Business
Steve Jobs’ magnum opus
Steve Jobs’ magnum opus—his life’s great work—will be not just Apple, but creating an Apple that will continue to revolutionize without him.
It’s one extraordinary feat to build a company from near-collapse 14 years ago, to one of the most innovative companies today.
It’s a whole different story for Jobs to look back on what he’s done and try to build the company to follow the dynamics of his leadership and his direction to continue without him. To reflect on what worked and replicate that success. To reflect on what didn’t work and avoid those in the future. To train his succeeding leaders on what he’s learned and how to implement that knowledge.
If Jobs succeeds, then he was able to isolate the secret sauce of building one of the most innovative and disruptive companies, with all of its leadership dynamics, strategy, operational procedures and everything else—and implement it, so that the company operates on cruise control with help from the leaders he’s trained, and continues its unmatched innovation.
Doing what Steve did—building a revolutionary company—is something that few have done. He will have taken this a step further, if this switch succeeds. Steve Jobs would have achieved his magnum opus: understanding why what he did worked, and implementing it so that Apple can continue revolutionizing technology.