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Flipping the culture switchĪs a manager and a leader, too, Nadella made it clear that the old, aggressive behaviors were no longer welcome.
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The future of Microsoft did not lie in trying to prop up the Windows dynasty for as long as possible. Then, in late March of 2014, he moved to remove Windows from the cloud product line’s name, making his intentions even clearer. He stopped referring to Microsoft’s cloud as “Windows Azure,” signaling that Azure had its own important product line, distinct from the Windows unit. More subtly, Nadella began removing the word Windows from conversations. He rushed to release the Office productivity suite for iPhones, a move that Microsoft executives had previously blocked out of fear that they would be helping rival Apple and undermining a key motivation for business users to purchase the failing Windows Phones. In his first public appearance after being named CEO, Nadella said that his company was all about mobile and cloud computing, two fields that were growing very quickly but in which Microsoft was playing second fiddle. Nadella made changes both small and large, both symbolic and immediately consequential. He believed that central to this would be building empathy-a skill and mindset not previously associated with Microsoft. He knew that in order to safeguard the company’s future, he needed to set an entirely new tone for it and revamp its culture to make space for innovation and allow new initiatives to grow and succeed. He had spent time in sales and other management functions and had somehow managed to survive and thrive despite a mellow disposition.
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A former engineer from Sun Microsystems (recognized as one of the most prolific producers of software visionaries), when he came to Microsoft, Nadella eventually became the executive running the nascent cloud business. Nadella recognized this and moved swiftly. At its core, this was a problem of lack of innovation, of a company trapped by its reliance on a revenue stream that, though enticing, was sure to fade, coming from a legacy product that was on the wrong side of history. Ballmer had tripled revenues and doubled profits, but Microsoft’s stock price remained largely flat, a clear signal that investor perception was of a future not all that bright. And the powerful Windows unit internally moved to quash any attempts to usurp its power.Īs a result, Microsoft was in big trouble, even if it remained insanely profitable. Because the desktop- and server-license business lines controlled so much revenue, the company struggled to move talent to much smaller but faster-growing business lines. In cloud computing, Amazon was well ahead of both Google and Microsoft’s fledgling Windows Azure cloud service. Linux, the open-source operating system, was set to overtake Windows as the most widely used server operating system. Its primary revenue stream, from software licenses, was perceived as vulnerable as businesses moved away from desktop and server licenses and embraced cloud computing.

He also embraces Buddhist beliefs and has long enjoyed a reputation for calm responses even in the most contentious circumstances and for focusing on positive feedback to reinforce good habits.Ĭourtesy of Berrett-Koehler Publishers Move fast, fix things, be nicerįrom his first day on the job, Satya Nadella believed that things needed to change, and to change quickly. Calm, and described by some as beatific, Nadella was born in India and has an enduring love of cricket. Both endorsed hardball business tactics that competitors feared and admired but customers loathed. Steve Ballmer, who succeeded Gates, made cringe-worthy YouTube bait with his on-stage screaming and sweaty-faced antics at company product launches. Bill Gates, the company’s longtime CEO, had been known for berating employees. With that request, Nadella signaled to the company’s leaders that he wanted to make a big change in the culture of the world’s largest software company.
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When Satya Nadella was named the CEO of Microsoft, in February 2014, one of his first acts was to ask all the top executives at the famously combative software company to read Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication, a book about how to communicate and collaborate effectively using compassion and understanding rather than competition and judgment.
