Steve Jobs’ Biography Teaches Product Managers to Lead like a CEO

“If it could save a person’s life could you find a way to shave 10 seconds off the boot time?” Steve Jobs dramatically asked an engineer in Walter Isaacson’s much talked about biography, “Steve Jobs.” Jobs reasoned “if there were five million people using the Mac, and it took ten seconds extra to turn it on every day…(that is) the equivalent of at least one hundred lifetimes saved.” This life or death intensity over product detail combined with an understanding of its’ real-world application is key to knowing Steve Jobs was a great product manager.


Product Managers have to simultaneously be attention-to-detail types and big-picture types, and be able to coax great work from a production team. A few weeks after the “save a person’s life” plea the engineer came back with a computer that “booted…up twenty-eight seconds faster.” Jobs’ Chief Executive Officer title may have been what really motivated the engineer but this story illustrates how thinking and speaking like a CEO can help a Product Manager (PM) make better products. Here are more examples from Isaacson’s book:       

Keep it Simple Stupid (KISS).
Apple Inc.’s product design mission was set by Jobs in clear and concise terms – “elegant simplicity.” This guiding philosophy spanned from the first Apple II advertising brochure to the last product released under his watch, the iPad. Jobs killed an early precursor to the iPad because it employed an inelegant stylus: “God gave us ten styluses, let’s not invent another.” Jobs’ clear cut instructions provide an unambiguous end goal for the product’s creators. PMs are responsible for product development from conception to completion (and beyond). If possible, start the product mission by co-opting the company mission, but at the very least keep the mission clear from the beginning.

Are You Experienced?
Jobs kept a keen eye on who was hired and the people that were often had a rebellious, pirate mind-set. Questions Jobs was inclined to ask ranged from “Are you a virgin?” to “How many times have you taken LSD?” These were likely posed to see how well an applicant could think on his or her feet but if pirate mentalities were the end goal it might have been more appropriate to ask “do you still live with your parents” or “have you ever sailed the high seas?” I believe Jobs wanted to know what experience a candidate brought to make Apple Inc. “insanely great.” PMs don’t usually get to hire outside their departments but getting to know team members on a deeper level may unexpectedly reveal knowledge or skills, improving on the insane greatness of a product.    

Meet with the Buccaneers.
Corporate cultural at Apple was collaborative with a focus on hashing out issues. Face-to-face meetings to discuss the product; the problem; the solution; the strategy were not considered a waste of time. Jobs thought, “creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions. You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘Wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.” Apple’s product innovation pipeline was filled with new and creative ideas garnered from CEO facilitated discussions. PMs should not only facilitate product review sessions but also follow-up on the broader themes discussed and incorporate these themes into the product features or mix when appropriate.