Steve Jobs has vision. Vision to see what customers will want years before they have any idea they want it. And that vision has caused Apple to make some seemingly crazy business decisions over the years – that only look brilliant in hindsight.
One of the strangest ones is their lack of transparency. Everywhere else in business, we are learning that transparency, openness and honesty leads to the greater good. But Apple has remained the paranoid-schizophrenic leader in the tech world. They hyper-control everything. They started their own line of retail stores to control the distribution. They’re the master of secrets. They micromanage the “uncontrollable”. For the vast majority of businesses, this is the ultimate recipe for disaster. Somehow, under Apple’s leadership, it thrives.
Apple also never plays the price wars. They never sacrifice quality to attract the masses at a lower price point, and they still make their products go mainstream.
The folks at Apple are perfectionists. Their goal is perfection. For every other tech company, it would straight-jacket them. For Apple, being crazy is crazy smart.