How Tim Cook Is Filling Steve Jobs's Shoes

The New York Times, in an article about Apple CEO Tim Cook, focuses in large part on the ways in which Cook is not Jobs. He's less volatile, for one thing, whether you think that means he's less passionate or just more circumspect. A small slice: Lower-level employees praise Mr. Cook’s approachability and intellect. But some say he is less hands-on in developing products than his predecessor. They point to the development of the so-called iWatch — the “smartwatch” that Apple observers are eagerly awaiting as the next world-beating gadget. Mr. Cook is less involved in the minutiae of product engineering for the watch, and has instead delegated those duties to members of his executive cabinet, including Mr. Ive, according to people involved in the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to press. Apple declined to comment on the watch project. ... Mr. Cook has also looked outside of Apple for experienced talent. He has hired executives from multiple industries, including Angela Ahrendts, the former head of Burberry, to oversee the physical and online stores, and Paul Deneve, the former Yves Saint Laurent chief executive, to take on special projects. He also hired Kevin Lynch, the former chief technology officer of Adobe, and Michael O’Reilly, former medical officer of the Masimo Corporation, which makes health monitoring devices. Not to mention the music men of Beats.

Comments

Brand identity

[ArhcAngel]

According to this article Apple bought Beats because the Apple brand is fading. Tim Cook is buying what Steve Jobs created from within.

Less hands-on

[PhrostyMcByte]

But some say he is less hands-on in developing products than his predecessor.

The best leaders will see their own shortcomings and delegate to trusted experts to pick up their slack. Perhaps this is Cook's strategy.

Re: poorly

[Karlt1]

That's how he's filling his shoes; poorly. The ipad 3 was heavier, shattered easier at a lower drop height, and got hotter. The ipad 3 mini was a lie. IOE 6, 7, and 8 were universally hated disasters. iTunes 11's new layout was a crime against software design. Also, as usual, everyone everywhere is suing them for everything they're doing. Apple is going down like the Titanic.

Let's see where to start?

1. If iOS 7 was so bad, why was the adoption rate so high so fast?
2. The iPad 3 did suck. All indications are that the A6 and the lightening connector just weren't ready in time. They bought out a new iPad six months later.
3. ITunes has been a disaster since it started trying to manage iOS devices.
4. Everyone is suing Apple because that's where the money is. Who isn't getting sued left and right these days?
5. IOS 8 is a "disaster"? You mean the OS that isn't even shipping yet?
6. The iPad Mini 3 a lie? Huh?

Re: Left brain vs. right brain leadership

[Polo]

I used to think taste was kind of like fashion, but I've realized it's more.

Specifically, a few years ago I listened to Ira Glass's short talk on storytelling and there's this short bit about taste that is just SO wise and SO insightful... (view all four parts)

“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

What I think Steve Jobs did was get an organization to do this, to make tasteful things. He was a great integrator. He pulled people together, he pushed through obstacles, he overcome a lot of mediocrity. Yeah, he was a jerk about a lot of things.

It's like a law of nature, a law of aerodynamics, that anything that's written or anything that's created wants to be mediocre. The natural state of all writing is mediocrity. It's all tending toward mediocrity in the same way that all atoms are sort of dissipating out toward the expanse of the universe. Everything wants to be mediocre, so what it takes to make anything more than mediocre is such a fucking act of will.