Steve Jobs has forever been considered an anomaly in management. His leadership style was one thing to admire or to criticize, however definitely not to replicate. He didn't fit into the frameworks of business textbooks: there was orthodox management, and then there was Steve Jobs.
The reason why institutional management theories have always checked out his management style as an exception is that he was navigating a territory that's usually obscure to management, the creation of meaning, for clients and workers.
He placed individuals at the centre. That doesn't imply that he gave users what they wished, or that he created a flat playful organization where concepts flew from the bottom up. Apple’s approach to innovation is unquestionably not user-driven, it doesn't listen to users, however makes proposals to them. And narrations on Job’s leadership style tell of a vertical, top-down approach, usually harsh. At new product launches, he, not the team, was the protagonist.
“Managing by meaning” is recognizing that individuals are human: they need rational, cultural, and emotional dimensions, and that they appreciate the one that creates means for them to embrace. We know customers don't purchase Apple’s products just because of their utility or functionality. People are susceptible to forgive a number of Apple’s technical limitations in exchange for its nice style, and identity. For Jobs, style wasn't solely beauty, but making a new meaning for users.
Jobs was perpetually driven by the search for products that created a lot of sense to individuals. And Apple has been a champion in designing new product meanings: the iMac G3, released in 1998, together with its colourful, clear materials inspired by trendy