Apple: We’re Not a One-man Show
In the days since Steve Jobs announced that he was taking a leave of absence from Apple, I've been inundated with questions from users, friends, colleagues, and members of the mainstream media. The most popular conception of Apple--one that, let's be honest, Apple has nurtured to a certain degree--is that it's the Steve Jobs Show. Popularly, he's the man who invents the products, designs them, plans their marketing campaigns, the works.
Which is obviously silly. Apple is a huge corporation with tens of thousands of employees. It's not just Steve Jobs and a bunch of lackeys. And yet, I do think that's the perception most people have about Apple.
Jobs is, as Reggie Jackson famously said about himself, the straw that stirs the drink. And to beat the baseball metaphors into the ground, Jobs is undoubtedly Apple's most valuable player, because he has skill in so many different disciplines. But as we San Franciscans know, having suffered through losing seasons as Barry Bonds concluded his march on the home run record, a single franchise player isn't enough to make a winning team.
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