In a Medium post, Apple’s head of environmental initiatives, Lisa Jackson, detailed their plan to convert some 32,000 acres in Maine to a working forest (PDF) that will support their initiative to have environmentally-friendly packaging. According to AppleInsider, “The commitment made by Apple will provide the company with a steady supply of sustainably harvested timber for paper and pulp mills”.
I thought about this a bit yesterday: Apple’s motivations, Tim Cook’s motivations, etc. For Apple, this could just be a PR move. Everyone likes environmentally-friendly companies. Apple could just be doing this for the headline. And maybe Cook is doing this for the same reasons? Maybe he is looking for a way to set himself apart from Apple’s ‘forever’ CEO?
I don’t think so.
If Tim Cook showed us anything last year, it is that his Apple will be decidedly different from his predecessor’s when it comes to social and corporate responsibility.
I’m a little past halfway-through Becoming Steve Jobs, and I can’t help but be even more smitten with the former Apple CEO, turned ex-CEO, turned interim CEO, and finally, turned CEO …again. While there has been some legitimate criticism of the book from people in the know, there is no doubt that Jobs was the visionary everyone thought he was. And while I cannot predict the future, it seems unlikely that Cook’s legacy will be as transformative as Jobs’s.
What I have come to realize is that while Cook’s time at Apple may not be filled with the same level of innovation as Jobs’, his effect on the company (and beyond) can still be paramount. In many ways, Tim Cook is a better CEO than Steve Jobs ever was or could have been. In addition to leading the company to monumental financial success over the past 3.5 years as the official CEO, he also seems genuinely interested in treating his employees fairly. He is an advocate for social justice. He cares about the environment. Cook is leveraging Apple’s enormous success to do things that don’t make much sense from a purely business perspective, and you know what? That’s something Steve Jobs never tried to do.
Bravo, Tim.
I often see the adage, “This would have never happened if Steve Jobs was still alive.” I understand the sentiment. Everyone hates replacements. I get it. Still, with respect to all the heights Tim Cook’s Apple has soared, I say this:
Thank goodness for Tim Cook.