Does Steve Jobs Micro Manage?

By Robert on November 2, 2007 9:01 PM |
Steve Jobs

Why is it that so many people talk about Steve Jobs as if he makes every decision in Apple? Was Steve the lead product manager on Leopard? Did he personally select the 300+ new features that were added? Does he pull the development staff together every day to run through the bug list? Did he develop Time Machine? Is he working on the iPhone SDK? Where does he find the time to manage every single detail in the company?

It should be obvious that Steve can not directly manage every project undertaken by the 17,787 Apple employees. So why is it that people are compelled to say things like...

  • I hope Steve adds podcasting to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store on the iPod touch and iPhone.
  • Steve Jobs helped save a sinking music industry.
  • Apple may open up its iPhone to third-party developers who receive the blessing of Steve Jobs when the company ships Mac OS X.
  • I hope Steve Jobs doesn’t release new flat displays anytime soon.
  • Is Steve Jobs going to release an iPhone SDK?

I have heard that Steve runs a pretty tight ship but he isn't the only one making decisions in Apple. I suggest we start giving the other executives and individual product teams a little credit for their contributions!

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