Apple's Tim Cook Era is now fully underway. It's been over a year since Cook officially took over as CEO, leading the company through unprecedented highs (soaring stock price!) and cringe-inducing lows (those disastrous maps). With each major decision and public appearance, the picture of Tim Cook gets a little clearer, and gives us clues about how he'll define Apple in the coming years.
If that picture of Cook is still somewhat blurry, however, it's not just because he's notoriously private, and that Apple is even more notoriously secretive. It's because he's changing, too. Tim Cook in December 2012 isn't the same CEO as Tim Cook in January 2012. From his actions, he's become more confident, more image-conscious and more hands on than before.
Put simply, Cook has been learning on the job as CEO.
Put simply, Cook has been learning on the job as CEO. That's not to say he wasn't ready or didn't manage key parts of Apple before he officially took over in August 2011 (Cook previously served as acting CEO earlier that year and in 2009). But it's one thing to run the company while still answering to Steve Jobs and quite another to do so now that Jobs is gone.
Cook now fully realizes that he's where the buck stops at Apple. With his new confidence, he's staked out his own path for the company over the last several months. From his actions, it's clear Cook has learned some valuable lessons as CEO, which could serve him and Apple well in 2013 and beyond:
1. Sometimes You Need to Be Hands On
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By all accounts, Cook was very hands on as Apple's chief operating officer. As COO, he led the charge to create the supply-chain efficiencies that are a key part of how the company keeps its margins as robust as possible.
But as CEO, Cook seemed to acquiesce to the idea that he couldn't be as hands on as before. A good example is none other than the Apple Maps fiasco. When Apple first unveiled its mapping app in June, there was a lot of excitement, punctuated by some trepidation over whether it would be as feature-rich as Google's best-in-class product.
All through the summer, warning bells began ringing louder and louder. Developers, who were working with early versions of the software, warned Apple that the new maps were lacking. News articles described it (generously) as a "work in progress." Comparisons to Google Maps weren't favorable, with the exception of Apple's 3D imagery.
Still, Cook let the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 launch with Apple Maps. And it was an immediate disaster.
Still, Cook let the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 launch with Apple Maps. And it was an immediate disaster. Yes, it was probably primarily the fault of Apple's now-disgraced former iOS chief, Scott Forstall, but it was a disaster that a more hands-on CEO could have seen coming. More tellingly, Apple didn't have a backup plan. Cook was forced to address the matter directly with customers through a public apology, then point them to competing map services in the company's own App Store.
Another example is the retirement and subsequent un-retirement of Apple's Bob Mansfield. Mansfield, who led the design of the company's mobile processors for the iPhone and iPad, retired in June at the relatively young age of 51. A couple of months later, Apple announced Mansfield was doing contract work on "future products." Then, when Forstall was fired, Mansfield un-retired to become Apple's senior vice president of technologies.
Only insiders at Apple really know what was going on with Mansfield, but many reports blame his relationship with Forstall for his initial retirement. While it's understandable that Cook didn't dismiss Forstall earlier (probably because he didn't want to shake up the executive team so soon after Jobs' death), it doesn't appear he was talking with Mansfield enough to get ahead of any problems.
Cook now has the confidence and will to be more in the thick of things, however. His handling of the Forstall transition was clear an on message -- focusing on how Apple would be organized going forward, not on what went wrong in the past. He personally signed the apology letter for Apple Maps, a rip-off-the-BandAid move that, while embarrassing, was the right thing to do and earned him respect from customers and the press.
2. Collaboration Trumps Talent
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Cook's decision on Forstall bears closer examination. While credible reports say that Forstall was fired for not taking responsibility for Apple Maps, it was really the straw that broke the camel's back. Forstall was a divisive figure at Apple for a long time, and some other top executives -- notably Mansfield and design chief Jony Ive -- wouldn't even attend meetings with him in the room.
Credit to Forstall, though: He led the team that created and managed iOS, rolling out (sometimes extensive) updates on a regular annual schedule. He also championed Apple's "skeuomorphism" aesthetic -- the idea of using real-world textures and objects as the basis for software design (the iBooks shelf looks like an actual shelf, for example). Love it or hate it, it's a signature Apple technique that Steve Jobs loved.
Forstall was a favorite son of Jobs, and after Jobs passed, Cook probably felt the responsibility to keep the people he had recruited and groomed in an effort to preserve Jobs' vision of the company. Jobs himself said Apple's management argued frequently, and the idea of a battle-hardened "team of rivals" has been around at least since Lincoln.
By all reports, however, Apple's team had just one rival, and it was Forstall.
By all reports, however, Apple's team had just one rival, and it was Forstall. With Jobs gone and Cook's initial hands-off approach with regard to product, Forstall was operating largely on his own, which appears to have led directly to the Maps implosion. Refusing to apologize for it was the final insult.
So Cook dismissed him, and ever since then Cook has spoken -- loudly -- about how "collaboration" is a top priority at Apple. Forstall had talent, experience and a long track record of success, but his personality was an issue that escalated into a problem, and it was starting to affect the work. If other top executives refuse to take meetings with the iPhone software chief, by definition that's an impediment to collaboration, which Cook now (correctly) sees as more important than any individual product.
(I reached out to Forstall for this article but never heard back; he has yet to come forward with his side of the story.)
3. Acknowledging Mistakes Isn't a Sign of Weakness
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, TommL
One of Cook's major hires at Apple was John Browett, the company's former head of retail. Cook grabbed Browett from European electronics retailer Dixons, and he quickly set out to improve the performance of Apple's iconic brick-and-mortar stores.
When he was hired, Cook praised Browett's commitment to customer service, an area that Apple Stores are reputed to excel at. However, Browett's actions tell a different story: He set out to cut staff and hours to get the stores to operate "leaner," even if it meant compromising the customer experience, IFO Apple Store, a site dedicated to Apple Store news, reported.
That kind of pure bottom-line thinking has never been Apple's character.
That kind of pure bottom-line thinking has never been Apple's character. When Jobs returned to Apple in the late '90s, he sometimes said the company's job was to make the best computers in the world first and turn a profit second -- not the other way around. Hiring Browett, who by all accounts had the opposite approach, was a clear mistake.
Cook corrected his mistake quickly and decisively, dismissing Browett at the same time as Forstall. While he never should have hired him (Dixons doesn't have anywhere near the reputation for customer service that Apple has), Cook has shown -- with his firings of Browett, Forstall and another Apple Maps manager -- that he knows it's better in the long term to acknowledge a mistake and confront it than to work around it.
That knowledge also extends to mistakes that weren't his own. Back in 2010, Apple launched its own social network, Ping, which was an immediate flop. Earlier this year Cook admitted it wasn't as successful product and a few months later put it out of its misery.
Furthermore, the euthanizing of Ping was part of a larger strategy of tying Apple software more closely with established social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Jobs reportedly held some resentment against Facebook in particular over its delayed iPad support, but since his passing, Cook has built bridges with the service -- a wise change of course.
4. Image Is Important
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Cook generally avoided the spotlight before his official takeover as CEO. Outside of company earnings calls, he rarely made appearances at Apple's very public product unveilings. In 2011 that began to change, seeing Cook oversee the launch of the Verizon iPhone, then the iPhone 4S -- his first keynote after Steve Jobs' retired.
When Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S, Jobs was on his deathbed, so it's clear in hindsight why Apple held a more subdued event for that product launch (it was hosted at Apple headquarters instead of the more crowd-friendly Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco). Still, comparing Cook's manner then to his energetic, passionate performances from the last few launches is night and day.
Cook's comfort in the spotlight goes beyond simple stage-managing of product launches.
Cook's comfort in the spotlight goes beyond simple stage-managing of product launches. He appeared on stage for an interview with All Things D's Walt Mossberg last spring, and was cordial and friendly in the chair where other CEOs have sometimes sweated profusely. And recently he gave NBC's Brian Williams his first television interview as CEO.
During that interview, Cook promised that a line of Apple Macs would be made in the U.S.A., another image-building move that's garnered friendly (if skeptical) coverage in the media. It followed Cook's public-relations tour visiting China to tour factories where Apple's products are assembled -- something Jobs never did.
Cook is clearly now far more comfortable in the public-facing part of his role as CEO (though neither he nor Apple responded to requests to be interviewed for this article). He's likely received extra media training, but he's also realized that his personal actions define Apple more than anyone else's. While that responsibility may have weighed very heavily on him in the past, he now seems empowered by it, and the trust -- from Apple shareholders, employees and customers -- it represents.
5. Apple Needs to Release a TV Sooner Than Later
Image by Mashable
For all of Tim Cook's strengths, Apple hasn't launched a disruptive product since the original iPad in 2010. Some may argue it's setting the bar too high to expect Apple to release game-changing devices continually, but Apple set that bar for itself over the last decade. For Apple, the transcendent is now routine.
At least it was until lately. The iPad mini, while generally well-reviewed and by all reports is selling at a fast clip, isn't re-inventing a category. In fact, it represents a shift of Apple's role from leader to follower, coming into the small-screen tablet market two years after the first Samsung Galaxy Tab was launched.
It's something of a public secret that Apple is working on a television.
It's something of a public secret that Apple is working on a television. Rumors recently transitioned from loose plans to supposed product testing. Apple appears to be taking its time to put all the pieces perfectly in place -- tech, content, user interface -- before launch, which has been predicted as late as 2015.
Apple can't wait that long, and I think Cook knows it. He must have known Brian Williams was going to bring it up, and rather than just give some variation of "no comment," Cook said it was an area of "intense interest" for the company and that TVs, as devices, have been "left behind." As Williams said, that's almost a declaration.
The pressure is on: While Apple's mythical television sits in testing labs, other manufacturers are racing to build a better experience with connected TVs and smart UIs, and a whole new generation of products is about to be unveiled at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in early January. The longer Apple waits, the better chance another major manufacturer -- be it Samsung, Google or Microsoft -- will build the TV of the future.
Apple's television will ensure the company's relevance for many more years and will define Tim Cook's Apple more than any other product... if it's successful. That's a big if, and Cook knows that Apple needs to get the product launch exactly right for that to happen. But, reading between the lines of his recent comments, he's starting to appreciate an oft-cited Facebook mantra: Done is better than perfect.
Future Tim Cook
Barring a catastrophe, Tim Cook isn't going anywhere. His Apple stock, worth about $500 million, won't fully vest until 2021, and he and Apple have every intention to see him serve as CEO for the next nine years.
If he can successfully lead Apple through this decade, it will be thanks in part to the transitions he made this year. He began 2012 with some gigantic shoes to fill, a serious public-relations problem in China and the escalating distraction of internal politics. Cook ends the year having addressed those issues, corrected mistakes along the way, and -- most important -- put Apple in a good position to keep innovating.
In 2013, we'll find out if he can deliver.
Lead image via Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
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