To heck with crowdsourcing -- Steve Jobs believes that "the economics of elitism trumps the wisdom of the crowd," reports Steve Lohr in the New York Times (1/31/10). Mr. Jobs subscribes to what John Kao, an innovation consultant, calls the "auteur model of innovation." That's when "there is a tight connection between the personality of the project leader and what is created." In film-making, examples include Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" and James Cameron's "Avatar." And in product-making, the example is Apple's Steve Jobs.

Or maybe that's Steve Jobs's Apple. Either way, Apple products clearly reflect his "personal taste," which is evident both in the simple way he dresses (black turtleneck, jeans, sneakers) and the way he lives; his home is "uncluttered," featuring "spare interiors." He believes his products represent a triumph of taste (maybe it's time to lose the "mom" jeans, Steve :-). And he thinks that taste "is a byproduct of study, observation and being steeped in the culture of the past and present."

Rather than pursuing design by committee or hewing to market research, Steve Jobs "relies heavily on tenacity, patience, belief and instinct." While he leads a large team, he looks for "designers, engineers and managers" who are "10 times better" than "merely very good." Perhaps most important, he considers himself to be "a skilled listener of technology" who tracks "vectors in technology over time," introducing new products like the iPad only when "technical progress, affordable pricing and consumer demand" align.