The “Apple 100” Rule That’s More Powerful Than Any Org Chart

Steve Jobs had a rule:

Every year, he made a list of the 100 most important people at Apple.

Not the most senior.

• Not the ones with polished MBAs or fancy titles.

• Just the 100 people moving the needle the most right now.

He’d bring them together for a private strategy summit.

And here’s the kicker…

Most execs weren’t invited.

Instead, you’d find:

• A 24-year-old coder who hacked a prototype in 3 days

• A designer who simplified an entire onboarding flow

• A customer support rep whose insight led to a product pivot

Jobs hand-picked this crew based on four things:

1. Creativity

2. Direct contribution

3. Future potential

4. Impact to Apple this year

It wasn’t a pat on the back.

It was a message: You matter more than your job title says.

Competence > Credentials

This wasn’t a team-building offsite.

He wanted these people in a room:

• To cross-pollinate ideas

• To fuel momentum

• To share an important ethos: contribution matters more than hierarchy

It’s no coincidence Apple shipped some of its boldest moves after these gatherings.

Rumour has it the seeds of the iPhone, the pivot from PowerPC to Intel, and even the original iMac colours came from the energy and collisions in these meetings.

The Org Chart Is Lying To You

Titles are lagging indicators.

Impact is a leading one.

And Jobs knew that companies that stay great don’t manage for status, they manage for momentum.

So instead of asking, “Who runs what?” he asked:

This wasn’t a reward. It was a responsibility.

People left those meetings lit up and under pressure.

They knew they’d been handpicked by Jobs.

You can’t slack after that.

World-Class Companies Replicate Something Similar 

1. Amazon – “Bar Raisers”

Amazon has a hidden class of employees called Bar Raisers.

• They don’t manage teams.

• They don’t report to Bezos.

But they sit on hiring panels and can veto any candidate, including senior execs.

Their only goal? Protect the talent bar.

2. Netflix – Keeper Test

Netflix leaders ask:

If the answer is no… they’re gone. No matter their rank.

It’s radical.

But it keeps the company full of missionaries, not mercenaries.

3. Google – 10Xers and “Founders Within”

Google tracks “10X contributors” e.g. engineers or product leads who create outsized results.

And they incubate internal entrepreneurs with “Founders Within” programs.

What can we learn from these tech giants?

If you’re a leader, your job is to know who your 100 are.

Not the ones with the fanciest titles.

The ones with the fire.

The builders.

The ones shipping, tweaking, creating, obsessing.

How To Use Inside Your Company

1. Make your own “Impact ” list.

• Audit your org/team every 6 months.

• Who’s actually driving progress? Not managing it. Creating it.

• Who are the 5/10/50/100 most important people to this company’s future?

2. Ditch the org chart (for a day).

• Run a summit, dinner, or offsite with your Impact group.

• You don’t need Jobs-level budget… just signal that they matter!

• Get them talking across functions. Make them feel seen.

• The added bonus is they’ll go back and infect the org with momentum.

3. Give them inside access.

• Show them what’s coming.

• Give early access to roadmap.

• Ask them where the bottlenecks are.

• They’ll tell you what your dashboards never will.

3. Use it as a recognition & succession tool.

• Can’t promote everyone right now? No problem. This is the promotion.

• And a way to spot your next wave of leaders.

• Let them launch things. Give them mentors.

• Most companies promote based on stability.

• The best companies promote based on possibility.

MY TOP FINDS OF THE WEEK 🏆

For Your Performance

• Jocko Willink with an awesome tactic to become more confident (Link)

For Your Team

• I could run through a brick wall every time I hear coach Nick Saban speak… this one is a goodie when analysing the character of your team (Link)

For Your Health

• A technique that Disney teaches all its staff - try it with those close in your life this week (Link)