Apple today is the most valuable company in the world, and all the way back in 1983, Steve Jobs was taking inspiration from one of the largest institutions in human history to build it.
At the Aspen International Design Conference in 1983, a young Steve Jobs, then just a few years removed from the launch of the Apple II, had shared some insights into his management philosophy. In a conversation that touched on innovation and empowerment, Jobs revealed a somewhat surprising source of inspiration for Apple’s organizational structure: the Catholic Church. His admiration for the Church’s relatively flat management structure is noteworthy, especially considering Apple’s later reputation for centralized control under Jobs’ leadership.
“We’ve observed that the oldest and largest organization in the world has only four layers of management, and that’s a Catholic Church. Five if you count the highest order I suppose,” Jobs said.
“And so we see no reason why we need over four layers of management, and indeed we have usually about three that’s, you know, the president. We maybe have a division manager, and then maybe under that a marketing or engineering manager, and that’s really about it.”
The four primary levels of management within the Catholic Church are the Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, and Priests. The Pope is at the top, followed by Cardinals who serve as advisors and electors, Bishops who oversee dioceses, and Priests who lead parishes. Deacons are also part of the hierarchy, assisting bishops and priests. Apple seemed to mimic this relatively flat organization structure in its own corporate hierarchy.
This structure would’ve been harder to maintain as Apple grew into a tech giant and became the most valuable company in the world. But Apple seems to have made an effort to keep its organizational structure relatively flat. And while there are many reasons to attribute to Apple’s success, its inspiration from the structure of the Catholic Church might just be one of them.