Genius behind steve

No matter how sad it is to admit, but there is a non-zero probability that in the near future, the position of Apple’s executive director will be taken by someone else. Of course, it is difficult to imagine someone other than Steve Jobs in this post, but such is life. Apple can not fundamentally cancel the post of CEO after Jobs leaves.

The star of Steve Jobs shines so brightly that we absolutely do not see other stars nearby. For example, few people know the name of Tim Cook, who holds the position of COO. That Tim Cook is considered the main candidate for the role of Jobs's successor, writes the magazine Fortune. The journalists talked with several dozens of Cook's associates, studied his personality in detail, and the result was published in a large article "The genius behind Steve's back . "

Tim Cook (pictured on the left) moved from Compaq to Apple in 1998 specifically at the invitation of Jobs, who asked him to analyze and make adjustments to the weak Apple product line that existed at that time. Cook's short dossier: 48 years old, engineering education, 12 years at IBM, brutal workaholic, has a powerful intellect and a mathematical mindset.
')
By the way, it was Tim Cook who became CEO for a couple of months in 2004, when Jobs was treated for cancer. But in fact, Cook de facto ran the company for several years, and then she showed excellent financial results with even more profitability than now.

The nature of Cook conveys well one case that happened to him back in IBM. During one of the meetings with the attendance of their assistants, we talked about problems with suppliers from China. “This is really bad,” said Cook. “Our man must be there to sort things out.” The meeting continued, and after 30 minutes, Cook looked at his main assistant, Sabih Khan, and abruptly asked without a hint of emotion: “Why are you still here?”. He immediately got up from his seat, immediately went to San Francisco International Airport and took a ticket to China without a return date.

Immediately after joining Apple, Tim Cook knew exactly what to do with the company. He immediately began to curtail that part of the business that was associated with production: he began to close factories and warehouses, establishing direct contacts with manufacturers and suppliers. He said that “stocks of products are a fundamental evil,” and even calculated that products are, on average, cheaper by 1-2% per week.

Cook's tough logistics discipline has brought Apple's business to a fundamentally new level, comparable to Dell, which is considered the “gold standard” in this area.

Cook's pricing policy was gorgeous. As you know, there are two ways to increase company profits: increase prices or reduce costs. Tim Cook applied both of these methods simultaneously. All the innovations of the last decade were revolutionary. Each of them was kept secret until the last moment. The excitement was pumped up and the company skimmed off the cream immediately after the product entered the mass market, and the cost of production was constantly decreasing due to strict discipline and strict management of Cook. With him, the company has become a real machine for printing money.

Cook controlled the supply of all components and optimized the chain to the ideal. Managers of specific areas worked with him, and he brought part of the team with him. They all worked with him all the time, no turnover of personnel.

Now Apple has several departments that report directly to Jobs (design, marketing, etc.). But it is Tim Cook who ranks second in the corporation, no one except Jobs has as much power as he. The biggest salary in the company and the largest stake in Apple are also from Tim Cook.

The working character of Cook cannot be called pleasant. He is a workaholic himself and is very picky about his subordinates. He must be subject to discipline. He arranges meetings until late at night, and he often starts work at 4:30 in the morning. At its meetings, the most characteristic element is a long pause when absolute silence hangs in the room. He is able to squeeze a man like a rag and grind it on a shredder. Often he asks a person questions to which he clearly does not know the answer, but he continues and continues to ask, without stopping.

Nobody knows anything about his life outside of Apple. Colleagues say that it cannot be called antisocial, but it certainly cannot be called friendly. He is always cold, calm and never raises his voice. However, at IBM, colleagues enjoyed working with him. First, because he worked the most, and second, because there was no one smarter than Tim Cook.

What Cook definitely doesn’t have is the same creative talent that Steve Jobs has. And not the fact that Tim Cook will want to take the post of CEO at Apple. At least, he never expressed such ambitions, he never even sought publicity, quite the opposite.