Apple Executive Chairman Tim Cook has no intention of meddling with John Ternus' work as CEO, but he does want to lighten his load by taking on responsibilities with interacting with global governments.
Apple's new Executive Chairman Tim Cook has been busy with worldwide policy, leaving CEO John Ternus with the day-to-day decision-making at the company. In a recent interview, he said they both have an "incredible level of trust in each other."
According to The Independent, Apple wanted to provide a transition so good it would become the textbook example. The interview took place just before the King showed up to Apple Music Hall for an event.
"It's been an interesting transition," Cook said. "We really set out to have the best transition ever, a textbook example that people could look back to and learn from. It actually started years ago."
Cook goes on to suggest that his role as Executive Chairman and government liaison requires a significant amount of work. It's now work that Ternus doesn't have to deal with, but Cook suggests that he's acting on Ternus' orders.
"I'm not meddling," Cook proclaimed. "I'm not a meddler."
When Cook took over from Steve Jobs, he was told to never ask "what would Jobs do?" Cook gave Ternus similar advice.
"And the advice I've given him is, make it your own job," Cook said. "Put your time in the things that you can add the most value to around the company."
"And that means don't mimic me," he concluded. "Just like I didn't mimic Steve. We all have different strengths."
It is clear that Ternus took that advice to heart. Since taking over, multiple changes have taken place internally. There also appears to be an emphasis on Apple being able to move faster and release more often.
It remains to be seen when we'll see Ternus' version of Apple emerge, if it isn't already here. He was chosen by Cook for a reason, and the company is so big that it'll be hard to create noticeable change in the short term.
