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27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

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Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#231

Post by JonChesterfield »

duxup wrote: post #29
colund wrote: post #5

Jobs talks about this in https://youtu.be/l4dCJJFuMsE . I wish more leaders understood this. I interpret his words that people who do, understand and care are more valuable than those who only focus on process and politics. Steve Jobs has great points again. I love to hear him talk about what really matters for success of great tech companies.

I feel like I'm experiencing this in a distant way at a small company I'm working at. We're working at instituting some process, it's a good thing as we've been cowboying out code for a long time, it's not sustainable, it's hard on everyone for all the usual reasons when a small company begins to grow and there haven't been a lot of processes. Tech debt, weird code, poor code reviews (if any ... mostly none), what is…

I watched a small company building great tech hire experienced managers from big professional firms to put the proper process in place. We didn't have the sales yet, nor the headcount to warrant such efforts.

That was fatal. They didn't need the process and couldn't afford the overhead.

It's worth giving serious thought to whether your company is successful enough to survive this new strategy. It may be time to look for the exit.

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#232

Post by RollAHardSix »

NickC25 wrote: post #221
hef19898 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everytime a soccer team, or any other team, is built around one individual, it is only ever as good as said individual. If that is done, no titles are won and no great accomplishments achieved.

Barcelona's 2008-2012 and 2014-2017 teams would probably disagree - they were built around Messi being able to do whatever he wanted, wherever he wanted....including going on an unbothered stroll for as long as he wanted, whenever he wanted. His whole MO is that he has the unique ability to flip a switch from walking around aimlessly to getting the ball and tearing an entire midfield and defense to shreds in the blin…

Xavi, Busquets, Iniesta, and in 2014 Neymar. Messi is the GOAT, but Barca is one of the worst teams to say built to allow one player to do what he wanted. Barca built an entire system and slotted the greatest single-team field of all time players to play that system.

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#234

Post by numpad0 »

Golden_Wind123 wrote: post #224
NickC25 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Except Tim Cook's Apple focuses much more on process and forget about the content. I have a feeling that's partially due to how much money a lot of those people (and Apple shareholders) have made under Cook's leadership. The growth has been nothing short of incredible. IIRC Apple shares have grown like 8x or 9x under him (when accounting for inflation). That said, Apple products no longer really have that magic tha…

The counterpoint is that we don't need a new gimmick every year, and the companies that do chase new gimmicks (like Samsung and Xiaomi) do so at the expense of overall fit and finish. However the magic really isn't gone. The Apple Pencil is a nice invention whose whole purpose is for creative endeavors. Gradual refinement isn't a bad thing either. While this isn't a new invention, it definitely feels like magic to wa…

And IBM is still around too. I don't know how many machines they make now, but it's far from bankrupt.

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#235

Post by yodsanklai »

scarface_74 wrote: post #66
yodsanklai wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That has been my entire career. Never seen it go differently. In my "big tech company", there's a thorough (and I think overall fair) evaluation process, and a very high performer can earn a significant amount of money, e.g. 10x the salary of a junior. People are also strongly incentized to deliver through bonuses and stock refresher. I'm not denying that what you describe exists in some (most?) companies, but ther…

A junior at BigTech averages around $170K. Are you really saying a high performer can make $1.7 million in compensation a year? I’m sure there are a very few that do.

Look at Google [1] and Meta [2], this seems to be in the ballpark. There are people with such high salaries, but they are very few and more than just high-performers.

[1] https://www.levels.fyi/companies/google/salaries/software-en... [2] https://www.levels.fyi/companies/facebook/salaries/software-...

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#236

Post by caminante »

AzuraIsCool wrote: post #90
fxtentacle wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I incorporated a tiny company. Sometimes, companies will interview me and then when I tell them my salary expectations, they usually pretend to be offended and refuse by arguing that it would destroy the salary structure inside their company. But that doesn't really mean anything because many of them are happy to book my consulting company at 1.5x that salary afterwards.

So in essence you apply for regular employment and when you get turned down you pitch your consulting service? On last few teams I have been pulling most of the project while being unpaid (southern Europe devs rejoice) so I m thinking about incorporating as well, but with kid on the way I am worried I won't be able to find clients...

> On last few teams I have been pulling most of the project while being unpaid (southern Europe devs rejoice) so I m thinking about incorporating as well...

Not getting paid? Are you trying to break into an industry with an unpaid internship or is this a hack-a-thon side project?

I don't understand how structuring an independent contractor offering will get you paid by the same folks who aren't paying you at the moment.

Doesn't sound like it would solve your issue.

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#238

Post by duxup »

JonChesterfield wrote: post #231
duxup wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like I'm experiencing this in a distant way at a small company I'm working at. We're working at instituting some process, it's a good thing as we've been cowboying out code for a long time, it's not sustainable, it's hard on everyone for all the usual reasons when a small company begins to grow and there haven't been a lot of processes. Tech debt, weird code, poor code reviews (if any ... mostly none), what is…

I watched a small company building great tech hire experienced managers from big professional firms to put the proper process in place. We didn't have the sales yet, nor the headcount to warrant such efforts. That was fatal. They didn't need the process and couldn't afford the overhead. It's worth giving serious thought to whether your company is successful enough to survive this new strategy. It may be time to look…

Yeah we haven't gone the "need managers" route yet. Right now we're sorta creeping in process like ... uh actual good testing, and so on ;)

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#239

Post by NickC25 »

Golden_Wind123 wrote: post #224
NickC25 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Except Tim Cook's Apple focuses much more on process and forget about the content. I have a feeling that's partially due to how much money a lot of those people (and Apple shareholders) have made under Cook's leadership. The growth has been nothing short of incredible. IIRC Apple shares have grown like 8x or 9x under him (when accounting for inflation). That said, Apple products no longer really have that magic tha…

The counterpoint is that we don't need a new gimmick every year, and the companies that do chase new gimmicks (like Samsung and Xiaomi) do so at the expense of overall fit and finish. However the magic really isn't gone. The Apple Pencil is a nice invention whose whole purpose is for creative endeavors. Gradual refinement isn't a bad thing either. While this isn't a new invention, it definitely feels like magic to wa…

>The counterpoint is that we don't need a new gimmick every year, and the companies that do chase new gimmicks (like Samsung and Xiaomi) do so at the expense of overall fit and finish

I think you're sort of making my point for me in a roundabout way. We don't need our consumer computing devices to come out with new iterations every year. That's more down to the process people who listen to Wall Street's wanton cries of "QoQ growth for all of time must happen or else we will riot". They look at Cook and say "we have to copy that". Instead of following the gaming console trend (a new device every 4-5 years that was clearly several technological steps up from the previous console), they become addicted to releasing nearly identical products with a few marginal changes because that gets them nice quarterly numbers.

I'd rather own a device, use it a few years, and then upgrade when the product utility and usecase demands I need to.

Re: 27 years ago, Steve Jobs said the best employees focus on content, not process

#240

Post by ksec »

NickC25 wrote: post #186
ksec wrote: post #54

Except Tim Cook's Apple focuses much more on process and forget about the content. It is also strange this being brought up now in 2024. Because from 2014 to 2021 or 2022, the only sentiment allowed was every employees are roughly equal. There are no high performer. No such thing as 10x programmers etc.

> Except Tim Cook's Apple focuses much more on process and forget about the content. I have a feeling that's partially due to how much money a lot of those people (and Apple shareholders) have made under Cook's leadership. The growth has been nothing short of incredible. IIRC Apple shares have grown like 8x or 9x under him (when accounting for inflation). That said, Apple products no longer really have that magic tha…

Very well said. Tim Cook definitely lost the "Why". The "Why" in PR, ever since Kattie Cotton retired. The "Why" in marketing, how many agency did they try and now they are doing it in house. The "Why" in product range. The "Why" in Apple Store Retail. Or literally every single "Why" that Apple had but are lost as executive leaves.

And you can tell even if you dont know much about supply chain. Their whole product market segmentation and how every iteration is a price / component reuse for maximum profits.

It isn't about new product or magic as many claims. It is having the gut feeling, or taste, to say this feature will be in the new mid range, and this will be flagship only. At the expense of maximising profits. Right now the whole Apple just feels it is all about operating efficiency.

In the old days it was the exact opposite, as long as Steve Jobs thinks it is not Apple's core competency or others could do it better he is very much willing to pay for it. Keeping everything as slim and as tight as possible. Even when he knew it could save some money.

And a lot of designs and user experience just feels much more complex. It feels more Android or Windows with every update. The urge to ship features after features.

It is unfortunate. Apple used to be the The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. Now they feels very much the same as Google or Microsoft. With slightly better taste, fits and finish in their products.

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