> I'm starting to wonder if maybe Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs.
I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful.
Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company.
Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)
Sorry, but I think Tim is still mostly coasting on Jobs' brilliance. Not only was he a product genius but he was a gifted recruiter. At the senior level, Cook is 1 for 2 at best. Forstall may have been a jerk (like Jobs) but was arguably the second most important person on the iPhone.
Or look at it this way: would Cook be doing as well without his predecessor? Almost certainly not. Would Apple be doing as well with Jobs still at the helm. Almost certainly so.
I don't know if this was ever in question. I never viewed Jobs as a particularly good CEO—charismatic and spiritual leader, yes. Good CEO? Probably not. He knew how to motivate people to get his version of the truth to consumers, and that version was incredibly successful.
Jobs was a marketer (and perhaps innately clairvoyant) at heart who was so successful at marketing that he could do a good job at CEO and create a multi-billion-dollar company.
Cook is a genius at the broad-stroke of business operations and most likely leaves the storytelling and imagination to others. It's little surprise the immediate results are a better bottom-line. Time will only tell if Apple truly has enough creativity and stories in the ranks to be long-term successful. (I think it does.)