Im not so sure on this. (Not to bash Tim/Apple, but I have more a problem with CNN). I dont think Tim did a bad job this year. Quite the opposite. There were certainly some product announcements, and the stock is up (but so are almost all stocks). But for me, this was the year of incremental improvements: e.g. well executed operations. The iPhone 6 and 6+ are great improvements -- but a larger display was something Apples actually late to the party on. (I give you competence points for adapting to the market, but you dont get innovation points for finally catching up in display size). And while the 6+ is the best phone Ive had, I can think of a dozen things that could be better. ApplePay is executed well enough that its not a flop, and it will be great when its ubiquitous, but limited coverage in one country isnt knocking it out of the park (even if itll be quite an revolution, at some point in the future). The Watch? Again, an announcement. A nice product announce. It becomes a revolution based on its shipping, adoption and apps. So we need 2015 to see how well that is executed. The iMac Retina was a brilliant product (but not something they mentioned). And yet it was still too pricey to be a really disruptive product. (Great for us coastal rich folks, but a bit above mainstream). And there was a bit more slop this year than Im thrilled with. (OSX and IOS updates were some of the least smooth in recent history. And so on). So while I cant disagree that Tim is doing a good enough job to earn his paycheck, and competent execution often seems too rare at the CEO level, I dont have anything to attribute to him in particular, that any other competent CEO would have done just as well, had they been in charge of Apple. That isnt to say there werent things that he did that were exceptional (Im not an insider, he could have challenged the board, or handled tough diplomatic matters, etc.-- I dont know). Its just the CNN piece wasnt an insiders view to justify their decision, or explain what he did to deserve it, beyond the superficial. Now, I dont have any other CEOs that I would automatically say did better either. But I didnt research the field or do the article. So without knowing for sure, I have to think that theres a CEO out there, that took more chances, did a bigger turn-around, got more growth, or something other than Tim (no disrespect to Mr. Cook intended). Look at Satya Nadella and trying to turn-around Microsoft. Staying the course and incremental updates (Apples year, except for the watch, which Ill credit to next year), is a lot easier and less recognition worthy than trying to fundamentally change a business like Satya was doing -- even if Apple is executing better (for now). And thats not looking at Ford, or dozens of other companies and stories that are out there. I want some meat and details about shifts in the respective industries and why this CEO is worthy, not just, woo hoo, {insert big brand/name here} click on me to read more. Which leaves me my cynical side. Why did Tim get it? I basically think its either: (a) because he came out as gay, and thus the politically correct crowd had to recognize/worship that. (Not that theres anything wrong with him being gay: and Im sure thatll be a great inspiration for some people -- its just irrelevant to me for being a good CEO or this award to me, and in fact, is a bit of a distraction from the business/products, which to me should be the focus of the brand). (b) Because Apples the biggest, and one of the most well known brands out there. So it was an easy lob to try to mooch off their brand recognition and keep the writer (or readers) from having to research or think too much. (c) A little bit of both. I lean towards (c). So it felt to me like CNN just phoned it in, took the cheap and easy story, and viola. So while I think Tim Cook is an exceptionally competent CEO, thats running Apple well, and Im pleased with his performance as a stock investor (and I have no problems with him being recognized for doing a good job) -- I still expect news agencies like CNN to not just phone it in, and bring me something insightful, valuable and well researched -- not just a puff piece that feels like clickbait trolling.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:04:55 +0000