Recently I started reading the book Inside Apple by Adam Lashinsky in attempt to find new ideas about how to run a great company. The book is pretty good so far covering some well-known details of Apple as well as a number of things I hadn’t seen before. My favorite idea is the weekly project review instituted by Steve Jobs.
Here’s how the Apple executive team weekly project review works:
- Every Monday the senior management team meets for two hours
- The top 4-6 highest priority projects are reviewed in minute detail with most projects being product launches (new products and updates to existing products)
- All projects and tasks have a specific Directly Responsible Individual (DRI)
- There’s always one DRI for a line item and never multiple people
How many leadership teams of billion dollar plus companies get into the details on a weekly basis for a small number of most important company projects? My guess is not too many. The weekly detailed project review fits nicely with the one page strategic plan and quarterly rocks whereby the rocks represent the most important projects that need to get done.
What else? What are your thoughts on the idea that Steve Jobs personally reviewed details of the most important projects on a weekly basis?
David Cummings on Startups 