Apple executives don't take notes in meetings

In the shadows of Cupertino's conference rooms, a decades-old tradition endures. This is a philosophy inherited from Steve Jobs, which consists of not taking notes in meetings.

The revelation wasmade by Phil Schiller, emblematic figure of Apple and director of the App Store, as part of a trial in Australia. It concernsagain the anti-competitive practices of the firm.

More precisely, today's revelations were made in a hearing between Apple and Epic Games. The studio creating Fortnitealso relaunches hostilities in the United States. Which was predictable given the circumstances in which the case was resolved. This has nonot suitable for the boss of Epic Games.

He doesn't know the profitability of the App Store

The Financial Review reported on the discussions held during the Apple executive's hearing, and the least we can say is that they are astonishing. Seeing that Phil Schiller was unable to provide precise figures, Neil Young of Epic Games asked him:

Are you telling His Honor that you don't know if... the App Store has been profitable?

The Apple executive responded that he actually thought it was profitable, without being sure. He then provided some arguments:

I'm just saying that "profit" as a specific financial metric is not a report I receive and spend time on. This is not how we measure our performance as a team — Billings, accounts, subscriptions: these are the metrics that the team carefully monitors and manages. Likewise, cash flow forecast, ROI, net present value "and others" weren't specific metrics that Apple paid too much attention to when it decided to charge a 30% commission on revenue of many app developers selling their apps and services through the App Store.

He then justifies this lack of data by the fact that Apple has not taken notes since 1997, as reported by 9to5Mac:

When Mr. Jobs returned in 1997, in one of the first meetings, someone was taking notes, writing down what [Mr. Jobs] was saying about what we were doing. He stopped and said, “Why are you writing this? You should be smart enough to remember that. If you are not smart enough to remember this, you should not attend this meeting. »

We all stopped taking notes and learned to just listen, take part in the conversation, and remember what we were supposed to do. And that became how we worked.

This statement may seem surreal for a company of Apple's stature, but it is part ofthe philosophy of Jobs, for whom reality was malleable and adaptableto the needs of innovation.

A luxury not accessible to everyone

Not taking notes in meetings or measuring key performance indicators like profitability is not a luxury available to every business. For most, documentation and financial analysis are essential to measuring success and guiding future decisions. The App Store's 30% commission undoubtedly offers significant leeway to Apple, which allows this.