Nevertheless, by late last week attention had quickly shifted to Cook’s tenure as CEO.
We believe that such short-sighted attacks on an icon of American industry could not be more misguided. Cook’s leadership is still critically needed at Apple.
Over 45 years of research on age and work, I have closely documented the effects of age and found potentially surprising results. Older workers tend to have greater sales skills and interpersonal savvy, with only modest declines in physical dexterity. Research on age and risk in engineering found that older managers were only mildly less willing to take risks. They took longer to make decisions, but they were better able to appreciate the value of new information.
Compared to these examples, at age 64, Cook is just getting started.
Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some steps Cook can take to strengthen Apple’s positioning, even beyond doubling down on AI development. As CNBC’s Jim Cramer pointed out, it would not hurt with the Trump administration if Apple accelerated some of its $500 billion commitment for domestic manufacturing. Moving some spending forward and accelerating that planned four-year timeline would be a tangible political and patriotic signal to rectify Trump’s fears that he is being played via delays and long timeframes. Similarly, it may not hurt Apple to add a respected technologist with AI, software, or hardware expertise to its board.
But clearly, Apple has stayed ripe for growth and product innovation under Cook, and the attacks on him and the company are half-baked.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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