Microsoft CEO Nadella: 'We will reinvent productivity'

Ten days into Microsoft's fiscal 2015, CEO Satya Nadella has sent a missive to the Microsoft troops.

It's not all about developers, developers, developers. Or even devices and services. Instead, Nadella's July 10 e-mail message to all full-time employees (which also is available on Microsoft's Web site for all to read) is focus on Microsoft's core, and that core is all about productivity.

Nadella made it official that Microsoft is no longer using the "devices and services company" mantra that former CEO Ballmer used to reposition the company in his last year-plus as CEO. Going forward, Microsoft is about productivity and platforms, Nadella said.

Microsoft's original mission was to put a PC on every desk and in every home. Then it was to be a devices and services company.

"While the devices and services description was helpful in starting our transformation, we now need to hone in on our unique strategy," Nadella said. "At our core, Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world. We will reinvent productivity to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more."

Read more at: Microsoft CEO Nadella: 'We will reinvent productivity' | ZDNet
 
It makes sense I guess. In a lot of master business classes you learn about three phases:

1. Form
2. Storm
3. Perform

Over the years Microsoft has been forming a core and wide known area of expertise and technology. They then stormed with putting a computer in nearly every home. Now it's time for them to become the best and get back to the real principals.
 
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Meaningless buzzwords like 'increased productivity' or 'reinvent productivity' really annoy me. Do these rubbish phrases actually work on anyone?

Given that no-one really seems to know what the announcement actually implies other than Xbox is staying in-house, I think it's him who needs 'redefined productivity' for wasting productive time writing 3,000 words of mumbo jumbo and meaningless buzzwords.
 
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Arc, it's rubbish level depends on how they follow through. I was at the company in the early to mid nineties. We believed in our mantra to get a PC on every desk, which later changed to getting a PC on every desk running Microsoft Software. We had a very singular focus, and the company did a great job at enabling us to do to our work and we were successful.

If Nadella can follow through with a strategy that inspires the employees and makes Microsoft a cool place to work again, then yes, the words mean a lot. It needs to be the place where the folks want to stay 10 hours a day, not because of some deadline, but because they enjoy being there. Believe it or not, that was how it was back in the day. Overtime was something we enjoyed doing. When you can get your people that committed to your vision and your company, you can achieve just about anything.

That said on the internal pieces, he does need to explain to everyone what this looks like. This does sound post Windows, or possibly a Windows+ vision, which is awesome. Not just with Office on the iPad and Android, but they have an opportunity here with things like the development tools, and of course their cloud and server systems.
 

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The good news is that he focus on the poeple ("the person") and on productivity. Two key words extremely important because they adress the most criticism against MS in revent years. Failing to listen to poeple was what cost Ballmer his CEO position. And it cost Microsoft billions. The bad news is that he is focused on cloud. And I don't think that's what the poeple want, or that's technicaly an easy solution, productive, cost efficient and privacy preserving. But we will see how they will implement it.
 

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Meaningless buzzwords like 'increased productivity' or 'reinvent productivity' really annoy me. Do these rubbish phrases actually work on anyone?


Well, yes. Give it a minute, they'll be along presently...:roflmao:
 

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Now that's funny. :roflmao:


He started out well with the first sentence.Then descended into gibbersish.
 

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Meaningless buzzwords like 'increased productivity' or 'reinvent productivity' really annoy me. Do these rubbish phrases actually work on anyone?
CEOs love useless buzz words/phrases.

They are great for "covering one's a**".
In fact, the more made-up words that are used, the better it is for the business (e.g. "scientician", "millionised", etc.).

When something goes wrong the CEO can say, "it's not my fault that you misinterpreted the company's statements."
 

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There comes a time when all large corporations outgrow themselves and become too large to connect top (executives) and bottom (workers that actually produce a product) and machinery (midlle management) becomes larger and more influential than either end but are just a ballast.
Almost 25 years I used to work for one man but thru 7 companies (I was second employee in his first company and first in all others). We used to by machines and product they ware making, whole production lines sometimes from big corporations which could not sustain production of those parts because cost was greater than profit for them. He (we) stated a company. we reworked machines to be more economical and were able to make same products 2 to 3, some even more times cheaper than company that used them in the first place.
So, Productivity ( if really properly implemented) is not just a buzzword, it's essential, without it it does not matter what you have or how great any staff you have.
My boss used to sell company as soon as it got large enough to be too much for one or two persons to have total control from top to bottom and for handsome profit too because by that time company was at it's peak. He would just come one day, take me to a restaurant or bar and tell me he's starting another business and ask me if I wanted to jump aboard or stay with old one. As it stopped being challenging enough to stay at a place where everything was just humming along I always went with him and never regretted it. The previous company usually went belly up within a year or two.
 

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Hi there

To a lot of Non US citizens we are usually totally amazed at typical "US Consultant management Buzz words" which have meaningless names and are generally nothing but pure obfuscation.

This sort of stuff is usually given out to hide the fact that the top management either hasn't a clue or there's a mega panic going on in the organisation.

Now while in general too much "Short termism" is responsible for a lot of US industries woes - in this case the employees, stock holders and other interested parties such as the consumers don't want "A grand Vision" or a pie in the sky view of what they might be doing in 5 years time -- but a CLEAR PLAN OF ACTION FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. Note - When you are in a hole - stop digging. !!!

I've seen this type of company "Spiel" so many times before that it's really laughable that anybody takes any notice of it -- You need ACTION NOW- not merely a gesture of re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. You certainly don't want or need a hazy distant blue skies vision of some impossible futuristic dream.

I think Ms WILL actually do OK in the future - but that doesn't mean it won't fall into the same trap as every other organisation faced with a problem of "Oh dear -- what do we do next".

Cheers
jimbo
 

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Using Google as an example of highly functional company would be a good start.
 

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I would avoid Google. They have had their fair share of stinkers. You just don't hear as much about them because they are up and coming. How many internet products have withered, or been cut by Google, from the vine? How are those Android forks going for them? Motorola, almost a good idea. They are a fast growing company making young mistakes along with some wins. That would be going backwards for someone like Microsoft.

I am not a member of the Apple Cult, but they probably are the good example of a tech company that has stayed highly functional after Steve Jobs returned. They are mature, they know their mission and stick to it. Yes, it is the company that Steve built, and it is in danger of becoming dysfunctional, but for now they are a pretty good model. Another great tech example is SAP. Outside of tech, Japanese car companies, and German car companies, are known globally for their management. (Notable exception of Toyota these past few years.)
 

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I took Google as an example of functional company. Because of their setup people give their best and over that , now if they are not the best in the business that's anther story. They are innovators and everything new has to be tested and proven first, mistake are inevitable but that's not for lack of trying. It is my understanding that there is great cooperation between all of that work there. With M$ one has to wander if all of them work one against the other, at least department wise.
Even apple with all the talent there was at the ropes for a while but they had just few innovators there were almost despotic with too stringent hierarchy and until they realized that and changed somewhat Apple almost went down the tube. They also had a lot of misses because not everything few great people thought of could be realized because nobody could tell the "great lieder" that something is amiss and that they had a better idea. Their business model that attempts to charge for every dot in the line made them a lot of enemies and general resentment. To sue anybody that made something that even remotely looks like their idea didn't help either.
 

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It's clear that MS never know what to do with their excess money after they were done with Windows and Office. And when you don't know what to do better keep on improving your existing product than trying to do new ones just for the sake of it, or running after the others.
All big names are facing this problem. Apple moreless know what they want to do. Google a little bit less. Facebook, no.
Inovating is good but you need a genius idea to launch a new product. Gadgets like iWatch or Google glass are not realy genius ideas. There are attempt to implement science fiction dreams but between novels and real life there is a difference.
Obsession with inovation and new products is what makes them lose billions. You realy need a breakthrough technology to start something new and big. If the technology is not up to the task, it fails.
 

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Productivity increases primarily from word processing/publishing, spreadsheets, databases, the web, has put personal computers in most businesses and homes. Drawing, Computer aided design, video/image editing, games and collaboration have helped to a lesser extent. Real metrics of where productivity is gained should be included in future presentations or product promotions, or it is just buzzwords.
 

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Very interesting to see what that will be.

Considering the age of computing is beyond the desktop and spreadsheets, something must be renewed here.
 

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Real metrics of where productivity is gained should be included in future presentations or product promotions, or it is just buzzwords.
Agreed, but the metrics must be independently gathered.

Metrics gathered by someone with a vested interest in proving the new system works are useless.

MS basically claimed that "no one" used the Start Menu, so they got rid of it.
We all know how that turned out.
 

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