In 1986, Steve Jobs was at a turning point. He had just left Apple and was building a new company, NeXT. During this phase he formulated observations that had nothing to do with computers or programming languages, but rather with everyday work.
An entrepreneur between vision and everyday life
Steve Jobs was considered a visionary who wanted to combine technology with design and culture. But he noticed early on that ideas fail not just because of talent or capital, but because of structures that paralyze everyday life. At NeXT, the company he founded after Apple, he wrote a memo that is still quoted today. It says that meetings are one of the biggest killers of productivity, a judgment that he applied particularly sharply to the work of engineers.
Meetings are distractions
Jobs’ attitude to meetings was unequivocal. For him they were rarely a help, but mostly a hindrance. Many took too long, were ill-prepared, and tried to solve problems that could be better addressed in the workplace. In GQ Germany he is quoted as saying: “Meetings are a damn distraction for engineers.” In doing so, he addressed a point that many employees still complain about decades later: the fragmentation of working time through meetings that cost more energy than they bring in.
Thursdays without interruption
Instead of contenting himself with criticism, Jobs made an unusual suggestion. At NeXT there should be one day a week where there were no meetings. He chose Thursday, a day that would ensure the team had undisturbed concentration. The Bank Blog describes this approach as an attempt to consciously free the calendar from disruptive factors. Jobs not only wanted to achieve greater efficiency, but also preserve the depth of the work.
The quiet power of individual work
Jobs knew that many of his own ideas came from moments when he was working on a problem alone and undisturbed. He transferred this experience to his teams. According to t3n, without a time window for concentrated work, creativity is lost. Productivity doesn’t mean constantly being in conversations, but rather being able to think thoughts through to the end.
communication
In addition to meetings, Jobs also criticized the excessive communication in companies. Employees constantly have to spend energy convincing others of ideas or explaining tasks. According to t3n, he saw this as a waste of resources. In his eyes, efficiency was highest when talented people could act independently – without the constant pressure to justify their work.
Paul Schütte, editorial team at finanzen.net
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