Agreed on the admitting mistakes part but mentioning Scott Forstall as an example doesn't follow.
From what I've read, Scott Forestall was fired less for the issues in the Maps application and more for his refusal to sign any sort of apology afterwards for its shortcomings. I'm sure there were other internal factors for his firing but his refusal to publicly admit a mistake was a significant part.
Maybe he felt he didn't need to apologize because he was forced to rush and release in iOS6?
What if the following conversation happened internally:
Scott: "Maps is not ready"
Cook: "Maps must ship as part of iOS6, it's the headline feature. We are committed to this time table."
Scott: "But there are lots of issues, lots of bugs."
Cook: "Fix as many as possible before release, but we are shipping."
Then, after the fiasco, he is asked to apologize, wouldn't you feel that the people who didn't take your advice should be the ones to apologize?
From what I've read, Scott Forestall was fired less for the issues in the Maps application and more for his refusal to sign any sort of apology afterwards for its shortcomings. I'm sure there were other internal factors for his firing but his refusal to publicly admit a mistake was a significant part.