4 ms·

Suddenly Tim looked back at Sabih and asked, ‘Why are you still here?’ Sabih left the meeting immediately, drove directly to San Francisco Airport,

Suddenly Tim looked back at Sabih and asked, ‘Why are you still here?’ Sabih left the meeting immediately, drove directly to San Francisco Airport, got on the next flight to China without even a change of clothes. But you can bet that problem was resolved fast. What about Sabih's passport? Did he just carry it around at all times in case Tim Cook wanted him to fly to China?

chkuendig 11y ago
also, china doesnt do visa on arrival...
- stephencanon 11y ago
  If you travel to China for work, you already have a multiple-entry visa.
drzaiusapelord 11y ago
Not to mention his Visa. U.S. citizens must get visas before visiting. They can't just buy one after landing. So much of this sounds like managerial bullshit, to be honest. "He got on the plane straight to China and made it work like the Ayn Rand superman he truly is! You skill workers can learn a lot from this!"
- mikeyouse 11y ago
  I don't disagree but you can now get a 10-year 'multiple entry' visa for China if you're a US business person, so as long as you have a passport, you're free to visit whenever you're needed. http://www.usccc.org/#!china-visa/c1nj9 http://www.usccc.org/#!china-visa/c1nj9
- kbenson 11y ago
  Maybe you can get a visa that covers a time period instead of a trip? If he's the guy that regularly goes out there once every week or two, and that's a possibe to get a visa like that, I imagine they would. Otherwise, maybe his assistant was frantically greasing the wheels for his arrival while he was on the plan. Beyond that, the story read to me less like "a funny story about my old pal Sabih Khan" and more like "here's how much of a dick Tim Cook is". If you think saying “This is bad. Someone ought to get over there.” in the middle of a meeting and then later in that same meeting, feel compelled to single out a specific person and ask "Why are you still here?", then you are a dick. Being purposefully vague on the who and the when to then thirty minutes later single someone out for not doing something is a dick move.
  - scintill76 11y ago
    It does sound dickish, but we're missing tone, body language, context, etc. It's possible those added up to something that could more accurately be transcribed as, "Why did I allow you to stay here when I just said we needed someone there? OK, go now!" On the other hand, there's this alternate quote: 'Thirty-minutes in the meeting he chided Sabih Khan, the then operations executive, saying "Why are you still here?"' [1] But, the actual source is "an anecdote reported by CNN", which might be this quote: 'Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, "Why are you still here?"' [2] So, was it emotionless or chiding? Merely abrupt or rebuking? I'm interested in this because it's a case study of problems with (modern?) journalism, where one journo gets an actual quote, boils it down to a paragraph, then everyone else has to mince that up into something interesting and not plagiarised, which continues ad nauseum (in this case becoming a legendary story about an exec, inviting embellishments) until hardly anything of the true meaning is left. I kinda wish the people who have no more actual information than an intelligent search-engine-user would get out of the way so the rest of us could just read the primary source. [1] http://s4.ibtimes.com/tim-cook-man-apple-ceo-steve-jobs-trusts-256039 http://s4.ibtimes.com/tim-cook-man-apple-ceo-steve-jobs-trus... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032107/http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/index.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032107/http://money.cnn....
    - kbenson 11y ago
      Those could very well be valid interpretations of the situation. If the story is supposed to be funny, it was delivered poorly, which may be due to the other problem you mentioned. For all we know there could be Citogenesis[1] going on at some level. 1: https://xkcd.com/978/ https://xkcd.com/978/
- blackguardx 11y ago
  You can get a visa good for ten years these days. Back when I traveled to China, I had an unlimited in/out visa good for a year at a time.
- kryptiskt 11y ago
  You can get a visa the same day for an extra fee.
- cryoshon 11y ago
  This is the vibe I got as well. "Let's all celebrate the the worker bee who dropped their life's obligations and went to China one afternoon!" No. Rash decisions are typically stupid decisions, and forcing one of your employees to go to China is a stupid decision. Frankly, it's also stupid to abide by that kind of stupidity-- abiding by stupidity is dangerous.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
ngoel36 11y ago
As a former management consultant - yes, I did this.
codeonfire 11y ago
Sounds like a nice stress free, paid 12 hour break lounging in first class to me.
- shostack 11y ago
  What makes you think it would be stress free? That time is likely filled with frantic emails, phone calls, presentation building, spreadsheet analysis, etc. to make sure once you are there, things happen quickly and the way you need them to.
  - codeonfire 11y ago
    First: "I'm sorry I'm on a plane right now." Second: executives don't build presentations. Lower level managers build presentations for executives. Same with spreadsheet analysis. Third: The only reason an executive would make a trip is to threaten people and to choose who to fire. Mere presence alone is all that is required.
jkot 11y ago
> ... Tim said, “This is bad. Someone ought to get over there.” Thirty minutes went by and the conversation moved to other topics. Suddenly Tim looked back at Sabih and asked, ‘Why are you still here?’ Good manager could be more specific, WHO ought to get over there?
exelius 11y ago
As someone who travels internationally for work, sometimes on short notice: yes, I generally carry my passport in my briefcase. Passports are important documents to be sure, but if you have one lost/stolen it's just an inconvenience. My company provides travel immigration assistance, so if I lost my passport on a business trip I could just call them and have a courier meet me at the airport with another the next day. Money solves an amazing number of logistical problems like that, and if you're an executive who flies around the world checking up on billion dollar supply contracts, money likely isn't an issue.
toephu2 11y ago
It's journalism, don't take the words for their literal meaning. He probably did go home, get some things, then head out to the airport the same day (assuming he already had a China visa). But that would sound boring in a news article now wouldn't it?

chkuendig 11y ago

also, china doesnt do visa on arrival...

stephencanon 11y ago
If you travel to China for work, you already have a multiple-entry visa.

drzaiusapelord 11y ago

Not to mention his Visa. U.S. citizens must get visas before visiting. They can't just buy one after landing. So much of this sounds like managerial bullshit, to be honest. "He got on the plane straight to China and made it work like the Ayn Rand superman he truly is! You skill workers can learn a lot from this!"

mikeyouse 11y ago
I don't disagree but you can now get a 10-year 'multiple entry' visa for China if you're a US business person, so as long as you have a passport, you're free to visit whenever you're needed. http://www.usccc.org/#!china-visa/c1nj9 http://www.usccc.org/#!china-visa/c1nj9
kbenson 11y ago
Maybe you can get a visa that covers a time period instead of a trip? If he's the guy that regularly goes out there once every week or two, and that's a possibe to get a visa like that, I imagine they would. Otherwise, maybe his assistant was frantically greasing the wheels for his arrival while he was on the plan. Beyond that, the story read to me less like "a funny story about my old pal Sabih Khan" and more like "here's how much of a dick Tim Cook is". If you think saying “This is bad. Someone ought to get over there.” in the middle of a meeting and then later in that same meeting, feel compelled to single out a specific person and ask "Why are you still here?", then you are a dick. Being purposefully vague on the who and the when to then thirty minutes later single someone out for not doing something is a dick move.
- scintill76 11y ago
  It does sound dickish, but we're missing tone, body language, context, etc. It's possible those added up to something that could more accurately be transcribed as, "Why did I allow you to stay here when I just said we needed someone there? OK, go now!" On the other hand, there's this alternate quote: 'Thirty-minutes in the meeting he chided Sabih Khan, the then operations executive, saying "Why are you still here?"' [1] But, the actual source is "an anecdote reported by CNN", which might be this quote: 'Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan, a key operations executive, and abruptly asked, without a trace of emotion, "Why are you still here?"' [2] So, was it emotionless or chiding? Merely abrupt or rebuking? I'm interested in this because it's a case study of problems with (modern?) journalism, where one journo gets an actual quote, boils it down to a paragraph, then everyone else has to mince that up into something interesting and not plagiarised, which continues ad nauseum (in this case becoming a legendary story about an exec, inviting embellishments) until hardly anything of the true meaning is left. I kinda wish the people who have no more actual information than an intelligent search-engine-user would get out of the way so the rest of us could just read the primary source. [1] http://s4.ibtimes.com/tim-cook-man-apple-ceo-steve-jobs-trusts-256039 http://s4.ibtimes.com/tim-cook-man-apple-ceo-steve-jobs-trus... [2] https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032107/http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/index.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20081206032107/http://money.cnn....
  - kbenson 11y ago
    Those could very well be valid interpretations of the situation. If the story is supposed to be funny, it was delivered poorly, which may be due to the other problem you mentioned. For all we know there could be Citogenesis[1] going on at some level. 1: https://xkcd.com/978/ https://xkcd.com/978/
blackguardx 11y ago
You can get a visa good for ten years these days. Back when I traveled to China, I had an unlimited in/out visa good for a year at a time.
kryptiskt 11y ago
You can get a visa the same day for an extra fee.
cryoshon 11y ago
This is the vibe I got as well. "Let's all celebrate the the worker bee who dropped their life's obligations and went to China one afternoon!" No. Rash decisions are typically stupid decisions, and forcing one of your employees to go to China is a stupid decision. Frankly, it's also stupid to abide by that kind of stupidity-- abiding by stupidity is dangerous.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

ngoel36 11y ago

As a former management consultant - yes, I did this.

codeonfire 11y ago

Sounds like a nice stress free, paid 12 hour break lounging in first class to me.

shostack 11y ago
What makes you think it would be stress free? That time is likely filled with frantic emails, phone calls, presentation building, spreadsheet analysis, etc. to make sure once you are there, things happen quickly and the way you need them to.
- codeonfire 11y ago
  First: "I'm sorry I'm on a plane right now." Second: executives don't build presentations. Lower level managers build presentations for executives. Same with spreadsheet analysis. Third: The only reason an executive would make a trip is to threaten people and to choose who to fire. Mere presence alone is all that is required.

jkot 11y ago

> ... Tim said, “This is bad. Someone ought to get over there.” Thirty minutes went by and the conversation moved to other topics. Suddenly Tim looked back at Sabih and asked, ‘Why are you still here?’ Good manager could be more specific, WHO ought to get over there?

exelius 11y ago

As someone who travels internationally for work, sometimes on short notice: yes, I generally carry my passport in my briefcase. Passports are important documents to be sure, but if you have one lost/stolen it's just an inconvenience. My company provides travel immigration assistance, so if I lost my passport on a business trip I could just call them and have a courier meet me at the airport with another the next day. Money solves an amazing number of logistical problems like that, and if you're an executive who flies around the world checking up on billion dollar supply contracts, money likely isn't an issue.

toephu2 11y ago

It's journalism, don't take the words for their literal meaning. He probably did go home, get some things, then head out to the airport the same day (assuming he already had a China visa). But that would sound boring in a news article now wouldn't it?