When Influence Doesn’t Matter
If it were any other week, I would be writing about the trials and tribulations of IT leaders and their quest to contribute to the success of their organization. I would be pointing out some strategy or tactic that can be used to increase the influence of the CIO or IT in general. But this isn’t any other week for the IT community. It’s the week that Steve Jobs announced his resignation from Apple. And it seems to me that to write about some nifty management method for improving the perception of IT pales in significance.
As we IT mortals struggle to claim our place within our own little worlds, one of the greatest visionaries of information technology declares that his time on the tech stage is coming to an end.
When the news first came across my iPhone, it wasn’t shock or surprise that I felt, it was more just sheer unmitigated pain. And frankly, the pain only got worse as I read the various news stories and analysis that accompanied the announcement. Mostly these stories were about Tim Cook taking over as CEO; the future of Apple as a company and the projections for the share price.
All I could think about was Steve’s personal suffering and that of his family.
Steve Jobs has brought so much good to the world. He has been a shining example of the great things techies can achieve. He has made and remade companies; not through management manipulations but through unparalleled technical excellence and delivery.
Steve loves tech. He loves Apple. He loves Pixar. He loves the numerous other companies that bear his stamp. He loves life and he implores others to love it similarly.
For Steve Jobs to resign from Apple means only one thing: he is really ill.
It is for this reason that I ask you, as a fellow techie at heart, to ignore the temptation to speculate about Apple, its products and the company in a post-Jobs era. Instead, join me, at least for a day or two, and think about Steve Jobs, the man. The incredible man that has done so much to make technology the most influential force on earth today. Honor his contribution by thinking about his very human pain and suffering at this time.
It just seems to me to be the right thing to do. Because sometimes, all the influence in the world can’t make things right.
