Skin in the Game

Reminder of what Steve Jobs said in 1992 and it is still very real

In 1992 at MIT Sloan, Steve Jobs shared what he sees as his interpretation of Skin in the Game. Here is the video clip and the short snippet with his message :

“I think that without owning something over an extended period of time, like a few years, where someone has a chance to take responsibility for one’s recommendations, where one has to see one’s recommendations through all action stages and accumulate some scar tissue for the mistakes and pick one’s self up off the ground and dust one’s self off, one learns a fraction of what one can,” Jobs said.

Owning something over an extended period of time

1. Hard part is not just the initial product conception, but operation

2. The last 10% part of a product development are often the hardest

3. Challenges of building something new often arrives after you first ship something real to customers

See one’s recommendations through all action stages and accumulate some scar tissue

1. Live with one’s decisions and suggestions often when the decision involves and impacts more than one person

2. Consider longevity of your recommendations and decisions

3. Consider impact to the other team members who have to operate based on your decision

Pick one’s self up off the ground and dust one’s self off

1. Practice continuous learning

2. Perform pre-mortems

3. Have failures to share with

4. In interview process, look for someone who had skin in the game, and learnt from failing by living the consequences of their decisions