Addicted to Yesterday

The announcement of Apple's staggering quarterly profit (generated at a rate of £5.4 million/hour reveals an interesting response. An obsession with how that rate of growth can be maintained. It seems to reveal a "milking" attitude to growth rather than a developmental approach by shareholders. Apple has phenomenal creative capacity.if it was owned by people with real agency, maybe they would be investing the cash pile the company has generated in something adventurous, and accept a temporary levelling of of profit and a degree of risk.

It is an important lesson I think.

With the chronic levels of uncertainty we have, shareholders without agency are a huge constraint on creativity. When Apple hits a poorer quarter (as it inevitably will), these shareholders will call for Tim Cook's head, eschew any responsibility for their shortsightedness, and sell their stock.

This approach gives owner managed businesses a huge opportunity. They can move faster, take risks, and involve their staff in p…