[goblgobl]

Sounds amazing. Jobs is such a remarkable business figure, but I often wonder if people like him are rare, or if people like him are rarely given positions at the top of companies?

Depending on who you ask, people will tell you companies should be run by either MBA types or engineers. Jobs doesn't seem to fit either of these archetypes. Of all the big tech execs, he has to be the strongest systems thinker.

I think outside of the business success and technological innovation at Apple, one of Jobs largest contributions has been to bring the 'design process' to the center of management. Engineering has great models for problem solving, as does management theory, but design thinking is often the most overlooked. Its not given enough credit. Often when people talk about design they are really talking about aesthetics. When Jobs talks about design, he's talking about process. Hope the book sheds light on this.

[philwelch]

I think it's fairly obvious that Apple is exceptional, and Jobs is exceptional. How do we know people like Jobs are rare? Well, have you heard of any others?

Then again, maybe it's the combination of Jobs, Silicon Valley, and that formative era that is rare. Take a young Steve Jobs and put him anywhere else, and who knows what would happen? I doubt he would end up in business--not a legitimate one, at least.

[keenerd]

His first business was quasi-illegitimate, he and Woz were selling Blue Boxes so the average Joe could cheat MaBell. (I believe they bragged about thermite lined units for the mafia.)

Funny how 40 years later he's got one of the most restricted phone systems.

[zachcb]

Check out Alan Mulally. I think he's an underrated CEO. While he is an engineer, I still admire his business acumen. I would think (and I know I'm going to get criticized for this) he might actually be better than Jobs. If not, it's 1A and 1B. Steve is in Alan's class, not the other way around.

You must view Alan's body of work and what he's done to turn around a company from the very bottom to where it is today. Totally different brand image. He's done it twice.

[philwelch]

It looks like Mulally has turned around large, moribund businesses like Ford and Boeing from complete mediocrity to relative competence. I don't mean that in a negative way, because it's miraculous for a company like Ford to turn around the way they did, but let's be honest here. Jobs led a large, established company into being the most valuable public corporation in the world, competing successfully not with behemoths like GM but with Silicon Valley. Name a tech company half the age of Apple that can even hold its own against the forces of creative destruction in the Valley, much less grow like a startup.

[rimantas]

I had to google to find out who Mullaly is. And frankly, Jobs having his vision for years (check out his 1997 WWDC video) and bringing it into fruition looks much much more impressive to me than some cost cutting.

[zachcb]

It's hard to argue that there's anyone better than Steve's vision. But Steve also did some cost cutting when he took over Apple (when it was a few months away from bankruptcy).

We all know what Steve would have done if he took over Ford:

1) Elminate all models with the exception of a few. Alan sold off Land Rover, Aston Martin, Volvo and a few others. He also closed Mercury.

2) Take those models and offer one or two different versions of it and offer it in two colors--black or white.

3) Put an emphasis on design. You'll notice that Ford's cars are now much more diverse and much more attractive.

4) Focus on reliability. Again, Alan did the same thing with Ford. He took the engineers to consumer reports and had them scrutinize their reliability right in front of the engineers.

I hope I'm making a point. Steve would of likely did the same thing Alan's done at Ford. Alan would have likely did the same thing Steve's done at Apple. Maybe not quite as good as Steve's done it, but very similar.

[MikeCapone]

I've been watching Mulally a little bit over the past few years. What source(s) of information would you say are best to get a better idea of his thinking and of what he's done? Do you get all that only from interview and maybe annual reports, or is there a better source?

[zachcb]

There are few. There is this:

http://www.hulu.com/watch/221956/cnbc-originals-ford-rebuild...

I hope Alan writes a book once he retires (he's in 60s). I think there's much more than just a few savvy business moves with him.

[MikeCapone]

Thanks, but unfortunately that won't play in Canada.