The news that Microsoft is “worth as much as Apple” is further proof that its efforts to reinvent itself are paying off. For those who see the resurgence of the Redmond giant as driven primarily through a winning strategy, a warning needs to be made. Does Microsoft that we know today effectively pursue the same goals (e. g. , cloud computing, openness to other platforms, focus on forward-thinking acquisitions, such as the most recent partnership with MasterCard, etc. ) as the consummate, perfectionist, and elderly colossal generation that it was?Probably not.
Despite the importance of the strategic reset implemented by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, it was Nadella’s focus on the organization’s culture that paved the way for such strong results. On the one hand, the inventory market is reacting to Microsoft’s short-term performance. On the other hand, as the studies suggest, it recognizes Microsoft’s ability to evolve and establish itself on a path that can ensure its expansion in the years to come.
Deeper expansion leads to genuine expansion
If we look at the effect of culture substitution on business performance, two facets of Microsoft’s restart tell the story. First, the fact that Microsoft has focused on features that are very vital to its new strategy shows that it’s not just about creating a charming, but growth-oriented culture. By focusing on learning and empathy as key assets, for example, Microsoft has already demonstrated a deeper understanding of what it really means to expand a vast ecosystem of partnerships.
Second, the fact that these new cultural assets provide Microsoft with a source of “renewable energy” underscores a point of adaptability and strategic oversight that can contribute to the organization’s long-term growth. it has no expiration date.
But why are these new features so important?
In his first public appearance as CEO, Satya Nadella used T. S. Eliot’s famous words: “You never stop exploring, and at the end of any exploration, you get where you started and know the position for the first time” – to describe his vision, he clarified that the Redmond giant needed to surpass itself to locate itself. Despite all it had accomplished, Microsoft may not have even begun to revel in some of its own potential. Therefore, venturing into new territories, leaving the zone of convenience, and seizing opportunities beyond what seemed unfamiliar without delay was the only way to succeed.
In practice, Nadella’s vision required not only new business ventures, but also the reorganization of entrenched behaviors and mindsets. The old culture of the company, which at the price of being right and being the most sensible of its form, had to change. Turning ambition into passion, turning the habit of spotting mistakes into courage to take risks, and turning the relentless pursuit of perfection into a search for meaning has reshaped the approach.
To bring about this change, Nadella championed the concept that talents and qualifications can evolve infinitely if other people avoid seeing their own talents (and those of the organization) as a constant asset. Carol Dweck, a Lewis and Virginia Eaton professor of psychology at Stanford University, who has highlighted the differences between expansion and a constant mindset, is very transparent about it. “The power of the moment,” as Dweck puts it, shows that if we revel in functionality as an opportunity to be informed of setbacks and take on new challenges, we find ourselves on a curve of being informed that can’t be avoided. However, whether we are wise or not, we end up restricting our own potential. We are reminded that failure can discourage us, forcing us to leave a business without seeking to be informed of our own mistakes.
But learning isn’t just about learning new technical skills, it’s also about listening to yourself and others, and finding what you don’t know about those around you. Innermost learning comes from empathy. When we walk in the position of others and try to believe things as they see them, we can perceive the global in a way we didn’t know and let that delight enrich us. Nadella has made empathy a centerpiece of its cultural revolution, not only as a way to better perceive the customer, but also as a practice to foster innovation and expand deeper internal and external collaborations.
The good thing about this vision is that it is composed of elements that relate to each other. Developing an expansion mindset, making peace with life’s ups and downs and our own imperfections, creates an ability to empathize. Empathy, in turn, puts one’s own failures, obstacles and demanding situations become attitude and those of others. This allows us to be informed of them, thus constantly expanding our own information curve. As Nadella points out in her book, Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Alma and Imagine a Better Future for All:
If you could deeply perceive impermanence, you would further expand equanimity. You wouldn’t be too excited about the ups and downs of life. And only then will you be in a position to expand that deeper sense of empathy and compassion for everything around you. . “
But how can learning and empathy really make a difference if people’s reports and backgrounds are all similar to each other?If homogeneity reassures us, it hardly provides the situations for deeper learning. That’s why Microsoft’s resolve to embrace diversity and inclusion clarified the importance of creating the right context for the progression of cultural characteristics an organization aspires to have. After all, it was when she was asked to think about pay justice and opportunities for women, early in her own tenure as executive director, that Satya Nadella publicly discovered herself to stumbles, learning, and humility.
Passion and ethics
While Microsoft’s renaissance has already translated into increased business performance, its influence on the organization’s goal and ethics should not be underestimated. a genuine trace of evolution through doing things. Although rare, the latter situation becomes more likely when an organization is molded through the preference of noticing and being informed of new things and puts itself in a position to perceive the demanding situations of others to locate tactics to assist them. In such situations, the goal ceases to be theoretical to become, on the contrary, animated through a procedure of meaningful experimentation.
That’s why Microsoft’s studies on brain implants and its global storytelling app for the visually impaired are clever examples of how the company provides members of the organization with opportunities to find genuine meaning in what they do. Culture, less difficult will be for workers to explore and be inspired by the additional barriers of the incredible.
Finally, the cultural assets that Microsoft is developing have another main advantage. That is, they make it more likely that organizational stakeholders will interact in sound moral reasoning. Given Microsoft’s intense focus on innovation, this is not a secondary advantage. While studies show that creativity increases the threat of immoral habit by conferring a sense of self-waste, it also suggests that the practice of awareness and empathy creates the situations for moral decision-making. In this sense, Satya Nadella’s vision is not a vision of “or/or” but a vision of “or good/and”. If implemented effectively, this vision can drive moral purpose and meaningful innovation for an indefinite future.