Return to the Little Kingdom_ Steve Jobs and the Creation of Apple - Michael Moritz [136]
Trying to instill a system of values in a company where the spirit of the founders ran so strong was difficult if not impossible. Even if Apple was too large for the founders to be seen in every nook and cranny, it was small enough for rumor of their behavior, word of their performance, and their general reputation to have a profound effect on the corporate tone. They were mobile billboards. And when their deeds or their words failed to match the beatific standards preached by the culture committee, the entire effort was stymied.
Culture was not to be confused with democracy, and though certainly no one at the company said as much, Apple Values contained more than a hint of corporate totalitarianism. One of the most vigorous proponents of Apple Culture, Trip Hawkins, a Stanford Business School graduate in his late twenties, chose to explain the importance of corporate culture in military terms. “If you have a strong culture you don’t have to supervise people so closely and you don’t have to have so many rules, regulations, and procedures because everybody thinks the same way and they all react to situations in the same way. It helps you delegate more effectively. For example, you can put a bunch of marines on the beach under fire and they’ll actually run up the beach. Companies that don’t have strong cultures cannot do anything quickly.”
Jobs certainly found the theory of a corporate culture alluring but he was more taken by actions that offered immediate, tangible results. He certainly wanted to make Apple a pleasant place to work. He would enthusiastically describe his plan for an updated version of a company town, which he called “Supersite,” where offices and houses would intermingle. He hoped that it would help Apple hire young engineers who wouldn’t be able to afford California housing prices, allow them to get their feet on the ground, and become familiar with the area. In dreamy moments he would paint a bucolic picture of a corporate park where meetings would be held, and programs written, in the shade of large trees.
Jobs had originally favored flexible hours that allowed engineers and programmers freedom to work at home or at the office. But when this failed to achieve the necessary results, he fired off a memo to a group he was heading that stated: “When I agreed to totally flexible hours it was with the stated assumption that it was the most efficient way to get a very professional quality of work done. This group has not demonstrated that quality in the last 60 days. . . . Effective tomorrow, everyone . . . is required to be in by 10:00 A.M. No exceptions.”
Some who worked for Jobs found him difficult to tolerate. Publications manager Jef Raskin, who worked at Apple until April 1981, said, “He’s extraordinarily seductive. He would have made an excellent king of France.” In a four-page memo sent to Michael Scott and titled “Working for/with Steve Jobs,” Raskin suggested that Jobs “get management training before being allowed to manage other projects.” Raskin complained: “While Mr. Jobs’s stated positions on management techniques are all quite noble and worthy, in practice he is a dreadful manager. It is an unfortunate case of mouthing the right ideas but not believing in or executing them when it comes time to do something.” Raskin continued: “Jobs regularly misses appointments . . . . He does not give credit where due. . . . Jobs also has favorites, who can do no wrong—and others who can do no right . . . . He interrupts and doesn’t listen. . . . He doesn’t keep promises . . . . He is a prime example of a manager who takes the credit for his optimistic schedules and then blames the workers when deadlines are not met.”
Apple Culture and the blanket of corporate goodwill could not conceal