Another side of Apple designer Ive: perfectly handling his demanding boss Jobs

According to a report by BusinessInsider, Apple's design director Jony Ive has extraordinary design talent, and his "professional quotient" is equally top-notch —— his meticulous work impressed even Steve Jobs, who was known for being "strict."

Since the late 1990s, Ive's foresight has determined the way Apple hardware develops and its design essence. The translucent blue (Bondi Blue) iMac, the ultra-thin MacBook Air, and the glass and metal materials used in the iPhone 4 are all designed by Ive.

After Scott Forstall left, Ive began to take charge of Apple's software design, transforming into a design hero whose talent in the design field is unmatched. However, there is another skill that you should absolutely learn from Ive. It turns out that in the early stages of his career at Apple, Ive was very skilled at "managing" his boss. At that time, his boss was Jobs.

Steve Jobs was a memorable innovation hero, but he was also a demanding boss. In Alan Deutschman's book *The Second Coming of Steve Jobs*, it describes how Jobs tried to stimulate creativity among employees through "intimidation, provocation, scolding, belittling, and even insulting them." "When he was 'Bad Steve,' he seemed not to care about the serious harm that arrogance or emotional outbursts could cause. He would often have sudden ideas, unexpectedly making everyone start paying attention to the work employees were complaining about." Indeed, although Jobs had extraordinary talent, he was difficult to get along with as a boss.

In 1997, when Jony Ive, then 30 years old, started working for Jobs, he suddenly encountered a problem that most people would face: a difficult boss.

Ive wasn't fighting alone. The American Psychological Association (APA) has dedicated content on its help center website about "managing your boss." The association suggests: "You should try to analyze the reasons behind your boss's unkind actions. Assuming that your boss usually acts fairly and reasonably, then his or her unkind behavior might be caused by too much stress. The good news is, this kind of behavior can be corrected."

How did Ive solve the problem with his boss?

He kept practicing to become a master of design. You can imagine that such an attitude towards work could also keep one's boss calm. Then, he brought this attitude into life.

Former Apple designer Jeff Zwerner explained how Ive took care of every aspect of the Apple design studio, "Ive's work made Jobs feel comfortable, and everyone got used to techno rhythm music playing in the studio." Zwerner said that Ive required all designers that if Jobs was coming to the design studio, "everyone must slow down and walk carefully."

Another former Apple designer, Doug Satzger, mentioned that Ive noticed that Jobs "spoke loudly, but he wanted his voice to only be noticed by the person he was talking to." So whenever Jobs appeared in Ive's design studio, Ive would turn up the volume of the music in the studio —— "this way, Jobs' conversation could be guaranteed to be heard only by the two people involved."

If you want to become a world-class industrial designer like Ive, you need to have the ability to imagine how users will interact with your product. Ive similarly applied this skill to deal with his boss problem.

It turns out that Ive's strategy is highly referential for people in the workplace.