Look At Things (differently)

Look At Things (differently)

Apple Struggling to Regain Its Ethos

By Max Daves 

After the release of ios7, I spent nearly two hours talking with people from the engineering department at Apple. They asked me a very telling question... Do you think we are trying to hard (since Steve died)? This one statement showed me that the visionary leadership was lacking and had caused some confusion and trepidation in what direction to go. My response was, remember your compant ethos. Think different. Following google is not a innovative market leading think different ethos.  

The releases of products and the ios changes illustrates this. Added features are nice but real earth shaking market leading innovation has not materialized. However, fear of google and it's market share has. 

Recent iOS8 problems are but another symptom of a deeper problem at Apple.... Attention to detail. The devil is in the details just as the proof is in the pudding. There are cracks in the innovation, refinement development and release cycles.  

The innovation cycle at Apple has always leaned towards being longer than competitors. This allowed them to leap frog competitive innovations in other ecosystems. This process has served Apple well for years and allowed them to lead market innovation by not being led into the trap of the typical product release cycle of their competitors. Sadly this has slipped some under Tim Cooks watch. Patience is a virtue that harmoniously dwells with creative innovation in product development and refinement. 

I agree with the article link below at end of this post. It mirrors many conversations I have had with others in the recent months about a lack of focused vision, focused leadership and dedication to innovation driven refinement of various aspects of Apple's OSX, iOS applications and hardware. 

Harmonious integration of iCloud in both the mobile iOS and OSX seems incomplete and lacking creative vision in regards with applications. 

Many features like predictive type, Siri and maps seem more like unrefined betas. 

The lack of attention to detail emerges in the failure to stick with a focused refinement strategy. 

The full realization of what appleTV can be has become nearly an afterthought. This approach has carried on to software as well. 

The pieces are all there for a giant leap forward in functionality, seemless integration and high design for a truly unpresidented user experience that is so close that it feels like being teased with the potential even as it falls short. 

While it is true that Apple is still the leader, it has been losing ground to competitors simply for the reason it seems unfocused and disconnected from both its enthusiasts and its own corporate ethos. After speaking with many users of both the consumer and power user variety, I find that they both generally have one thing in common. They both are not only disappointed with the prior bugginess of iOS7 and the failed release of iOS8 but find it damn right frustrating and unintuitive as the previous iOS's had been. They also feel slighted by Apple in terms of the new versions of iWork and iLife applications being stripped of very popular functionality and familiar operations. This shows once more a disconnect by Apple HQ and leadership with their customers. Over simplification is not always intuitive and clean minimalist design. It's lack of attention to detail. 

Know thy self and know thy customer. Apple seems to be experiencing a company existential crisis. They seem to have forgotten their own ethos while at the same time have continued a troubling disjointedness in understanding their customers. 

It is time for Apple to look at things differently. Steve Jobs is gone but their are many capable visionary people out there who understand and follow the ethos that made Apple. Maybe it's time to find them and let them move Apple forward. 

Max Daves

CEO (idea)ology Group

Co-founder Safe Haven Strategic

www.idea-ology.com

(futurist | serial innovator | global strategist | visionary | socially conscious entrepreneur | radical solutionist | status quo disruptor | chief idea-ologist)

"Break the rules they taught you in business school. If it really worked they wouldn't have been teaching them to you... They would have been proving it works by doing it. Now let's go think up something new and make it happen."

The following article is old in terms if social media new cycles but it is timely in terms of the recent struggles in product releases. 

http://www.infoworld.com/d/consumerization-of-it/apps-are-apples-achilles-heel-232437?source=IFWNLE_nlt_apps_2013-12-12