Apple and the Art of Cutting Back

In 1997, Apple was losing money, market share and direction while carrying a product portfolio spread across too many segments. The problem was not only money; the company was trying to be too many things at once.

When Steve Jobs returned, he did not begin by asking what Apple should create next. He reviewed everything the company was pursuing and asked what no longer deserved to continue.

Many projects stopped and many product lines disappeared. Every product removed gave the team more time, energy and intelligence to improve what remained.

When resources are finite, every choice carries an opportunity cost. Trying to do everything often means doing nothing well enough. Focus does not create more time; it changes how time is used.

Later products that reshaped technology are often credited to creativity. But before creativity created value, focus created the space for important resources to converge on the same goal.

Every person also carries a portfolio of plans, interests, invitations, goals and commitments. When everything is retained, attention fragments. Major progress may begin with stopping at the right time.

Ask what in your current portfolio no longer serves the direction you want, which commitment is consuming resources and which cut would help the core work become better.

Focus is not doing more with the same resources. It is freeing resources by removing what no longer fits the core objective.

The next chapter tells the story of Burbn and how deleting almost the entire app created the space for Instagram to emerge.