The Importance Of Problem Solving And Conflict Management

This paper will view how Steve Jobs handled Problem Solving and Conflict Management during his time with Apple Inc. Steve Jobs was an individual with vision, so the normal way of conducting business was not within the normal scope for him. Problem Solving was simple at first glance, but the deeper you got into it, you could see the complexity of the problem (creativitygames.net). Steve Jobs believed, the middle of the problem is where people would think twice before moving forward, but the real great people would move forward and come up with great solutions (creativitygames.net). Steve was not worried if he was liked and he did not fear conflict as his main objective was to make the company successful. Companies in America enjoy “consensus”

For example, having a computer, keyboard and mouse was a big problem to him. He asked himself, why does the computer have to be so big? Why do I have to carry a keyboard? Why can’t I carry the system around with me all day? Why can’t I do everything by touch? These “big problems” led to the IOS that eventually led to the IPAD. Another example would be phones prior to 2007. They were big, and a pain to use. Steve rallied his team to come up with a solution to this “big problem”. The solution, the iPhone (heydave.org/post). These are just a few examples on how Apple has become the company that solves problems. Jobs like connecting the dots by association with two or three items that were not even related to what he might have been working on. On of the areas that Jobs felt inspired was the kitchen department at Macy’s which has nothing to do with computers except that everyone had kitchen appliances in each home and that was Jobs goal to have computers in each home (keepinginspiring.me).

Steve was passionate about working at Apple, because he loved solving problems. Bottom line, his strategy on becoming successful in problem solving was 1) leading the company to solve big problems, 2) empowering his teams to find best solutions and 3) structuring the company around #1 and

I believe in “stretching the circle wider”. I want to include people and make them feel part of the group and I avoid being part of groups that exclude others. I want to expand the group, so everyone can benefit from its support. I am an instinctively accepting person. Overall for me, I do my best to avoid conflict as I feel we are fundamentally all the same and equally important. As a leader, Steve Jobs was not concerned with conflicts in the organization. Steve Jobs believed that being nice did not drive innovation. He did not worry about being liked nor did he fear conflict. The one thing he did care about was building the best company that produced the best products (huffingtonpost.com). Steve Jobs challenged his own and his company models while purposely debating new ideas with other people who he knew would push back (huffingtonpost.com).

One thing that he used towards conflict management was distinct sub-division within the unit. He ensured each department was separated enough to avoid conflicts within the organization. The staff members have structured jobs which reduce the chance of conflict between them. He believed that having the units sub-divided gave less inter-connections and helped reduced conflicts