Jacob on Jobs: “You never left a meeting thinking, ‘What did he mean by that?’”

Former Pixar CTO Oren Jacob shares stories about his former boss.

On Sunday I was in California at the Napa Valley Film Festival, attending the Tweethouse, an event focused on communication innovation that my husband’s company, the Parnassus Group, puts on at various larger conventions and festivals throughout the year.

Oren Jacob, entrepreneur and former CTO of Pixar, was one of the speakers. For over an hour, he held the room with breathless stories about someone he worked with — someone who is arguably the most captivating figure of the year: Steve Jobs.

Among all of Oren’s recollections of Jobs’ leadership, one stood out:

“You never left a meeting thinking, ‘What did he mean by that?’”

Clarity is complicated in business, especially, I’d imagine, when you’re at the head of one of the most revered companies in the world, leading some of the most fiercely brilliant minds. It must be easy to go on and on, leaving sensitive issues vague and employees scrambling to extract their own meaning. But something about hearing that the great Steve Jobs managed to be straightforward with his team made me think — maybe clarity in not as hard to come by as I think.

Point to Steve.