The
video, Steve Jobs
Brainstorms with NeXT Team (2012), takes us through the first six months of the
start-up company NeXT. After leaving
Apple, Steve Jobs branched out and started a new company focused on creating
simulation software geared towards higher education. This was no easy feat, as shown in the video;
it required a lot of ingenuity and hard work to produce an affordable and
successfully product in a limited time frame.
While my characteristics
do not lend themselves to creativity or inventing, they do lean toward
achieving goals, taking risks, solving problems, working as a team, and multi-tasking
according to my MA results. All of these
attributes would be beneficial in the environment shown in the video, while I
may not be directly involved in the development of the product I would be able
to play a different role in the success of the company and product.
I have a
tendency to be goal oriented, I prefer to have a goal or objective to work
towards, it allows me to keep my focus.
I also feel the greater the challenge the most I want it, the thought of
accomplishing a task that may seem out of range is something that motivates me.
I also have a tendency to take risks,
the higher the risk the more determined I am.
The NeXT team was a very large risk, they were people who left secure
jobs to follow their leader in a new direction and they took a leap of
faith. This type of behavior is
sometimes necessary in order push limit and boundaries in order to create
something new. I feel this would have
served the NeXT team well. I would have
been able to help drive the team forward by reminding them of the task at hand
and how we are going to get there.
One of my
strongest qualities and also my favorite is solving problems. I enjoy approaching issues that arise in
situations and finding ways to solve them, even it means thinking outside the
box. Yukl (2012) stated, “effective
problem solving requires an ability to remain calm and stay focused on the
problem rather than panicking” (p. 139).
I believe this to be completely true and I make a point of following it
if one is easily rattled then their ability to solve problems is affected. In the situation of the second retreat in the
Steve Jobs video, the team is at a point where they are beginning to become
frustrated and agitated with where the project is at, there is a certain sense
of uncertainty, which is unnerving. This
is where is feel my characteristic of problem solving would come into play, the
idea of seeing all the facts in front of me and having to put them together in
a way that will meet the needs of all the teams is something I do well.
Working
as part of a team and multi-tasking are also things I feel comfortable
with. Being a part of a team means
understanding how to work with different personalities and abilities at
once. Yukl (2012) identified that “group
performance will be higher when members have the knowledge and skills necessary
to do the work” (p. 249). In the video,
all the team members appear to have both the knowledge and the skills needed to
achieve the end result. They may not all
agree on how to get there, or what steps are needed but the have the same
mutual vision. Steve Jobs mentioned that
he would like to assign a role of keeper and reminder of the goal, a person who
is able to step in and remind members of what the vision is and that they all
have the same goal. This is a role I
would feel very comfortable with; I could be the voice of reason when
departments may have differences of opinions.
While the
idea behind the NeXT team required a great deal of vision and creativity, which
I lack, there are a lot of opportunities for me to use my characteristics to
help the team. Problem-solving, working
to achieve goals, and being part of a team are all areas I show strength in and
all are helpful in achieving the ultimate vision. Sometimes people are more focused on getting
to the answer than how they get to the answer; this can lead to tunnel vision and
often means alternatives are overlooked.
Problem-solving usually involves thinking outside the box, which some people
struggle with, I like to find ways that might be different or unconventional. Even if you feel your expertise is not
compatible with the task at hand, you might be surprised how you could be of
help.
Steve Jobs Brainstorms with NeXT Team. (2012). Retrieved September 11,
2016,
Yukl, G. (2012). Leadership in Organizations (8th
ed.). Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc
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