Apple’s current Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook, has a decidedly different approach compared to the late Steve Jobs.
At least, that’s based on anecdotal evidence provided by unnamed sources at Apple, and put together in a new report from The Information. According to the publication, which takes an in-depth look at the 180 leaders at Apple, things are quite interesting behind the scenes. Apple is a secretive company, which is not a secret in itself, and this report aims to shed some light on what goes on behind the walls.
For instance, when it comes to Cook, the current chief executive apparently takes a more hands-off approach. At least, compared to the former CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs. Jobs is described as a “legendary control freak”, while Cook reportedly “avoids meddling in product decisions”.
“Unlike Mr. Jobs, a legendary control freak, Mr. Cook is a consensus-builder who tends to closely consult with his top lieutenants. A former operations and supply chain guru for Apple, he avoids meddling in product decisions, as Mr. Jobs did, people familiar with his leadership said.”
The report also states that Jobs used to pit “executives against each other”, and would oftentimes take sides in a particular matter. On the other side of the coin is Cook, who expects those involved in a disagreement to work it out themselves.
“One advantage to Mr. Cook’s approach is that relations between the company’s senior vice presidents are less politically volatile than they were in the Jobs era, said current and former employees. When conflicts arise, Mr. Cook expects his lieutenants to resolve their differences. Mr. Jobs often picked sides and saw benefits to pitting executives against each other, they said.”
Meanwhile, a quick look at Senior Vice President Phil Schiller describes someone who has “considerable sway” over the product roadmap at the company. And while teams may pitch Schiller on a particular idea at any given time, Schiller has a pretty creative way of telling them to shut that effort down:
“He holds considerable sway over Apple’s product roadmaps and can shoot down a project if he disapproves of it, they said. When the Spotlight search team was pitching a new feature in a meeting a few years ago, for example, one of Mr. Schiller’s lieutenants told the group that his response to the proposal was “NFW”—short for “no f***ing way.” The feature was shelved.”
The full report is available through the source link below. It’s certainly interesting. Of course, there is no telling just how much of it is actually true or not. So take it all with a grain of salt for now.
[via The Information]
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