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Steve Jobs Organized Apple to Give Jony Ive Complete Operational Freedom

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Yesterday, we highlighted an Associated Press report on Walter Isaacson's forthcoming Steve Jobs biography addressing Jobs' views on Android being a "stolen product" and his commitment to "destroy" the platform at all costs.

The report contains a number of other tidbits from the book, but one other interesting one that has been gaining some attention is Jobs' disclosure that Apple design chief Jony Ive has nearly complete freedom to do as he sees fit, an organizational structure purposely set up by Jobs.
He called Jonathan Ive, Apple's design chief, his "spiritual partner" at Apple. He told Isaacson that Ive had "more operation power" at Apple than anyone besides Jobs himself -- that there's no one at the company who can tell Ive what to do. That, says Jobs, is "the way I set it up."
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Ive, Apple's Senior Vice President for Industrial Design, has been at Apple for nearly twenty years, the last fifteen of those as design chief. In his role, he has been responsible for essentially all of the iconic product designs that have come out of the company over that time. At the end of Jobs' tenure as CEO earlier this year, Ive was one of seven senior vice presidents at Apple to report directly to Jobs.

Ive's team is said to operate out of a secretive high-tech lab on Apple's campus where he is given ultimate flexibility in his work, a standing earned through his team's creation of numerous iconic products and a plethora of design awards. And while Ive's design work ultimately must mesh with the hardware requirements coming out of Apple's engineering groups under Bob Mansfield, it's clear from Jobs' comments that Ive is free to pursue his own design solutions for Apple products. That freedom ultimately helps to guard against a watering-down effect that could occur if his designs were subject to the approval of and revision by others in the company.

Article Link: Steve Jobs Organized Apple to Give Jony Ive Complete Operational Freedom
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/10/21/steve-jobs-organized-apple-to-give-jony-ive-complete-operational-freedom/
Not surpring for a creative function

In well run organizations, the creative types are often separated from the other types as they need the autonomy to do their work. Also, the creatives often don't fit in with the more business focused/operations people -- both types can be an inhibition to each others work
 
Lets hope that Apple sticks to the plan Jobs let in place. Many times these things tend to become ego driven when some as important as Jobs leaves. This usually leads to a power struggle and people being forced out. People need to remember that what is good for the company is good for them not their mythical internal power over the needs of the company.
 
looks like jobs left his company in pretty good hands. I hope apple continues to release amazing devices.
 
Didn't Ive try to leave earlier this year? Wonder what's been going on with that now... Hope he's sticking around.
 
This guy is without a doubt the brilliance behind Apple's sleek product design. He's a huge part of why their products are so desirable to consumers. Everything from the iPhone 4/4S to the Unibody MacBook Pros... they are truly flawless designs!

Anyone curious about what this guy does exactly, check out the Unibody Construction video on Apple's website.
 
Let's hope Jony Ive stays at Apple for a very long time. That would be another sad departure.
 
This is how all design should be. Products catered to please the people at the top are always watered down and never achieve the designers intended look. Give a designer ultimate freedom and you get art.
 
Best job in the universe...

design cool stuff, no one tells you what to do, get paid millions to do it.

nice.
 
Always liked Ive. It's nice for a Brit to have contributed so much to the world around us today.
 
Wasn't there talk awhile back about Ive wanting to work less and spend more time back in the UK? If so, I guess they got him to stick around and keep working, but I hope his head's 100% still in the game.
 
As someone who has personally witnessed enough 'design by committee' to last a lifetime, this is very refreshing to hear.

I'm not saying that all designers should just have carte blanche to do whatever they see fit (as that too can lead to just as many problems), but it kills me every time I see a great design changed (or even scrapped entirely) because it doesn't meet some arbitrary demand insisted upon by a dick from Marketing.
 
gmcalpin said:
Sometimes the best way to lead is to hire smart people and just let them do their… er, jobs.
Click to expand...

I would say that it's not "sometimes" the best way, but always. That supposedly was one of the lessons Jobs learned: he couldn't do it all. By hiring absolutely the best person for the job, he didn't have to worry about that.

Apple is indeed an interesting company. The book should be a really interesting read.
 
The most I,portent aspect of the early part of the revival of Apple after Jobs' return was the exceptional ergonomic design of their products. Jobs brought the functionality but Ives brought the wow factor.
 
Whatever happened to the rumors that he wanted to leave apple so he could go back and live in England?

After Steve's death that was the first thing I searched for, because if he left that would be devastating. If any of the senior VP's left that would be really bad. I'm hoping that they mesh together well or at least have an understanding and a common goal. Otherwise if Jobs was the only thing keeping the ship together then my favorite company is going to be in trouble down the line.
 
Remember Steve Jobs' quote(It's actually Picasso's but he used it a lot)?

"Bad artists copy. Good artists steal."

And Steve called it stealing. That means he's jealous about Android. Steve seemed to be very selfish at times.
 
The best products are those designed not by a committee. Of course if the person in charge goes nuts or something, then that can be a problem.

It is interesting that Jobs set a lot of things up so that Apple would carry on in his vision. Who knows if this will last or will there be the usual internal revolts and cliques that form in the absence of a cult of personality.
 
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