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Apple CFO Luca Maestri and Jony Ive Reportedly Candidates for Ferrari CEO Position
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Then it would be a design flaw, wouldn't it. My Logitech MX and wireless gaming mouse both work very well with the charging cable plugged in, with no damage to the cable or the mouse itself.
If they want to produce cars that fit a single person but are thinner, faster, lighter and can’t be repaired hire Ive.
I wonder if these companies are willing to do what Apple did - build a team of designers and let Apple empower them to call the shots.
There’s a lot to be learnt from Apple’s design-led thinking which places the customer first, but if the company’s organisational and cultural underpinnings can’t change, then I suggest these people don’t waste their time.
There’s a lot to be learnt from Apple’s design-led thinking which places the customer first, but if the company’s organisational and cultural underpinnings can’t change, then I suggest these people don’t waste their time.
Ive is talented, but was at his best leading a small group of designers, with Jobs as a collaborator and as each other's ego check.
While he would have some skills that could carry over into leading a company like Ferrari, like a feel for luxury goods, and the importance of design, he'd have to lead an entire company, and be engaged in mundane business and politics as CEO, something he hasn't demonstrated before at Apple (with Jobs' protection).
Frankly, his tenure, after being ensured by Jobs that he'd have equal power with Cook after the former's death, has not been the highlight of Ive's career at Apple.
The most successful automotive OEMs are run by engineers, or by businessmen who have experience in the auto industry, or have come from other heavy industries (like Alan Mullaly, also an engineer). Seldom, if ever, have designers been put into those positions, so any speculation should be treated only as such.
While he would have some skills that could carry over into leading a company like Ferrari, like a feel for luxury goods, and the importance of design, he'd have to lead an entire company, and be engaged in mundane business and politics as CEO, something he hasn't demonstrated before at Apple (with Jobs' protection).
Frankly, his tenure, after being ensured by Jobs that he'd have equal power with Cook after the former's death, has not been the highlight of Ive's career at Apple.
The most successful automotive OEMs are run by engineers, or by businessmen who have experience in the auto industry, or have come from other heavy industries (like Alan Mullaly, also an engineer). Seldom, if ever, have designers been put into those positions, so any speculation should be treated only as such.
It’s so easy to crap on Jony, but his design aesthetic really was/is part of the attraction to apple. did he go too far and concern elements of form without proper though of function, absolutely. But, I’d take him in charge over some dolt who just wants to push some crap out. Now all that said would put him as head of design not ceo for Ferrari.
Yea. Knowing your role and your skill set is important. In the paraphrasing words of fictional Tony Soprano, some people are fit to be number 2
That entirely misses the point, though--being CEO of Tesla would be no better of a fit, and make no more sense, than being CEO of Ferrari. The mismatch isn't which high-end car company, or even that it's a car company in the first place--the mismatch is even suggesting a world-class industrial designer for a CEO position, let alone one who's reported to dislike the day-to-day business aspects of being an executive.
Vice President of Industrial design at Ferrari? Sure. If anything, a supercar company like Ferrari might be a better fit than a place like Tesla, which is aggressively trying to push prices down even if they're pushing design boundaries.
Tesla might in theory give him more "blank canvas" freedom, and would certainly be a good fit, but a low-volume, ultra-expensive, build-it-all-by-hand supercar maker would give him the ability to obsess over each microscopic aspect of the car--from the door handles up--in a spare-no-expense approach would be harder to execute at Tesla once faced with the company's budget pressures, manufacturing limitations, and push toward the mass market.
I can't read his mind, but something tells me the man who wanted to design a $17,000 smartwatch would probably have more fun leading the design of a $1,000,000 Ferrari Monza than he would a $40,000 Model 3. I mean, which looks more like a Jony Ive product--the Monza or the Model Y?
Regardless of the validity, Ferrari is a maker of products that are intended to be insanely great for their consumer niche. Forget cars, is there anyone mentioned here for the CEO consideration that understands how to build that mindset and create teams that understand and act on that at a corporate level? It feels that’s the reason for mentioning Ive as candidate.
If he returns to the UK he won’t be allowed to work in Italy since UK aren’t a part of Europe any more.
Exactly. Jobs was obviously an effective CEO (and by the most basic metric, Cook even more so) but does anyone imagine that he possessed any significant practical facility when it came to software or hardware? His talents were in ideas; concepts, marketing, hiring, acquisitions... probably also shouting.
