It certainly is FUD SEASON! — PING!
Apple FUD Ping!
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I QUIT: WHAT REALLY GOES ON AT APPLE
APRIL 6, 2015 NOMADIC_RAMBLER
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. – Steve Jobs, June 12, 2005.
I’ve just escaped the Apple institution. I’ve sent in my resignation, and fled down its bright white corridors curated by crass colourful pictures of iPhones past. I handed in my security pass and in return I was able to re-claim my creativity, individuality and free thinking from the secure Apple cloak room. Finally now, for the first time in two years, I feel light, creative and inspired. I am again an individual with my own creative ideas, perceptions, values and beliefs. It may take me a while, but from what I believe – I’m now able to express such beliefs again. I am no longer part of the collective iCult machine whose dirty, worn-out, greasy and naive internal mechanisms of bullying, harassment and mind-games push out shiny and polished iPhones every year. I AM FREE It is ironic that one of the world’s largest companies and one that prides itself on innovation, creativity and ‘breaking the mould’, operates on such soul limiting entrenched dogma. It’s an organised boys club where perception is valued over substance and tenure over talent. I spent two years in the Apple camp managing customer service improvement for their technical support contact centres and out of the fifteen plus years working in this industry I’ve never witnessed so many bizarre and unprofessional things, only some of which I have time to touch on here.
IMG_2428 Apple’s present day mothership I found Apple to be a sheltered workshop. The common language spoken being passive aggression, sarcasm and Kool-Aid fuelled stories of ‘success’ designed to manipulate and intimidate naive workers who have never experienced corporate life outside the Apple walls. Like the Chinese emperors believed the forbidden city in Beijing was the centre of the universe and constructed their empire around it, I’m sure that some people at Apple feel the same… Is it a coincidence that the new Apple Campus looks like a giant spaceship? Maybe the plan is for everyone to drink poisoned ‘kool-Aid’ before ascending to the mothership… Sounds like I got out just in time.
cropped-Forbidden-City-1-of-1.jpg The Forbidden City: The centre of the ‘known’ ancient universe An artist's rendition of the new Apple 'Mothership' An artist’s rendition of the new Apple ‘Mothership’. Centre of the Apple Universe Even after-work beers were a strange affair. Drinks with colleagues revolved around the same stories told again and again as drunken management spoke of times when Apple executives made ‘strategic’ decisions to cut jobs and shut down Apple sites so swiftly and carelessly. Like boy-scouts around a campfire, employees eyes would glow and twinkle at this notion of power and embrace these stories with awe but with utter disrespect for the actions Apple has on the broader community of contractors, vendors, partners, resellers and business partners they have bent over a barrel of non-profitability. Remarks such as “… to make a decision that affects so many lives and so many jobs so quickly like that shows the sheer level on which they (Apple executive management) operate… Amazing” were common dialogue around Friday beers. In my opinion a monkey can cut jobs, but at Apple the strangest things are revered.
At Apple HQ - 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California USA Me at Apple HQ – 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California USA Sixteen hour days are filled with meetings after meetings followed by more meetings. Whilst this is somewhat standard in most organisations, meetings at Apple wreaked of toxic agendas designed to deliberately trip people up, make fools of the less respected and call people out. Team spirit is non existent as ‘internal customers’ attack individuals and push agendas that satisfy their morning egos. Hours upon hours were wasted in meetings to prepare for meetings in preparation for other meetings to the point where little work actually got done. These rehearsals – called ‘dry runs’ (to me it sounds like something you’d pick up from South East Asian street food) – were meetings to refine impressions and push agendas… how to get the impressions right. How to bend, twist and polish data to tell the story you were instructed to tell… Not the reality the data presents. If a story can’t be forged, the data is excluded.
I had organised a day off recently where all my family were visiting me from interstate. Despite this I had agreed to dial in to one conference call as the audience attending was ‘important’. Well it seems Important but disrespectful, as the audience never even turned up, yet I was still made to ‘dry-run’ the whole meeting from start to finish for an hour and a half as if there was full attendance and interest in what I was saying. So, as the food I had prepared for my family went cold, there I was stuck on the phone role-playing a fake menial meeting to satisfy managements ego.
Sickness, family emergencies, and even weddings are given no respect at Apple. When I started my role I missed one business trip as my wife was pregnant, fell down the stairs and had to be hospitalised – this was listed as a ‘performance issue’ on my record and brought up during a one on one with management as a major ‘miss’ on my behalf. Meetings at midnight were also common place where I was always asked to present something menial (again to be seen), however even then I wasn’t allowed to simply speak to my topic but instead I was fed scripts by management through instant message with countdowns included about how long I had left to speak (“1 min 30 secs left”… “too long…”, “wrap it up”…).
In recent weeks I contracted a nasty incapacitating mosquito born virus and was hospitalised for a short time. However, rather than receiving support, I was emailed a presentation to my hospital bed with a note that it needed to be completed ‘urgently’. Even on the very morning of my wedding I was still being harassed by phone and email to send a report someone had lost. Management were inconsistent, moody and erratic. I’d often receive aggressive chats at all hours, and harassing texts every fifteen minutes asking “are you online? Your status shows you as away – are you there?”. I received rude voicemails on my phone when I was one minute late to a meeting and was harassed about my ‘Australian work ethic’ with management out of Singapore even commenting that Australians are ‘unfriendly’ and that we ‘only like to work with other Australians’.
At this point It all got too much and I was at breaking point. So, I reached out in confidence to an Apple executive. This respected senior manager told me there was nothing to complain about and to “put on my big boy pants”. I was then threatened if I ever raised such issues again, it would be a “very different conversation”. Words like ‘pressure’ kept getting thrown at me in the context of I can’t handle the pressure and “you were told at the interview it’s high pressure”. In reality, Apple is by no means the most pressure I’ve experienced in my career… Not even close.
My response was simple. I used to be a police officer. I’ve walked the beat of Sydney streets and been thrown in to de-escallating many violent situations at a moments notice. Even prior to this I also worked for the Police ‘Triple Zero’ emergency call centre (Australia’s equivalent to ‘911 Emergency’) taking screaming phone calls from victims of crime and swiftly dispatching police units. So my point is; I’m no stranger to pressure and stress. Given my experiences, I’m not going to get too stressed out over call centre customer satisfaction results! Sorry Apple… Yet despite all this, it’s really quite simple. Raising concerns about management and un-fair treatment has got me nothing but retaliation from all involved.
Disgusting, Apple…. Disgusting.
Before I resigned they were clutching at straws to find reason to performance manage me. However all they could come up with were some missed reporting deadlines (which had been agreed on and communicated with management) and the fact that I had rescheduled some meetings… Seems a little desperate to me. Ironically, looking back – none of these items nor any of the stress and pressure were urgent… Not a single instance. All of it was deliberately manufactured mind games… I was told once that management spent a day deliberately dialling in late to all our conference calls for the whole day to ‘test’ who would ‘take the initiative’ to message them that they were late for a meeting?!? Very, very strange indeed but just another day in the life of Apple mind games that goes on behind the shiny, glossy ‘retina’ public display that Apple presents.
For a company that claims to enhance people’s lives through technology – they know nothing about life. Nothing at all. I’m disheartened as I loved Apple. I loved their products and I’ve been an advocate for what they allegedly stand for. Unfortuntely I’ve seen behind their glossy and polished stainless steel exterior, I’ve walked through their frosted glass doors and seen a toxic culture of manipulation, intimidation, threats and politics that are so incongruent to the values they preach.
As Steve Jobs said – Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. Thanks Steve, I choose to follow your advice.
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“For a company that claims to enhance people’s lives through technology - they know nothing about life”
Well that’s because the purpose of technology is to suck life out of people.
The clues to Apple’s dysfunctional environment has always been present from its early days. You could see it in the way Apple had us selling the Apple /// computer with accessories which did not actually work or were never actually brought to market after being advertised to the customers. Later on you had the infighting with Steve Jobs leaving Apple and then returning to Apple. Then there was the export of manufacturing overseas which left many of the formerly loyal Apple employees stranded in the United States.
Jobs wasn’t a nice man.
He was a visionary, and he helped people in his company do some great stuff. I actually respect Jobs — but the news that the company he created is not kind to employees is hardly a shock to me.
For the record, most “former dis-gruntled employee” complaints are ignored. I have been in this same situation myself, and was told that by the Agency I filed the formal complaint with. They did do a “Courtesy Inspection” but gave them 3 weeks notice, so they could “get ready” i.e. cover it up.
Apple dissing weddings? That pizza joint has some company now. :)
Passive aggression, back-biting, sarcasm, manipulation, contempt for family life -- it sounds like an increasingly "gay" environment at the top.
Assuming this guy is who he claims to be, his stories could take place at most software — and practically any hardware — company in the Valley.
There’s a lot of competition and pressure out there, kid, especially in this Obanomy. Cowboy up.
But a few years of dealing with incompetent suppliers, surly customers, indifferent employees, and rapacious government will no doubt turn you into the exact jerk of a boss you used to hate. :)
Steve Jobs was the Indispensible Man at Apple.
Their tremendous success was the result of his leadership.
There is no particular reason to think they will be successful without it.
Sure, they will cruise for a while, perhaps quite a while, on the work that has been done by those that came before. But, eventually, their momentum will wind down and they will become a mediocre company.
Right now, the bulk of their efforts are being expended to make absolutely sure no new visionary will be able to penetrate the bureaucracy to save them.
(BTW, there is no way on God’s Green Earth Steve Jobs would have released a wristwatch with an 18 hour battery life.)
You never know what or whom to believe. One time I was about to get a new manager and someone warned me...”Oh, I had her and she was terrible! She was a micromanager who stood at the door of my cubicle and watched me work all of the time... always checking behind me!” Well, as it turns out, she never did that to me. She was fine. The person who told me that needed to be micromanaged.
But that being said, if what this guy says it true, I would never be able to endure it. I would dig ditches before I would put up with this passive aggressive, back stabbing environment.
My advice is when your personal values and corporate values conflict, you must make one of those career and life changing decisions. Either go their way or yours.
Nothing is forever in the corporate world. You are only worth what you can contribute to the corporation and sometimes not even that. Always maintain your marketable skills knowing the day will come when you WILL part ways with your current employer. The first day on your new job start planning your exit strategy because that day will come sooner or later.
In other words you must have knowledge and skills that some corporation needs if you are to keep working in your field. If you’re not learning and earning, someday you will wake up to find yourself out of a job and without the marketable skills to find a new one. Technology moves fast, so keep up and attain new knowledge in areas that will improve your marketable skills.
Personally, I find that hands on and take charge people always have plenty of job opportunities. Failed managers, administrators, and decision makers are a dime a dozen. OTH, those that are successful, can pick their jobs and salaries. So try to achieve success in all you do. And even if you fail, try again. Most success is built on previous failures. Everybody roots for the underdog (unless he is Al Gore).
That being said, Steve Jobs was an a$$hole who molded a corporate entity that was a personification of his values. Jobs is gone but the corporation lingers on for lack of another Steve Jobs. Whether you agreed or disagreed with Jobs, it was always your decision whether to go or stay.
Ping for later
Barbara Corcoran weeps. Haven’t Apple learned to “shoot the dogs early”?
Did David Miscavige take over for Jobs?