[ZenPro]

Almost everybody I have ever learned something truly valuable from was a nice person.

I have yet to meet an example of the single-minded-asshole-genius who is actually a success.

Most of the truly credible successes I have met are nice people and highly regarded.

[logfromblammo]

While this is mostly based on hearsay, what about Steve Jobs?

From all the anecdotal accounts and unsubstantiated rumors I have heard, Steve Jobs was a reasonably intelligent, single-minded asshole, and Steve Wozniak was the super-nice-guy genius.

[ZenPro]

Everybody always pulls Steve Jobs out of the bag to try and illustrate the asshole boss paradigm.

Steve Jobs also used to burst into tears in the Boardroom sobbing about how unfair the system was.

I don't see many management books advocating that approach...bawling your eyes out until your business partners acquiesce.

But, if I ever meet a Steve Jobs, a single minded visionary who is seeking to shape the entire paradigm of personal computing...

...I still wouldn't let him talk to me the way Isaacson reports in his book. Fuck Steve Jobs.

Plus, when it came down to the wire, Microsoft owned them. Literally.