Chapter 38 Section 4 Rebuild the Fruit Gang

What was the most important thing Jobs did after becoming interim CEO in 1997?It's fired! That's right, Jobs fired a considerable number of employees in nearly a year, and more people chose to leave by themselves.From senior vice presidents to ordinary employees, even the members of the board of directors were reorganized according to Jobs' wishes, and only a few directors were retained. Twelve years ago, Markkula and Sculley, who had fought side by side with Jobs, betrayed Jobs mercilessly. Twelve years later, in order to take over the power of Apple, Jobs must of course weigh how many people he can trust and reuse.

Every time a CEO comes to Apple, he will bring or promote a large number of cronies, such as Sculley, Spindler, and Amelio.Whether it was people trusted by Sculley, or people trusted by Spindler or Amelio, most of them were not the kind of knights who dared to challenge the world that Jobs admired.Therefore, those people who are in the Fruit Gang but don't have much Fruit Gang DNA must leave. Markkula was the first to leave.As the veteran of Apple, Markkula had no way to face the Jobs he had ruthlessly expelled, so he could only choose to leave. The next ones to leave are all the vice presidents.

That's right, "all" VPs.It was a management team that Amelio had placed his utmost trust in.But in the eyes of Jobs, they do not belong to Apple. Almost all VPs packed up and left.The last vice president to be fired is Fred Anderson, Apple's CFO, who played a key role in the critical moment.Hearing this news, a director who had experienced the crisis and was lucky enough to be left on the board of directors ran to Jobs and said: "How can you fire Anderson? He did everything he could to keep us from going bankrupt when Apple stock hit rock bottom. You can't fire him!"

Upon hearing this, Jobs, angry and anxious, stood up and paced quickly without saying a word.Suddenly, he slammed the door open and strode out of the office. Ten minutes later, Jobs, who was still angry, returned to the office and said to the director: "Okay, he has merit, and I will not fire him. But I want him to be demoted. Is that okay?" The director couldn't laugh or cry: "Downgrade? He is already a vice president and chief financial officer. To what level do you downgrade him? If you don't like him, then you can find someone to replace him after this period of time. But now, you have to keep him, otherwise, now that the cash flow is so tight, who will take care of the money."

Jobs agreed.Fred Anderson became the only remaining ex-executive in the process of Jobs rebuilding the Fruit Gang.Facts have proved that the decision to retain Anderson was not a bad decision. Anderson worked at Apple until 2004 and witnessed the whole process of Apple's recovery from the bottom. On the issue of employing people, Qiao's personal likes and dislikes played a decisive role.But there is nothing wrong with that.As a CEO, to achieve great things, you must first have a team you trust. When creating NeXT, Jobs had already learned the lessons from Apple that year. Not only did he always control the management power of NeXT, but all the executives were his own appointed cronies. After 12 years of wandering, Jobs no longer wants to see the situation of internal departmental disputes, overstaffing, and fighting among senior executives in Apple 12 years ago.

To do big things that change the world, you need outstanding talents.In the matter of who is the best man, Jobs did not believe his predecessor, nor did he believe in any ready-made rules. What he believed in was his own eyes.Moreover, as long as it is someone Qiao Gangzhu likes, no one can escape. Back then, when Jobs built the Macintosh team, he went directly to the Apple II team to poach people.He found a programming expert and said to him: "Can you do it? Our Macintosh team only needs real experts. I'm not sure, you can do it." "Okay," said the engineer without stage fright, "I think I'm fine."

"I hear you're very creative, aren't you?" "That's not what I'm saying. But if I can join the Macintosh team, I'll do a good job." Jobs left in a hurry and returned to the engineer's office a few hours later.At the time, engineers were busy working on an Apple II. Jobs said: "I have good news for you. You have now joined the Macintosh team. Come with me and I will take you to your new job." "Great," said the engineer excitedly. "I only need a day or two to finish the job at hand, and I can join the Macintosh team on Monday."

"A day or two more? You're still working on the Apple II?" Jobs said angrily. "You're just wasting your time doing this! Who cares about the Apple II? The Apple II is dead before you've even written your code. The Macintosh is the future of Apple. You start working on the Macintosh now." "Now?" The engineer couldn't believe his ears. "Now!" Jobs stepped forward and pulled out the power cord of the Apple II forcefully, then moved the monitor on the table and the computer away, and said as he walked, "Follow me!" The engineer who was inexplicably snatched by Jobs to the Macintosh team was named Andy Hertzfeld (Andy Hertzfeld), who later became the development leader of the Macintosh team and wrote a book called "Apple Past", recording the legend of Macintosh research and development. course.

After returning to Apple, Jobs' desire for great people has not diminished in the slightest.What he needs most is his right-hand man, a brother who can fight the world with him like Steve Woz back then. Such brothers, Jobs brought back two from NeXT.One is Avi Tefanian, a software development guru, and the other is Jon Rubinstein, a hardware development guru. After Tevanian returned to Apple, under the arrangement of Jobs, he led the company's software development and presided over the integration of the NeXT operating system and Apple's creative graphical user interface into a new generation of Mac OS X.It can be said that Tevanian really solved the problem of unstable operating system that has plagued Mac computers for many years. It not only brought Mac computers back to the peak of technology, but also paved the way for the iOS operating system used by iPhone and iPad later.

Rubinstein is a master of hardware development and electrical engineering. In the eyes of Jobs, he is almost the successor of Woz.When Jobs had not yet become interim CEO, he repeatedly persuaded Amelio to reuse Rubenstein.Soon, Rubinstein became the executive in charge of the engineering department.A few years later, under the auspices of Rubinstein, Apple created the magic iPod and changed the computer world and the music world at the same time. Tevanian and Rubinstein were just the right-hand men Jobs brought back from NeXT.The next step is to make a grand appearance and shine brightly. He has been the most important person around Jobs until today. It was actually discovered by Jobs from hundreds of designers after returning to Apple.The big cow's name is Jonathan Ivey.

Ivey is a British citizen. In 1992, he went to the United States alone and joined Apple, the paradise of product designers in his mind.However, until 1997, Ive was just one of Apple's ordinary designers, working on the design of Apple computers in the company. Jobs, who returned to Apple, accidentally discovered that Ivey's team was busy designing a mysterious computer.This computer has a smart all-in-one body, a transparent shell and changeable colors.When I saw this design, Ivey only had a foam model in his hand.After several exchanges, Jobs concluded that the Ivey in front of him will definitely stand out in the field of industrial design. Jobs boldly hired Ive to run Apple's design team.In the next few years, Ivey, who lived up to expectations, produced a work that shocked the world every two or three years like a magic trick, from the blockbuster iMac, to the small and exquisite iBook, to the iPod and iPhone that pushed Apple to the top. and iPads.After Jobs returned, almost every industrial design of Apple's masterpieces came from the master Ive. In early 1998, Jobs hired Tim Cook, who was proficient in computer product supply chain and logistics, from Compaq.Cook quickly grew into the most proficient operation and management person in Apple in the following ten years, and was promoted to Apple's chief operating officer (COO) in 2007.During the treatment of Jobs' illness in recent years, Cook acted as CEO and was responsible for Apple's daily operations. The left and right arms are all ready, project tailoring and personnel adjustment have also been completed. Jobs has a team he trusts, and the organizational structure of the company has become clear. Jobs told the "Business Week" reporter: "This kind of organizational structure is smooth, simple, clear, and the authority is clear. Everything is simplified. This is what I am after. It is both focused and simple."