Why Should Singular Leadership Set the Tone: A Lesson From the Apple Car’s Demise

I’m a firm advocate of delegation, continuously pushing for radical decentralization, and I firmly believe in distributing responsibilities and empowering teams. However, when it comes to setting the tone for an ambitious company, product, project, department, or team, having multiple captains holding the steering wheel will expose the endeavor to the risk of mediocrity and contribute to indecision and setbacks, ultimately leading to its demise. Success in ambitious endeavors hinges on three crucial factors:

1. The Leader’s Capabilities and Ambition:
   Spearheading an ambitious project demands not only capability but also unwavering ambition. The leader must possess the acumen to acquire and motivate the right human resources while navigating obstacles that continuously threaten to derail progress toward the target. The level of ambition determines the clarity and consistency of the path towards success.
2. Clarity and Ambition of the Goal (Setting the Tone):
   The overarching goal must be crystal clear and audaciously bold, akin to a solitary moon to be reached. For instance, envisioning a car with specific features, production volume, and environmental footprint sets the tone for the entire project.
3. Effective Delegation:
   Different from setting the tone, achieving it requires effective delegation. Radical delegation ensures that the assembled team is fully engaged and efficiently utilized, propelling progress toward the shared goal.

A Car Story Short

The Apple Car saga stands as a poignant example of the consequences of lacking singular leadership. Despite a decade of effort and significant investment (reportedly $1 billion annually), the project, codenamed “Titan,” met an untimely demise. The absence of decisive leadership, coupled with inconsistent ambitions that created fertile ground for technical setbacks, ultimately led to its downfall.

Initially championed by Steve Jobs, envisioning to dominate every aspect of consumer experience and creating the Volkswagen Beetle of the modern age, the vision for the Apple Car included clear goals such as an $85,000 target price. However, Jobs’s passing left the project adrift, with successive leaders lacking a unified vision. Disagreements, such as Tim Cook’s preference for fully autonomous vehicles conflicting with Kevin Lynch’s more conservative approach, led to indecision and setbacks. Similarly, in the design domain, Jony Ive, drawing inspiration from a Volkswagen model, aimed to elevate it to new heights. However, as multiple stakeholders gradually became involved in leading the design endeavor, the original ambition became diluted, leading to impractical designs.

In essence, the failure of the Apple Car underscores the importance of singular leadership in setting and maintaining the tone for ambitious endeavors. While different perspectives and flexible thinking are essential for fulfilling them, a clear direction and unified vision are paramount conditions for ambitious endeavors to succeed. Without these, even the most well-funded projects can fizzle out.

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