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kscherer
Which way is up?
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Boyzeee
 
2019-08-17, 10:37

Double post? Let me know and I'll chop one out of there. Or, you can until you can't.



Jony leaving Apple is a bit like Joe Montana leaving the 49er's. The Niners went on to win another Super Bowl without him, and he went on to … the Chiefs? Montana's legacy was left in San Francisco and he never did another thing in his career worth talking about. Same with Brett Favre. Yeah, I know that sports and industrial design are world's apart—on the corporate side—but, within the human spirit, they are absolutely identical. Certain people have a wired-in drive to be the best at whatever it is they do, whereby best I mean "the most successful, richest, no one can compete with them, BEST!"

Jony Ive is like Joe Montana: [Arguably] the greatest quarterback that ever played the game (although pipsqueak boy "I don't need to cheat but I do anyway" Tom Brady, or the likes of Terry Bradshaw or Troy Aikman also come to mind). Jony is a stud designer.

BUT!

Without Apple, Jony would be nowhere near where he is today. It took Steve Jobs noticing him, and it took an entire legion of faithful, obedient teammates to make it all work. Just as in football, the "quarterback" gets all the glory, yet the quarterback would spend the day flat on his ass were it not for the offensive lineman who protect him, the running backs who block for him, and the receivers who get open so he has someone to throw the ball to. We humans tend to focus on the quarterback, and forget all about the other players (and yet there is a reason why a really good offensive lineman will have a contract approaching quarterback figures).

Basically, Apple is the design firm, and Jony is the manager. Keep this in mind, though: Just before Steve Jobs died, Apple was fast becoming the most successful technology company ever. After he died, his replacement made Apple the most successful company ever!

Everyone is replaceable.

I had this to say a few years ago when there were rumors of Ive leaving:

Quote:
Originally Posted by kscherer View Post
None of us really knows what goes on behind the closed doors that shield Apple from the world, but here is my thought on the matter:

Apple is not a two-man team. They are a multi-talented "platform" that has very deep coffers and talent pools to draw from. Jonathan Ivs is not the Apple design department, he is the design department manager. He is the guy who takes credit for all the good ideas that come out of that department. Is he a good designer as well? You bet. But he is a better focuser. His job is to cull the best designs and focus them into successful products. That's why he is the manager.

Management 101 advise:

1) When things go wrong, stand up and take responsibility. You can knock heads later.
2) When things go right, stand up and take responsibility…while simultaneously spreading praise across your entire team.

Steve Jobs and Jonathan Ive are media personalities who get the credit for Apple's success. But if you listen to them—really listen—you will hear them constantly praising their teams. Interpretation: "Our guys did a great job of designing and building and thinking and such, and we are here to accept your praises on their behalf."

To say that Ive and Jobs are irreplaceable is a stretch. To say that we don't know who to replace them with is very accurate. But they know! You bet your bottom they know. If Apple's management team has half a clue how to manage, then they already know who is going to replace these guys. They just aren't telling us. However, whether or not that person can execute, over the long hall, is a mystery that cannot be answered until they try. But it would be unfair to say that they cannot do it.

After all, who can honestly say that Steve Jobs could save Apple…until he was given the opportunity to try?
That bit near the end, there, where I mention that we don't know who will replace Ive? Well, that question has now been answered. And I'd be willing to be that that guy is behind the vast majority of design work and has proven himself worthy. Do we like eveything we have seen from him? Obviously not. But neither do we like everything we've seen from Cook. And I, for one, never liked everything I saw from Steve Jobs. But, as a whole, I like what I see, even if I have complaints here and there.

One way or the other, Ive is moving on, and I will bet my bottom dollar that his "contract work" with Apple will be very few and very far in between. Apple likes to keep this stuff in house, and I'm guessing that this is only a parting gift to one of the most storied personalities in tech history. It's kind of like Joe Montana having his jersey retired and hung from the rafters for fanatics to worship for years to come. But, once he was gone, you never saw the 49er's calling on Joe Montana for any ideas, did you?

In other words, when Jony Ive walks out the door for the last time, Cook will still be his friend, but he is done at Apple.

As for design direction? Well, we're going to see Ive's influence for the next five years, because the product road map is at least that long. It takes 2+ years to bring a major tech product to market, so the work being done right now will not make it into our hands until 2021 at the earliest, and Ive will be long gone by then. In 2022, we will start seeing the work done by the new guy. But—and unfortunate for him—we will see something else in between now and then: The very second after Ive leaves Apple, any mistakes (or perceived mistakes) will be firmly planted on the shoulders of the new guy. It's a fact of human nature, it's a fact of the modern tech media, and it is hopelessly unfair.

I hope he's ready!

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- Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. (Mat 5:9)
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