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Excerpt From New Book Offers Look at Tim Cook's Management Style
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I should have put a caveat in there though; some are going up and some are going down - depends on the market the company is in. With that being said, S&P500 isn't the only market out there.
I doubt we'll be seeing something new other than AppleTV having be pushed to the front via the Apple Store reshuffle which hopefully will result in Apple bringing online the sorts of deliverables that'll turn AppleTV from a product looking for a purpose into something that people will buy and spur on sales of music, movies etc. but with that being said when you have the likes of Comcast showing down Netflix because it poses a threat to their own business model I think Apple might require a plan 'b' in case that idea falls through.
Good lord that looks worse than mine - and I thought mine was bad.
Dreamer. In the eyes of many, Cook's biggest problem is and always will be that he isn't Steve.
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The S&P 500 isn't a market at all, it's a composite of the 500 largest capitalized public companies. Since it represents the vast majority of the market's value it is the best indicator of the overall direction of the equity markets.
It sounds like, under Jobs, everything was very formal and clinical. But when Cook came into being CEO, he decided to freshen things up and tried to put everyone on the same level in a social environment. I think it really helps when a CEO of a company brings themselves down to the level of the workers below himself or herself and develops meaningful relationships with them. I guess it would make working for the company far more pleasurable. Besides, we've all heard what a hoot working for Google seems to be. Whether that's all true or not, I don't know!
Man of Steel
It seems like Tim is a very tough guy but in a way that inspires people to do their best. No doubt he is a fanatical perfectionist but also sets extremely high standards for himself...but for his sake I hope he learns how to relax and not be so serious all the time. I think he feels a tremendous pressure to honor Steve's legacy and keep standards high under his watch.
The next couple years will be telling to see how well the Cook/Ive team can produce new products. So far so good though ... as much as I respect Steve I still got pissed at how they purposefully release products with sub par technology in order to milk the market. Even now I have to wait several cycles before a product has evolved enough to warrant an upgrade. I think I know why they do it but is still aggravating. So, I don't expect iWatch to really be rocking till around ver 3.0. No doubt it will usher in a whole new class of apple device/apps and have at least a semi- dedicated app store. All that takes times to mature.
It seems like Tim is a very tough guy but in a way that inspires people to do their best. No doubt he is a fanatical perfectionist but also sets extremely high standards for himself...but for his sake I hope he learns how to relax and not be so serious all the time. I think he feels a tremendous pressure to honor Steve's legacy and keep standards high under his watch.
The next couple years will be telling to see how well the Cook/Ive team can produce new products. So far so good though ... as much as I respect Steve I still got pissed at how they purposefully release products with sub par technology in order to milk the market. Even now I have to wait several cycles before a product has evolved enough to warrant an upgrade. I think I know why they do it but is still aggravating. So, I don't expect iWatch to really be rocking till around ver 3.0. No doubt it will usher in a whole new class of apple device/apps and have at least a semi- dedicated app store. All that takes times to mature.
Not surprising
Sorry, I can not imagine Cook to dance like a monkey on stage.
I take Cook much more serious and he showed pretty straightforward what he stands for: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/28/tim-cook-angrily-rejects-ncppr-proposal/
Sorry, I can not imagine Cook to dance like a monkey on stage.
I take Cook much more serious and he showed pretty straightforward what he stands for: https://www.macrumors.com/2014/02/28/tim-cook-angrily-rejects-ncppr-proposal/
Well, from the excerpt posted, he is painted as an intimidating a*****e.
I wouldn't want an intimidating boss. I would like to be able to approach him/her.
Maybe this is the worst part of the book. Will have to read in full before commenting on it.
Perhaps this 'inside' info is just rubbish.
I wouldn't want an intimidating boss. I would like to be able to approach him/her.
Maybe this is the worst part of the book. Will have to read in full before commenting on it.
Perhaps this 'inside' info is just rubbish.
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This article on Cook sounds great for me. And he is more like SJ than i've imagined. A company that makes expensive high-quality products like Appe needs a strong leader and Tim Cook definitively is.
And what are all these "He asked the same question 10 times - does Apple hire idiots?" posts about? Steve Jobs often yelled at his employees and i'm sure many of them hated him. But you have to be like that if you want to keep your standards high.
And what are all these "He asked the same question 10 times - does Apple hire idiots?" posts about? Steve Jobs often yelled at his employees and i'm sure many of them hated him. But you have to be like that if you want to keep your standards high.
What a dork. I was in middle management and was taught to show more respect than that to my charges. No need to be a dork, you will get more out of people by treating them well.
Simon Legree
Simon Legree
Quite the contrary.
There's only one type of a douchebag "leader", the douchebag leader. He's the one who doesn't lead by example, but by expectations. He doesn't motivate, he intimidates. He doesn't reward, he ridicules.
Like Tim allegedly does - or did.
This is not a question of cuddling or reassurance, that's just bleeding heart nonsense. We're talking about a business here. If you think drilling in front of peers, pushing people to "the limit" etc. is how you motivate people in a sustainable business, well no. That's not how you do it, that way you just motivate people to leave or alternatively become "yes" men.
Steve Jobs was famous for being a douchebag to his employees. Most of the people who made the Macintosh simply quit after it was done. Their talent became unavailable for Apple.
The way you describe this magical ultimate manager is not just completely wrong, but rather naive. The methods you so praise Timmy for is infamous in other parts of the tech industry at companies such as EA. Americas worst company two years in a row. Great to know Apple is in such distinguished company.
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Well, that's a nice apology, and I hope that is the case. Otherwise Tim is a douchebag.
Strange though that this seems to be the norm. Not the exception, on those days when people are distracted and need to clarify their position.
Ten times. And be ridiculed in front of their peers.
Then pushed to their limits.
But you are probably right. Timmy is a swell guy.
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Yes he does.
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I have indeed, and truly no one has ever disputed that Steve Jobs was a special class of complete douchebag, bordering on sociopath. When it came to his family, his friends, his employees.
Yeah, that's not a secret.
A lot of people apparently. Apple not divulging what new stuff they're working on equates to Apple being out of ideas and no longer able to innovate. Google throws out every moonshot that may or may not become something and Wall Street eats it up.
Bruce Tognazzini, who uses to work for Apple (employee #66) was on CNBC the other day and claimed the "iWatch" (or whatever Apple might call it) is real and it will be transformative. Time will tell if he's right or not. But until we get another "hit" from Apple, Wall Street will contine to sour on it. I do find it interesting though that Apple can come out on top again in the Fortune most admired companies list and yet be so loathed by investors. Such a dichotomy between Apple the company and AAPL the stock.
Not to worry. Just your attitude here is sufficient to keep you from getting a first interview any way.
I work with a guy like this. It is nerve wracking if you can't take it, but those people will leave quite quickly themselves. They will move somewhere else inside or outside the company. Those that stick around and are able to take the heat are people that are high performing, task oriented, constructive, have a positive can-do attitude. These situations only arise if there is a low-performer within a team, which high-priority, high-cost and high-visibility projects just cannot afford.
In my current project I'm responsible for clinical studies that affect vaccination of thousands of people. A delay in the project could cost lives. I'm glad that I have someone on board who drives the team like this, because a team of people that need a smoke every five minutes, leave exactly at 17:00 and are not willing to help their colleagues out if it means some extra effort, are just not going to get things done.
This guy is not even intimidating when you do your work, and work hard. But he will come down on you if you don't deliver. I see that as quite fair.
1. Removal of native RSS capability from Safari. Now I have to download a third-party app to read RSS? Why? It worked fine before... (OK, not TC, but still makes me agry!))
2. Replacement of the tags system (before the whole file/folder name was colored, now we get a tiny little dot. Rough on the eyes. This alone has garnered a huge list of complaints on the Apple Discussion forums.
3. Pages can no longer export to .rtf. Which pretty much sucks. Again, a huge list of complaints on the Apple Discussion forums. Not to mention iWork as a whole is much less of a pro app than it was before (not that it was perfect).
Those are just some off the top of my head. I'm sure others have their own complaints. And I'm not a "SJ" fanboi. I am a very long time Mac user who has seen the gentrification of Apple speed up considerably since TC's been at the helm. To bad Apple has lost it's touch. They've managed to separate functionality from design, when Apple used to see those as not mutually exclusive.
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You clearly haven't the faintest idea of the "5 Whys" technique. Look it up. You'll see Cook borrowed that from very disciplined Japanese managers.
"However, once Cook became CEO he made moves to make Apple feel more open internally than it had under Jobs. He opted to communicate with employees more often via emails and town-hall meetings. And, unlike Jobs, who opted to have lunch with Jony Ive, Cook would have lunch at the cafeteria and introduce himself to employees he didn't know and ask to eat with them. "
This I really like from CEOs - mixing with the average employees, making themselves available.
This I really like from CEOs - mixing with the average employees, making themselves available.
I've worked for quite a few douchebags that had some bad qualities that Cook has but also worked for one great one that had some of the great qualities that Cook has.
The best operations boss, no, leader, I ever had was exactly like this.
Within 6 months he had turned a store that was flat out failing into the star of, not only the district but, the entire region; he was solely in charge of merchandising. All numbers were up beyond anyone's expectations and by the end of the year a small store in a new area that was depressed because of the recession was in the #2 spot in a district that includes southern parts of Denver (huge sales). Word spread and the executive office wanted to know what we were doing right so they sent the top HR exec to find out and implemented many of our custom programs.
He would push us to do our best in every category, especially safety. If it took twice as long to do something the right way and safer that's what he demanded (people die every year where I work because of slacking off on safety). He would come to me knowing I just got started on something and ask why I didn't do something insignificant yet. It seemed like micromanagement at first but then I realized that he was far smarter than that and was trying to get me to not forget the small details.
When we went over numbers, if we weren't number 1 he wasn't satisfied. And when we reached number 1 he would push us to do so much better so that no one could catch us. It was an unbelievable experience to be this small poster team for the company.
I've never both hated and loved a boss so much and I learned a great deal from him.
I've worked for other bosses that were more by the book management leaders but I've never willingly pushed myself for them. There is some quality in a great leader that is able to do that even if it comes off as being an ******* (and many times it does).
ps. he is a retired Sargent in the Army.
The best operations boss, no, leader, I ever had was exactly like this.
Within 6 months he had turned a store that was flat out failing into the star of, not only the district but, the entire region; he was solely in charge of merchandising. All numbers were up beyond anyone's expectations and by the end of the year a small store in a new area that was depressed because of the recession was in the #2 spot in a district that includes southern parts of Denver (huge sales). Word spread and the executive office wanted to know what we were doing right so they sent the top HR exec to find out and implemented many of our custom programs.
He would push us to do our best in every category, especially safety. If it took twice as long to do something the right way and safer that's what he demanded (people die every year where I work because of slacking off on safety). He would come to me knowing I just got started on something and ask why I didn't do something insignificant yet. It seemed like micromanagement at first but then I realized that he was far smarter than that and was trying to get me to not forget the small details.
When we went over numbers, if we weren't number 1 he wasn't satisfied. And when we reached number 1 he would push us to do so much better so that no one could catch us. It was an unbelievable experience to be this small poster team for the company.
I've never both hated and loved a boss so much and I learned a great deal from him.
I've worked for other bosses that were more by the book management leaders but I've never willingly pushed myself for them. There is some quality in a great leader that is able to do that even if it comes off as being an ******* (and many times it does).
ps. he is a retired Sargent in the Army.