{"id":49012,"date":"2018-01-16T17:44:18","date_gmt":"2018-01-16T17:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/?p=49012"},"modified":"2026-01-13T04:51:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T04:51:27","slug":"what-apple-triumphs-failures-taught-us-about-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arielle.com.au\/what-apple-triumphs-failures-taught-us-about-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"What Apple’s Triumphs And Failures Have Taught Us About Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 5<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The iPhone turns 18 this year. Steve Jobs’ gift to the masses has become the world’s highest-selling gadget and, to use a hackneyed phrase, has changed the world.<\/p>\n

He also left us with the iMac, iPod and iPad: All game changers\u2014and all emblematic of the Jobs legend and legacy. But has Apple done anything remarkable since Jobs died?<\/p>\n

Well, it did launch a super cool set of wireless headphones, which became an instant hit.<\/p>\n

And the Apple watch, which even soccer moms are sporting to read texts from their kids without carrying their phones<\/a>. Both are convenient. Yet…<\/p>\n

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Hardly Jaw-Dropping.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

On Tim Cook’s watch Apple has made iterative improvements to its products, not revolutionary ones. Dare I say, safe. Boring?<\/p>\n

To the point where Think Different<\/i> has become more like Think Just A Little Different, But Not Too Out There<\/i>.<\/p>\n

So if a powerhouse like Apple\u2014with the DNA of someone like Jobs\u2014fails to innovate, what hope do the rest of us have? And, lest we forget the people component of the innovation equation…<\/p>\n

(Related: Best 5 Types Of Feedback To Use In The Workplace<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Can You Innovate And Still Be A Good Leader?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Consider the quotes below from some Apple employees, many of whom see Tim as a much better all-round leader than Steve:<\/p>\n

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“The only thing that Steve cared about was creating great products. The company, the employees were only there to facilitate that goal. Tim is much more worried about everything at the company.”<\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

and…<\/p>\n

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“Steve was a wartime CEO, while Tim is a peacetime CEO.”<\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If you’re in the C-Suite (or close to it), which leader are you? And what would make it possible to create an iPhone equivalent at your company while you\u2019re at the helm?<\/p>\n

Given our Jobs\/Cook comparison, being a revolutionary thinker versus an iterative thinker is tops.<\/p>\n

(Related Article: The Key To Unlocking Your Leadership Potential<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n

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What Does It Mean To Be A Revolutionary Leader?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Joshua Kendall, author of America\u2019s Obsessives<\/i><\/a>, claims that Steve Jobs, Thomas Jefferson, Est\u00e9e Lauder, and Charles Lindbergh all suffered from the same mental illness.<\/p>\n

And that this condition played into making them great innovators.<\/p>\n

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Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not to be confused with its run-of-the-mill relative, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), where too many thoughts can paralyse the afflicted.<\/p>\n

On the contrary, with OCPD, the sufferer thrives on the excess of mental activity. They are inspired by each and every conflicting thought, become control freaks, work addicts, and don\u2019t care whose feelings they hurt in the pursuit of the revolutionary.<\/p>\n

As the story goes, when Jobs built Apple\u2019s first factory in 1984, he spent a lot of time on his hands and knees looking for dust and dirt<\/a>. For him, these extreme measures were essential if the first Mac computers were to be a success.<\/p>\n

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Perfectionism As A Human Brand.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This obsessive perfectionism became one of his trademarks.<\/p>\n

Pam Kerwin, marketing director at Pixar under Jobs, said he would go nuts if any document contained a single typo:<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe would carefully go over every document a million times and would pick up on punctuation errors such as misplaced commas.\u201d<\/i><\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As the Managing Director of Arielle Executive, a high-end personal branding consultancy which, among other things, crafts top-notch resumes<\/a>\u00a0and personal websites<\/a>, I understand this type of obsession very well.<\/p>\n

And I don\u2019t always see the line in the sand at which my high expectations of the team become excessive demands.<\/p>\n

But it seems that Jobs took it to a whole new level.<\/p>\n

Also as the story goes, he was a difficult and argumentative boss who had trouble relating to others.<\/p>\n

But his OCDP gave him the ability to focus intensely on exactly what he wanted \u2014 which was to design “insanely great<\/i>” products.<\/p>\n

And, as we all know, he doggedly pursued this obsession until the day he died.<\/p>\n

So it seems that hard work, leadership skills and intelligence can take you only so far on the innovation spectrum.<\/p>\n

To be revolutionary, you need that super-achiever\u2019s disease that manifests as being just a little bit \u201cout there\u201d. Could it be, then, that Tim Cook\u2014with his emphasis on teamwork<\/a>, inclusion and transparency\u2014is just too normal to lead revolutionary innovation?<\/p>\n

Well, consider that \u201cnormal\u201d is rarely a word used to capture the essence of the greatest leaders and innovators of our time.<\/p>\n

Eccentric? Definitely.<\/p>\n

Inspiring? In spades.<\/p>\n

Crazy? Probably.<\/p>\n

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Normal? Never.<\/h2>\n

Some quick examples beyond Jobs:<\/p>\n