BreakPoint Blog
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R.I.P. Steve Jobs 
The outpouring of sadness since Jobs's death was announced last night has been something to see. Even many of those who didn't like his products were tweeting their admiration for his creativity and innovation. In After America, which I'm reading right now, Mark Steyn laments, According to Professor [Bruce] Charlton, in the 1970s "the human spirit began to be overwhelmed by bureaucracy." The old can-do spirit? Oh, you can try to do it, but they'll toss every obstacle in your path. Go on, give it a go: invent a new medical device; start a company; go the airport to fly to D.C. and file a patent. Everything's longer, slower, more soul-crushing. And the decline in "human capability" will only worsen in the years ahead, thanks not just to excess bureaucracy but insufficient cash.There's a lot of truth -- depressing truth -- in that. Still, maybe there's a bit of hope in the fact that in this one man, Steve Jobs, so many people saw something of "the old can-do spirit" and were irresistibly drawn to it. (Image copyright Hiro Komae/AP) |
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Comments:
Reports say he was infamous for brusque words, and for harsh treatment of people not performing well enough. And yet he was indeed the spearhead in introducing more than a few culture-changing products (and yes, I am a die-hard Mac user).
If we were to observe this kind of leadership approach in a church or a Xn organization, would we tolerate it? Applaud it? How should we/would we think about it.
I'm no big fan of the notion, "the ends don't justify the means," because for one thing the very notion of sacrifice proves the triviality of that saying, but I do wonder how we would evaluate Jobs' leadership approach, if it were adopted in Xn organizations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirates_of_Silicon_Valley
Available at the usual places. Apparently available online for free, also, if you trust such downloads to not infect your computer. Oh, I forgot; Macs don't... :-)
Personally, I'd like to see an updated version of this one, but maybe with both actors wearing black armbands, and giving silent tribute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XfSTy-g86c
Here's an interesting retrospective, which includes a note about Apple's lack of corporate philanthropy:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/279321/jobs-agenda-kevin-d-williamson