How would Jobs react if an employee told him that they couldn’t complete a task?

Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs was known for his pursuit of perfection, and many believe that Apple's success should be attributed at least in part to Jobs's endless pursuit of detail and perfection.

So you can imagine how Jobs would react if someone told him something couldn't be done. One former Apple and NeXT employee described what it was like to be confronted by Jobs complaining that his tasks couldn't be completed.

Ken Rosen, now managing partner of consulting firm Performance Works, had the privilege of working with Jobs at NeXT in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although Rosen worked at both Apple and NeXT, it was at NeXT that he first interacted with Jobs.

At the time, Rosen was a manager in charge of emerging markets at NeXT. Once, he needed to work with Jobs to give a keynote speech on a new product.

Rosen later said that this experience taught him the most valuable management experience of his life.

Jobs told Rosen that he needed five things to prepare for his keynote.

“I can’t remember what they were. I just remember that he wanted to show five things in the keynote,” Rosen said. “We worked on it for a few days and finally had it almost ready, but there was one thing missing.”

Rosen had no choice but to tell Jobs the truth that only four of the five things needed for the keynote speech were prepared.

"I really wasn't being perfunctory. As long as it was possible to do something, I would never complain in front of him. I tried very hard to maintain a good relationship with Jobs," he said.

Here’s Jobs’ response:

"He put his hand on my shoulder, like a father, even a little condescending, and said, 'This is what needs to be filled.' And then he turned and walked away."

Rosen said that he was initially a little annoyed by Jobs's reaction. He hoped that Jobs would trust his judgment and believe that his team had done its best to complete the task at hand. But despite his anger, he went back to his team to continue to find a solution to the problem.

"His bottom line was, we have to find a way to get it done," Rosen said. "It might have been a normal day for Jobs. But it was a special day for me because I learned a profound lesson: You can do things you think you can't do, you just have to find a way. This kind of thinking is a powerful weapon for us to face challenges."

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.