My Personal Management Skills and How They Would Have Aligned with NeXT - Could I have made a Difference?

This week’s MSLD 631 blog reflects how my management and leadership characteristics (strengths and weaknesses) would have fit into the environment at NeXT. A major building block to make this reflection is the personalized management assessment report provided by NextSteps Research™. Additionally, complexity science and the Cynefin Framework are used to help provide a frame around the reflection.

Background of NeXT

               For those of you not familiar with NeXT, NeXT was the company Steve Jobs founded after his break-up with Apple, the company he and Steve Woziniak founded. (Damore, 1988). Today’s high technology market and the increased complexity of the world we live in today owes much of its existence to Steve Woziniak and Steve Jobs.

At the onset of creating NeXT, Steve Jobs had a vision of manufacturing a super computer that college and university students and professors could afford. This vision was wholly owned and safe-guarded by Steve Jobs’ (Nathan, 1989). In the Nathan (1989) video, Steve Jobs appears to have created an environment that was healthy…at least on the surface. Collaboration and teamwork seemed very important and functioning as evidenced by two retreats held within the first six months that were captured on the video. At these retreats healthy conflict appeared to occur, at least on the surface.

Careful analysis of what was really occurring shows some behaviors that ended up being detrimental to the success of NeXT. One in particular was Steve Jobs unbending desire to reach the market place by the Spring of 1987. The line in the sand that Steve Jobs drew with the go to market date placed a tremendous amount of pressure on the organization. In a complex environment there needs to be enough flexibility for the system to contract and expand. This flexibility reduces stress that can produce cracks, lead to wider fissures and ultimately break the system. “There needs to be enough flexibility – if the objectives are set too tight they constrain, if they are too loose they can miss the target.” (Obolensky, 2014, p. 114).

Whether or not NeXT was operating in a complex environment is not the topic of discussion here, but it is contextually important to consider when discussing my strengths and how they could have been used to help Steve Jobs deal with a growing complex system. “If the ability to lead and manage change is the great differentiator in today’s increasingly fast-paced business environment, then executives who can adapt to change, rather than simply cope with it, will be the ones who consistently deliver outstanding results.” (Kantor, Kram & Sala, 2008). NeXT was followed by a return to Apple and the creation of Pixar. The success of Apple and Pixar might lead one to believe that Steve Jobs learned some valuable lessons at NeXT. There is support for this assertion “Between Steve Jobs’ first stint at Apple and his last, he became a much better manager of people. He still could tear the hide off someone if he didn’t think they did their job, but his outbursts were far fewer and far less hostile later in life than before.” (Jackson, 2013). Steve Jobs adapted and matured.

My Work Experience

               For almost a decade now my role has been a team lead for aircraft system fault isolation at a major aircraft manufacturer for their advanced aircraft program. In this role, being comfortable with ambiguity is essential due to aircraft systems being continually being tweaked and redesigned and sometimes the best methods to troubleshoot a system has to emerge. The combination of human mind and machine (computer software) to create a ‘power-tool’ comes in real handy when zooming in on a particular fault and building the procedure. The environment could be described as complex, but in reality it is likely more in the realm of very complicated.

 The reason for this is likely due to the silo nature of the relationship between the departments of Engineering and Technical Publications (my department is publications). Because we operate in silos complicated problems seem complex, when the reality is that because we don’t have all the answers (they reside with engineering), they seem complex (Snowden & Boone, 2007). In addition, my background in aviation maintenance includes avionics maintenance and managing large groups of technicians to accomplish the goals of small to medium sized organizations.

How Would My Skill-Set Have Fit with the Culture and Makeup of NeXT?

Attribute Strengths

My strengths of seeking out challenges, strong desire to take risks, being comfortable with ambiguity, and be in an innovative environment would be a great fit for a start-up company like NeXT. I would have really enjoyed taking part in the team discussions led by Steve Jobs, although it would have made me very uncomfortable had he cut me off the way he did many of his team members. My rating for assertiveness and extroversion is very high, so it is likely that if Steve were to cut me off once to many, he would hear about it. Maybe that is what he needed? Someone to put him in his place? In this phase of his life he probably needed someone to give him a dose of reality as evidence by his success in his return to Apple and the creation of Pixar that can be attributed to him maturing as a leader (Jackson, 2013).

Another personal characteristic that would be helpful to a start-up like NeXT is being inventive and assertive. My scores were in the 90 percentile range on both service and product inventive desire and at being assertive. No doubt that a start-up environment like NeXT would be a play-ground for me (in the sense work would be fun) where fitting in would not be a problem so long as my ability to recognize when to be assertive and when to listen was operating at a high level.

Attribute Weaknesses

One area of concern might be in the problem solving realm. Problem solving is an important function in start-ups and my assessment places more emphasis on finding problems instead of solving problems (NeXT 2015). This may be due to a desire to not clean-up someone else’s mess. When I think about my desire to be inventive in both service and products, these are ‘new’ problems, not someone else’s ‘old’ problems that needs cleaning up. Not being a perfect match should not be a deterrent from joining a company where there is exciting challenges. Besides, how often is it that someone matches every characteristic of these management attributes?

Also an area of concern is use of resources and financial goal setting. My score in this area indicates that directing resources to accomplish goals is stronger than building infrastructure. Not so sure this is not because of the lack of opportunities that have been provided to me to build infrastructure. My role as a team lead has rather limited infrastructure building opportunities. Additionally, the environment is a rather fluid one, so the infrastructure that has been built is rather loose.

On the topic of financial goal setting, this high rating may have in fact been influenced by my organization’s strong desire to achieve financial goals. So there is a strong possibility that my responses were at least in part condition by my current environment. Just how much did my current work environment influence the outcome of the NextSteps Research assessment? Could this assessment be a reflection of my adaptability to my work environment? I believe it does, at least in part.

Leadership Style

This part of the NextSteps Research was the most exciting as it confirmed that my leadership style leans heavily in the diplomatic range. “Diplomatic leaders exhibit people-oriented leadership approach. People who enjoy advocacy, public relations and personnel work.” (NextSteps Research, 2015). With my training background, it becomes easy to imagine leading the training department for Steve Jobs and Next (if they had one). Additionally, this type of leader is comfortable in complex situations and can help an organization run smoothly (NextSteps Research).

Summary

Steve Jobs and NeXT was in many ways ahead of its time and perhaps allowing some processes to emerge instead of drawing lines in the sand (product to market date) would have made a difference? WebObjects was developed during the NeXT era is still being used today (Dyck, 2015). What if Steve Jobs had someone on his staff as assertive as he was or at least assertive enough to challenge his ego? How much more successful could NeXT have been?

There are a lot of leaders that do not understand the difference between complex and complicated and why an intimate understanding of these differences in the 21^st Century will become more and more important as complexity becomes more prevalent. “Complexity is poised to help current and future leaders make sense of advanced technology, globalization, intricate markets, cultural change, and much more. In short, the science of complexity can help all of us address the challenges and opportunities we face in a new epoch of human history.” (Snowden & Boone, 2007). Snowden’s development of the Cynefin Framework (Snowden & Boone) and Obolensky’s writings on complexity science (Obolensky, 2014) has influenced my way of thinking about the future, the unknown and uncertainty. I’m ready to help an aviation organization meet the challenges of the future. Question is which aviation organizations are ready for me?

References:

Damore, K. (1998). Steve jobs: Apple. Computer Reseller News, (815), 109. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/227572526?accountid=27203.

Dyck, T. (1988, Feb 9). WebObjects is still solid after all these years. PC Week. Retrieved from
http://bi.galegroup.com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/essentials/article/GALE%7CA20305141?u=embry.

Kantor, S., Kram, K. E., & Sala, F. (2008). Change factor: Making the case for executive adaptability. Leadership In Action, 27(6).

Nathan, J. (1989, Mar 17). Entrepreneurs [Video file]. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loQhufxiorM&feature=relat.

NextSteps Research. (2015, Oct 19). [Management assessment profile: Prepared for Embry-Riddle]. Unpublished raw data.

Snowden, D., & Boone, M. (2007). A Leader's Framework for Decision Making. Harvard Business Review, 85(11), 68-76.

Moore, K. (2013, Jan 13). The ten life lessons from Steve Jobs we should never forget. Forbes/Investing. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericjackson/2013/01/22/the-ten-life-lessons-from-steve-jobs-we-should-never-forget/.