I’ve been using iOS since I got an iPod Touch at Costco in 2010. Maybe its because iOS has to handle so many more things in 2018 than it did in 2010, but I can’t help but wonder if all these bugs I experience now are the result of Apple being under new leadership.
With Steve Jobs, employees feared making a mistake, because he didnt hesitate firing them. They were also starved to get some of his approval. Then he had that reality distortion field, which motivated his teams to accomplish almost impossible tasks. Engineering problem solving. Meeting ridiculously short deadlines. The original mac team did amazing things.
Tim Cook is a warm, empathetic, well tempered manager. But I believe that his staff loosened their belts and relaxed when he came on board, and now it shows in their work. I think the fact that the departure of a few key players is also a factor.
Steve's employees weren't fearful of being fired or of making a mistake. If they feared anything from Steve, it was the possibility of occasional humiliation. Not a steady diet of it - a little can go a long way. Steve's goal was to challenge people to do better. Fear rarely does that, it simply teaches them how to avoid the whip. Life inside a reality distortion field can be exhausting. It's rarely a model for long-term survival.
When Apple was a small enterprise, a strong personality like Steve's could permeate the operation. When it attains the size of today's Apple, even Steve wouldn't be able to make a dent outside a very small circle. Steve may have imagined himself wandering the halls of Apple Park, but in practice, he couldn't have afforded to wander very far at all.
A small operation can be "run." A large operation must be governed and lead, not driven with a stick. You can't run an institution with over a dozen layers of management on "kick the dog" behavior. If you give thousands of managers the power to humiliate or instill fear, the only takeaway the rest of the staff gets is, "Life here is arbitrary and capricious." A middle manager who bullies is not admired, and if the company tolerates or rewards that bullying it gets no respect or loyalty from the staff.
I've worked in small enterprises with Steve-like leaders. On a day-to-day basis it could be hell, even if long-term the company achieved great things. We had some people who hid in their offices, shuffling papers. Others excelled, and by excelling avoided the bosses temper. A few regularly run afoul of his anger, but rarely excelled. None of those companies exist today.
I think people give too much credit to the personalities of the executives at the top of the pile. Apple's successes weren't "all about Steve," and today they're not all about Tim. Whether it's a corporation or a nation, the institution has to take on a life of its own, with a population that understands the values that make the institution what it is, and that strives to make it "a more perfect nation." Without that, all you have is people collecting pay checks (or failing to show up at the polling place); the road to mediocrity. Tim is, without a doubt, a "values" leader. While some will disagree with or openly mock his values, his goal is to make an Apple that is greater than any one leader; a company that can survive over the long haul.
