The Apple Way
22nd March 2006 by Sean
| Author: Jeffrey L. Cruikshank |  |
Today’s entry is brought by Brian from freemacblog.com and freemacware.com. Since he read the book, I figured it would be better to have him be the reviewer instead of me. Everything below is his review. Thanks Brian.
I am a fan of Apple Computer products. They make make computing easy and more productive. But not only are the products unique, but the company itself is run in a unique way as well. In fact, I believe that their “insanely great” products are a direct extension of the decisions they make in the business division of 1 Infinite Loop. This book explains those unique decisions. Both the good and the bad.
More than just a history book, “The Apple Way” offers “12 Management Lessons From The World’s Most Innovative Company.” With topics ranging from the love/hate relationship with Mac User Groups to why Apple has an edge over Microsoft because they control the hardware AND the software of their products.
In all, this book addresses the history and business side of Apple and not so much the technology side. In it’s most basic reading, you learn the four rules.
- Make the customer king
- Make the product king
- Break the marketing mold
- Build the learning organization
And how Apple did them right…and wrong.
From the book.
The reason a lot of us are at Apple is to make the best computers in the world, and make the best software in the world. We know that we’ve got some stuff that [is] the best right now. But it can be so much better. So we don’t come to work every day thinking, `Well, when are we going to turn Apple around?’ We come to work every day knowing that we know how to make better products. So that’s what’s driving us. The turnaround [which began a year before when Jobs returned to Apple] is just one milestone on a long road, and it’s not for us to declare. Somebody else can decide when that happens. But we’re out to make the best products in the world. And we’ll sleep well when we do that.
An interesting article from nslog.com. A little old, but still interesting.
http://nslog.com/archives/2003/03/07/retail_and_the_apple_way.php