Apple and their humble Plans
Let me begin this post with a handful of not so popular facts about Apple.
- Although being a fierce competitor, Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997 when the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.
- One of the lesser-known facts about Apple is that it was the first private company to reach a $1 trillion market value.
- Many of us would not know that Apple holds the patent for the ’slide to unlock’ feature.
- Apple has the most loyal customer base, with a retention rate of 92%
- Apple has around $150 billion in excess capital. It could buy companies like Netflix, Twitter, Tesla, and Facebook.
You might wonder why now there is a post to talk about Apple and their prowess, but there exists a reason behind that.
The reason is how an extraordinary firm like Apple communicate their plans with humility.
Ever wondered why Apple do not communicate concrete dates unless it is just a few days out?
Apple is among the best software companies in the world. They have arguably some of the best tools and technologies in addition to their workforce.
Yet, they do not communicate concrete dates to their customers/stakeholders until the very last moment.
Why? Because they know that software (or product) development is never deterministic and remains a challenge when predicting the future precisely.
With so many years of experience within their ranks, they can shoot for a three months period (coming up in three months) but they won’t communicate concrete dates to manage expectations.
What makes a system believe otherwise that they can set concrete dates in quarters ahead of time, if not years in advance?
I request you to assume the following:
- You are not better at software (product) development than Apple and
- You won’t have more predictability in your software development.
And now with those assumptions in the background, collectively explore this question :
What changes do you need to make to how you plan, how you predict, and how you communicate?
