Steve Jobs Shared This Work Habit With Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos, Says Pixar Exec, But Vows Never To Repeat It

Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter says the late Steve Jobs would phone colleagues "at any time, day or night, three in the morning … you're on vacation, doesn't matter," a leadership habit he now calls a trait he will not repeat.

What Happened: According to a recent CNBC report, Docter told Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Gala that Jobs' after-hours calls were non-negotiable, yet the Apple AAPL co-founder's intensity often ignored personal boundaries.

"He wants to talk to you about it, you're on," the Oscar-winning director recalled, adding that while he sometimes fires off late-night emails himself, "that's what my wife's trying to get me to stop doing."

Jobs's round-the-clock urgency contrasted with his unusual restraint inside the studio. "Steve was pretty amazing at saying, ‘This is not my business,'" Docter said, praising how Jobs let animators take centre stage instead of dictating creative calls. Docter also hailed Jobs' knack for problem-solving, saying, "He could walk into rooms where he knew nothing … sit for about five minutes and analyze what the conversation was really about."

Why It Matters: Pixar's boss framed his own policy as a corrective to the "always-on" ethos celebrated by other tech icons. Tesla’s TSLA Elon Musk once tweeted, "Nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week," urging workers toward 80-hour marathons.

Amazon.com AMZN founder Jeff Bezos similarly touts "work-life harmony," a standard critics say still pressures employees to answer midnight e-mails. Docter argued Pixar can keep its creative edge without round-the-clock pings, noting that burnout threatens innovation.

Jobs bought Pixar from Lucasfilm in 1986 and let its artists craft hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo before Disney DIS acquired the studio for $7.4 billion in 2006. While Docter credits Jobs's vision for that rise, he insists healthy boundaries matter just as much.