How to Turnaround a Company 101
A couple of not-so-nice Apple news these past few weeks.
Foremost of course is Steve Jobs’ temporary leave due to health reasons. It’s speculated that the next few months will show what Apple will be like sans its charismatic visionary leader. All i can say is … get well Steve!
This bit dovetails into the other not-so-nice news – the Steve Jobs-less Apple keynote in the recently concluded Consumer Electronics Show.
Succinctly … it was lackluster. Unexciting. Uninspired.
And so to satiate myself, i decided to watch previous Apple keynote speeches.
Until i eventually came across this one from 1997, an absolute classic (and not because of Microsoft’s ‘big brother’-like appearance).
Most Apple keynotes are dissected as a how to do a brilliant presentation a la Steve Jobs.
While there’s certainly that element here, the more important lesson in this keynote is : How to Turnaround a Company 101.
At that time, Apple was in shambles – steered into the wrong direction by then-CEO Gil Amelio. (Unbelievable as it seems now, there was a point in time that Apple had actually been written off as a living dead company).
And so this keynote marked the second coming of Jobs into Apple, after being ousted some years earlier.
Tasked with the enormous duty of bringing back Apple to former glory, Steve Jobs breaks down a clear analysis of what went wrong, what do we need to do, and how do we … in managed steps … get back into shape.
Did the strategy work?
Uhmmm … just look at where Apple is NOW.
To all those undergoing massive change amidst this business environment whirlwind, watch and learn …
