A new report from The Information today takes a look at 180 influential leaders at Apple who are molding the future of the company. Among the topics discussed including Tim Cook and his management style and the rise of other leaders at the company, is an interesting detail about a “NFW” shorthand that SVP Phil Schiller allegedly uses to shoot down bad ideas.
The Information says the anecdote about Schiller comes from one of his lieutenants:
However, it’s hard to know if this is indeed true. For example, back in 2014, the book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs recounted a story that Jobs once threw a pen at Eddy Cue’s face, but we heard firsthand from Cue that it didn’t happen.
The report also notes how Tim Cook approaches his CEO role as a delegator and guide and doesn’t often get involved with product decisions.
Apple employees told The Information that one upside to Cook’s style of management is that the company is less political compared to the Jobs era.
The report also includes a chart showing the top 180 leaders and notes the current 132,000 employees on staff at Apple. Notably that number has more than doubled since 2011 when Tim Cook started his role as CEO.
Check out the full report here.
