Exploring Apple's continued use of Steve Jobs' meeting style

Steve Jobs' intense meeting methods influentially defined Apple's culture lasting for 20 years.

A fresh book by David Pogue, "Apple: The First 50 Years," provides insights into the company's cultural development, heavily colored by its cofounder's management style in 1997 when he under took the task of revitalising Apple. 

Known for his meeting enthusiasm as CEO, Jobs devoted time each week to engaging with his executive team and made Mondays key for crucial discussions.

Within these sessions, Jobs along with Apple's leaders nurtured a culture centered on debate.

The practice involved critiquing each other's strategies and finetuning a clear direction, as shared by former marketing exec Phil Schiller to Pogue.

"In here, we're all free to argue our points passionately, vocally, and as much as necessary about anything we're certain about," Schiller noted in the book. "Inside this room, we express everything. But once our meeting ends, we exit unified around our decisions." Everyone shared accountability for these decisions, as all viewpoints were entertained during these sessions.

This aligns with Jobs' story about a rock tumbler, which over time polishes rough stones into something polished.

 Pogue recounted that Jobs believed people "clashing, arguing, even fighting at times... through teamwork, they refine each other and their ideas."

According to Pogue, this metaphor continues to resonate at Apple long after Jobs' tenure.

This approach prevents silent objections to projects due to apprehension and provides space for diverse perspectives.

"We'd sometimes swap perspectives and counter each other’s arguments. That's how we brainstormed effectively," mentioned former Apple hardware engineering leader Jon Rubinstein in the book.

One concept notably absent from a meeting with Jobs would be a PowerPoint slideshow. Pogue explained that Jobs felt they were not needed.

"I dislike how slide decks replace real thinking," Jobs was once cited saying by Pogue in the book. "Those familiar with their topic have no requirement for PowerPoint."

While initially seen as challenging, Jobs' method helped carve Apple into a tech powerhouse.