Seven Days in May

關(guān)鍵七天：1985年5月

Thursday, May 23: At his regular Thursday meeting with his top lieutenants in the Macintosh division, Jobs told his inner circle about his plan to oust Sculley. He also confided in the corporate human resources director, Jay Elliot, who told him bluntly that the proposed rebellion wouldn’t work. Elliot had talked to some board members and urged them to stand up for Jobs, but he discovered that most of the board was with Sculley, as were most members of Apple’s senior staff. Yet Jobs barreled ahead. He even revealed his plans to Gassée on a walk around the parking lot, despite the fact that Gassée had come from Paris to take his job. “I made the mistake of telling Gassée,” Jobs wryly conceded years later.

5月23日，周四：在麥金塔部門的髙層例會上，喬布斯向核心成員講述了自己推翻斯卡利的計劃，還畫了一張圖表以說明自己將如何重組公司。他還向公司人力資源總監(jiān)杰伊·埃利奧特透露了這個計劃，埃利奧特直言這個陰謀不會成功。埃利奧特曾和一些董事會成員談過，力勸他們支持喬布斯，但他發(fā)現(xiàn)大多數(shù)董事都站在斯卡利一邊，蘋果公司的大多數(shù)髙級職員也是一樣。盡管如此，喬布斯執(zhí)意要將這個計劃進(jìn)行到底。他甚至還在去停車場的路上將自己的計劃透露給了加西，而加西來這里正是為了接替他的工作。“我把這事告訴了加西，這是個錯誤。”喬布斯多年后自我挖苦道。

That evening Apple’s general counsel Al Eisenstat had a small barbecue at his home for Sculley, Gassée, and their wives. When Gassée told Eisenstat what Jobs was plotting, he recommended that Gassée inform Sculley. “Steve was trying to raise a cabal and have a coup to get rid of John,” Gassée recalled. “In the den of Al Eisenstat’s house, I put my index finger lightly on John’s breastbone and said, ‘If you leave tomorrow for China, you could be ousted. Steve’s plotting to get rid of you.’”

當(dāng)晚，蘋果的法律總顧問阿爾·艾森斯塔特在自己家為斯卡利夫婦和加西夫婦舉辦了一個小型的燒烤聚會。當(dāng)加西告訴艾森斯塔特喬布斯的密謀時，艾森斯塔特建議他通知斯卡利。“史蒂夫正在策劃陰謀，想要發(fā)動政變除掉約翰，”加西回憶說，“在阿爾·艾森斯塔特家，我用食指輕輕指著約翰的胸口，說，‘如果你明天出發(fā)去中國，就會被取代。史蒂夫正密謀除掉你。’”

Friday, May 24: Sculley canceled his trip and decided to confront Jobs at the executive staff meeting on Friday morning. Jobs arrived late, and he saw that his usual seat next to Sculley, who sat at the head of the table, was taken. He sat instead at the far end. He was dressed in a well-tailored suit and looked energized. Sculley looked pale. He announced that he was dispensing with the agenda to confront the issue on everyone’s mind. “It’s come to my attention that you’d like to throw me out of the company,” he said, looking directly at Jobs. “I’d like to ask you if that’s true.”

5月24日，周五：斯卡利取消了自己的中國之行，決定在周五上午的蘋果公司高級職員大會上與喬布斯對質(zhì)。喬布斯遲到了，他發(fā)現(xiàn)自己平時的座位被人占了，他平時坐在會議桌的一頭，旁邊是斯卡利。于是，他挑了個最遠(yuǎn)的位置坐下。他穿著量身定做的威爾克斯·巴什福德西裝，看起來精神飽滿。斯卡利面色蒼白，向大家宣布，自己取消了今天的安排，來此解決所有人心中的問題。“我注意到你想把我趕出公司。”他說道，眼睛直視喬布斯，“我想問問你，這是真的嗎？”

Jobs was not expecting this. But he was never shy about indulging in brutal honesty. His eyes narrowed, and he fixed Sculley with his unblinking stare. “I think you’re bad for Apple, and I think you’re the wrong person to run the company,” he replied, coldly and slowly. “You really should leave this company. You don’t know how to operate and never have.” He accused Sculley of not understanding the product development process, and then he added a self-centered swipe: “I wanted you here to help me grow, and you’ve been ineffective in helping me.”

喬布斯沒料到會這樣。但是他從不羞于表達(dá)自己殘忍的誠實(shí)。他瞇著眼，眨都不眨地盯著斯卡利。“我覺得你對蘋果公司有害，而且我認(rèn)為，你是管理公司的錯誤人選。”他語調(diào)冰冷、不慌不忙地回答道，“你真的應(yīng)該離開蘋果。你不知道如何經(jīng)營，也從來沒有經(jīng)營過公司。”他指責(zé)斯卡利不理解產(chǎn)品開發(fā)流程，接著他又拋出了一句尖刻的、以自我為中心的話，“我要你來是為了助我一臂之力，可是你從來沒有幫到過我。”

As the rest of the room sat frozen, Sculley finally lost his temper. A childhood stutter that had not afflicted him for twenty years started to return. “I don’t trust you, and I won’t tolerate a lack of trust,” he stammered. When Jobs claimed that he would be better than Sculley at running the company, Sculley took a gamble. He decided to poll the room on that question. “He pulled off this clever maneuver,” Jobs recalled, still smarting thirty-five years later. “It was at the executive committee meeting, and he said, ‘It’s me or Steve, who do you vote for?’ He set the whole thing up so that you’d kind of have to be an idiot to vote for me.”

會議室里其他人都一動不動地坐著，斯卡利終于發(fā)火了。他小時候有過口吃，但已經(jīng)20年沒犯了，現(xiàn)在他又結(jié)巴起來。“我不信任你，我也不能容忍缺乏信任。”他結(jié)結(jié)巴巴地說道。當(dāng)喬布斯聲稱，在經(jīng)營企業(yè)方面，他比斯卡利更好時，斯卡利決定賭一把，他讓房間里的所有人對這個問題進(jìn)行投票。“他通過這個聰明的舉動贏了。”喬布斯回憶道，這件事在35年后仍然讓他覺得痛楚，“當(dāng)時是執(zhí)行委員會的會議，斯卡利說，‘我，還是史蒂夫，你們選吧。’他設(shè)計了這整件事，從而讓人覺得，選我的人肯定是白癡。”

Suddenly the frozen onlookers began to squirm. Del Yocam had to go first. He said he loved Jobs, wanted him to continue to play some role in the company, but he worked up the nerve to conclude, with Jobs staring at him, that he “respected” Sculley and would support him to run the company. Eisenstat faced Jobs directly and said much the same thing: He liked Jobs but was supporting Sculley. Regis McKenna, who sat in on senior staff meetings as an outside consultant, was more direct. He looked at Jobs and told him he was not yet ready to run the company, something he had told him before. Others sided with Sculley as well. For Bill Campbell, it was particularly tough. He was fond of Jobs and didn’t particularly like Sculley. His voice quavered a bit as he told Jobs he had decided to support Sculley, and he urged the two of them to work it out and find some role for Jobs to play in the company. “You can’t let Steve leave this company,” he told Sculley.

突然，紋絲不動的旁觀者們騷動起來。德爾·約克姆不得不第一個發(fā)言，他說自己欣賞喬布斯，希望他能繼續(xù)在公司發(fā)揮一定的作用。雖然喬布斯盯著他，但是約克姆鼓起勇氣總結(jié)說，他“尊重”斯卡利并會支持他管理公司。艾森斯塔特直面喬布斯，說了差不多的話：他欣賞喬布斯，但是支持斯卡利。里吉斯·麥肯納是一位外部顧問，坐在一群高級職員之間，他的回答更直接。他看著喬布斯，說他還沒有準(zhǔn)備好管理公司，這句話他之前也對喬布斯說過。其他人也支持斯卡利。對于比爾·坎貝爾來說，這個抉擇尤為艱難。他很欣賞喬布斯，但并不是特別欣賞斯卡利。當(dāng)告訴喬布斯自己有多欣賞他時，坎貝爾的聲音抖了一下。雖然決定支持斯卡利，但是他敦促喬布斯和斯卡利解決彼此之間的問題，并讓喬布斯在公司里擔(dān)任別的職位。“你不能讓史蒂夫離開蘋果。”他告訴斯卡利。

Jobs looked shattered. “I guess I know where things stand,” he said, and bolted out of the room. No one followed.

喬布斯看上去都快崩潰了。“我想我知道大家的立場了。”他說完沖出了房間。沒有人追上去。

He went back to his office, gathered his longtime loyalists on the Macintosh staff, and started to cry. He would have to leave Apple, he said. As he started to walk out the door, Debi Coleman restrained him. She and the others urged him to settle down and not do anything hasty. He should take the weekend to regroup. Perhaps there was a way to prevent the company from being torn apart.

他回到自己的辦公室，召集了麥金塔團(tuán)隊(duì)共事已久的心腹成員，忍不住開始哭泣。他說自己有必要離開蘋果。當(dāng)他快走出辦公室的門時，黛比·科爾曼攔住了他。她和其他人勸他靜下心來，不要輕舉妄動，他應(yīng)該在周末重組團(tuán)隊(duì)，也許能想到辦法阻止蘋果公司分裂。

Sculley was devastated by his victory. Like a wounded warrior, he retreated to Eisenstat’s office and asked the corporate counsel to go for a ride. When they got into Eisenstat’s Porsche, Sculley lamented, “I don’t know whether I can go through with this.” When Eisenstat asked what he meant, Sculley responded, “I think I’m going to resign.”

斯卡利被自己的勝利擊毀了。他像一個受傷的戰(zhàn)士，走進(jìn)公司顧問阿爾·艾森斯塔特的辦公室，并要他一起去兜兜風(fēng)。當(dāng)他們坐上艾森斯塔特的保時捷時，斯卡利悲嘆道：“我不知道自己是否能繼續(xù)做下去。”艾森斯塔特詢問他是什么意思，斯卡利回答說：“我想我會辭職。

“You can’t,” Eisenstat protested. “Apple will fall apart.”

“你不能，”艾森斯塔特抗議道，“蘋果會垮的。”

“I’m going to resign,” Sculley declared. “I don’t think I’m right for the company.”

“我打算辭職，”斯卡利重申道，“我覺得自己不是管理蘋果的正確人選。你能打電話給董事會并告訴他們嗎？”

“I think you’re copping out,” Eisenstat replied. “You’ve got to stand up to him.” Then he drove Sculley home.

“我會的。”艾森斯塔特回答說，“但是，我覺得你這是在逃避。你得勇敢地面對他。”然后，他開車把斯卡利送回了家。

Sculley’s wife was surprised to see him back in the middle of the day. “I’ve failed,” he said to her forlornly. She was a volatile woman who had never liked Jobs or appreciated her husband’s infatuation with him. So when she heard what had happened, she jumped into her car and sped over to Jobs’s office. Informed that he had gone to the Good Earth restaurant, she marched over there and confronted him in the parking lot as he was coming out with loyalists on his Macintosh team.

斯卡利的妻子利茲很驚訝看到丈夫在中午就回來，“我失敗了。”他神色落寞地對利茲說。利茲是個心理不穩(wěn)定的女人，她從來都不喜歡喬布斯，也不贊賞丈夫?qū)滩妓沟拿詰佟Ｒ虼耍诼犝f發(fā)生了什么事后，她跳上自己的車，一路加速來到喬布斯的辦公室。得知喬布斯已經(jīng)前往美好地球餐廳，她又趕到那里。在停車場，喬布斯正同黛比·科爾曼及其他麥金塔核心成員走下車來。利茲徑直走到他面前。