rewrite this title ‘You can’t do everything’: Tim Cook says he has a ‘ruthless filter’ when it comes to approving new ideas at Apple

Remember the Macintosh Portable? Or the circular ‘Hockey Puck’ mouse? How about the unsolicited rollout of U2’s thirteenth studio album to 500 million iTunes subscribers?

These are just a few of the things Apple has got wrong in its otherwise illustrious 50-year history. But while marketing blunders and product misfires are inevitable in the pursuit of innovation, Tim Cook hasn’t overseen all that many of either during his time as CEO.

The mild-mannered executive has prioritized supply chain efficiency and steady growth over radical new ideas in his 14-year tenure at the helm of Apple, and in a revealing new interview with Esquire, Cook gave a rare insight into the way he and his team workshop the many big, bold ideas that spring from within the walls of Apple Park.

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“You have to recognise that [crazy] ideas can come from any employee,” Cook told Esquire. “And users can have great ideas as well. You have to have a ruthless filter, because you can’t do everything. You can’t spread your energy like a peanut-butter spread. If you do, you’ll do nothing at the quality level that we desire.

“We say no to a thousand things to get to that one thing,” Cook continued. “If you were to parachute into an Apple meeting, the debates that go on here are just incredible.”

Taken in isolation, that response reads like a measured take from a cautious and considered CEO. And indeed Cook’s caution — his focus on consistently ‘safe’ product launches and the consolidation of Apple’s lucrative Services segment — has seen Apple balloon into a multi-trillion-dollar company.

But his “ruthless” approach to running Apple appears markedly different from the more carefree, inventor-ish leadership style adopted by legendary founder Steve Jobs. That’s not to say Jobs wasn’t ruthless — he absolutely was, as any half-decent Steve Jobs biography will tell you — but his obsessive interest in the hardware itself, in moving technology forward, presented as a willingness to try new things. Is it any surprise that our list of never-released Apple gadgets features more products that were canned by Cook than by Jobs?

Put it this way: can you imagine Tim Cook narrating Apple’s iconic 1997 ‘Think Different’ commercial? “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers,” Jobs himself says in a never-aired version of that same montage. “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”

Cook is a very different type of CEO from his predecessor, and his latest comments confirm an assumption about the way he runs Apple. I wonder how many of the “thousand things” he’s said no to have been ideas related to the foldable phone market. Or physical TVs. Or smart rings. Or driverless cars. How long has Apple been talking about — but not moving on — AI?

I don’t mean this as a criticism. AI notwithstanding, Cook has been right to withhold Apple from markets that haven’t yet proven mainstream enough to warrant entering. And of course, he has overseen the development of some radical new products in his time as CEO (the first Apple Silicon MacBook Air M1 was a game-changer, and AirPods, which were widely ridiculed on release, are now among the world’s best-selling headphones).

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Apple is getting bolder, too. The Vision Pro headset wasn’t a commercial success, but it remains the gold standard for virtual reality technology. The iPhone Air didn’t set the world alight, but it’s still one of the most exciting phones you can buy right now. And all signs point towards Apple finally releasing a foldable iPhone later this year.

Are these examples of Tim Cook loosening the reins? I don’t think so. Instead, it’s that “say no to a thousand things to get to that one thing” approach in action. Apple is typically late to the party, but it always arrives wearing the best outfit, and I’m glad we’re finally getting more than just iterative upgrades from a company that once laughed in the face of boring.

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