fyi What Happens If You Die?

All:

Stimulus: http://blogs.cioinsight.com/knowitall/content001/cio/the_indispensable_man.html?kc=CIOMINEPNL01202009

Response : Another headline that stops you cold (pun sort of intended). It’s intended as a comment on Steve Jobs’ health situation and the ramifications for Apple going forward. Rather than me get into a pointless ramble on God, heaven, the soul, legacy, the afterlife, “cemeteries are full of indispensable men,” and the like, I’ll just point out that, where corporate succession planning is concerned, Jobs’ eventual demise was factored into people’s thinking when it was revealed a few years ago that he had battled cancer. And, in fact, he has built a brand that can certainly survive the loss of one or more individuals and keep on prospering. It’s instructive to look at the legacy of Walt Disney (Jobs, in fact, has been called the new Disney because he founded Pixar). Quibble as you might with how Mike Eisner and others have built Disney’s brand in the 43 years since Walt went to heaven, you can’t deny that the founder did something exquisitely right. And that he was just as indispensable in his heyday to his shop as Jobs is now to his. That said, I wish Steven Jobs a speedy recovery. I don’t know him. I’ve never met him. I’m not a big Apple fan, but that’s irrelevant. He’s a human being suffering from some nasty medical condition, and should be in all our prayers.

Jim