s a brutal beauty in the simplicity of that question. Steve Jobs wasn’t interested in excuses, PowerPoint slides, or year-long delivery timelines. He just wanted the thing to bloody work.
As organisations balloon into vacuous jargon factories, there’s something gloriously punk about Jobs’ approach. Never mind the KPIs and the strategy briefings—what are we actually meant to be doing, and why the hell aren’t we doing it?
We’ve all worked in places where whole departments could disappear and no one would notice. Meetings about meetings. Documents about strategy. Meanwhile, the thing that’s supposed to be live is still “in review” or stuck in committee hell. Jobs would’ve taken one look and set fire to it in the car park.
And it’s not just big tech. This kind of brutal clarity could revolutionise your local council, government department, small business, non-profit, or even that WhatsApp group that’s been trying to plan a weekend away since last July. Ask the Jobs question: “What is this supposed to do?” Then hold the silence until someone says, “Yeah… no idea.”
We don’t need more frameworks. We need more backbone. Less fluff, more follow-through. Every room needs someone with Jobs’ energy, slicing through the nonsense like a ninja in a turtleneck.
Sometimes the most radical thing you can do is ask the stupidly obvious question, at full volume and wait for the squirm.
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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