The Bozo Explosion

Steve Jobs remarked, "I don't think I run roughshod over people, but if someone sucks, I tell people to their faces.  It's my job to be honest."  In the article, "The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs" in Harvard Business Review (April 2012; hbr.org), Walter Isaacson points out that in fact Jobs was "famously impatient, petulant, and tough with people around him."

"But his treatment of people, though not laudable, emanated from his passion for perfection and his desire to work with only the best.  It was his way of preventing what he called 'the bozo explosion' in which managers are so polite that mediocre people feel comfortable sticking around....

"It is important to appreciate that Jobs' rudeness and roughness were accompanied by the ability to be inspirational.  He infused Apple employees with an abiding passion to create groundbreaking products and a belief that they could accomplish what seemed impossible... Jobs had a close-knit family, and so it was at Apple:  His top players tended to stick around longer and be more loyal than those at other companies, including ones led by bosses who were kinder and gentler.  CEOs who study Jobs and decide to emulate his toughness without understanding his ability to generate loyalty make a dangerous mistake."

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