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Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
As told by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Hit Refresh is the story of corporate change and reinvention as well as the story of Nadella’s personal journey, one that is taking place today inside a storied technology company, and one that is coming in all of our lives as intelligent machines become more ambient and more ubiquitous. It’s about how people, organizations and societies can and must hit refresh—transform—in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, relevance and renewal. At the core, it’s about us humans and our unique qualities, like empathy, which will become ever more valuable in a world where the torrent of technology will disrupt like never before. As much a humanist as a technologist, Nadella defines his mission and that of the company he leads as empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
273 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2017
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October 14, 2017
Another reviewer says this is "Recommended for only Microsoft employees" but I disagree. This book isn't even for all Microsoft employees, for it leaves out a very large percentage us - the contractors. In fact, I wouldn't have read this book at all if my boss, who is a full-time employee and not a vendor contractor, hadn't picked up a number of these (the Employee Edition was given away on the Microsoft campus for free - but not to contractors) and dispersed them about the team so that everyone could read them.
I do not want to minimize the challenges Mr. Nadella faced and had the strength to write about in the book. He went through some tough times with an optimism that, quite frankly, I'm not sure I would have had in the same situations. That said, I believe it is very hard to change the culture of a corporation when a good number of its employees are treated like second-class citizens. And by no means is Microsoft the only tech company to do so; contractor culture is a problem at Amazon and Google and other tech giants within the industry.
The book mentions wonderful events like the Hackathon, but it is like reading about a feast we can only look at through a window. Contractors can't participate in the Hackathon. It's not that we don't have the coding chops, or lack ideas; it's that we literally do not have access to even sign up for the event. And I understand the reasons behind some of it - NDA agreements, possible access to secrets, leaks could occur. We aren't "real" employees of Microsoft, we just happen to work there doing full-time jobs without the full-time benefits... which only hurts more when all the blue badges go off for a week to create and share awesome prototypes while the rest of us do business as usual because we are still expected to hit our metrics.
To give credit where it is due, being a contractor at Microsoft has improved since 2015, but it still has a long way to go. It is admirable that Mr. Nadella is looking ahead to building economic growth around the world, but perhaps he should look a little closer to home.
I do not want to minimize the challenges Mr. Nadella faced and had the strength to write about in the book. He went through some tough times with an optimism that, quite frankly, I'm not sure I would have had in the same situations. That said, I believe it is very hard to change the culture of a corporation when a good number of its employees are treated like second-class citizens. And by no means is Microsoft the only tech company to do so; contractor culture is a problem at Amazon and Google and other tech giants within the industry.
The book mentions wonderful events like the Hackathon, but it is like reading about a feast we can only look at through a window. Contractors can't participate in the Hackathon. It's not that we don't have the coding chops, or lack ideas; it's that we literally do not have access to even sign up for the event. And I understand the reasons behind some of it - NDA agreements, possible access to secrets, leaks could occur. We aren't "real" employees of Microsoft, we just happen to work there doing full-time jobs without the full-time benefits... which only hurts more when all the blue badges go off for a week to create and share awesome prototypes while the rest of us do business as usual because we are still expected to hit our metrics.
To give credit where it is due, being a contractor at Microsoft has improved since 2015, but it still has a long way to go. It is admirable that Mr. Nadella is looking ahead to building economic growth around the world, but perhaps he should look a little closer to home.
September 28, 2017
Recommended for only Microsoft employees.
July 10, 2018
لم أحب هذا الكتاب الوحيد الذي وضعه ساتيا ناديلا
والذي كان الجميع متشوقا وقتها ليضعوا أيديهم عليه
باعتباره خلاصة أفكار الرجل
"يتحدث ناديلا عن "تأثير الالات الذكية في حياة البشر في العصر الحالي
والطرق التي يمكن أن تسهم بها التكنولوجيا في تشكيل العالم في الأزمنة القادمة
ويلخص في الكتاب نظرته إلى العالم باعتباره الرئيس التنفيذي لشركة مايكروسوفت
محاور الكتاب الرئيسية هي
الواقع المختلط
والذكاء الاصطناعي
والحوسبة الكمية
ورغم جاذبيتها بالنسبة لي إلا أن الكتاب في نظري كان مملا تنقصه الروح
...
March 31, 2018
This is a story about how Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft sought to change Microsoft’s culture and rediscover it’s soul. It makes for interesting reading, especially with his emphasis on empathy being the bedrock of his thinking – trying to move public perception of Microsoft being a big uncaring giant falling behind competitors like Apple, to a more forward-looking organisation which invests in research, it’s people and it’s culture.
The culture change which Satya talks about does come across as real and significant especially if you have a close view of the industry. He talks of his learnings of empathy from his personal life (with a child with special needs) and the progression of his thoughts and plans for Microsoft. While the theme of empathy seems to repeat too often through the pages, it is certainly an important one – especially for large organisations.
The other theme is one of a collaborative ecosystem – working together with competitors where necessary. The discussion around privacy in the later part of the book (where Microsoft stood on the same side as Apple) makes for interesting reading. And there is the episode he describes where he walks onto the stage at an event holding an iPhone (he does soften the blow by saying most of the applications on the phone were from Microsoft!). Microsoft’s new approach to how it deals with it’s competitors, is now seeing it develop more and more solutions which run on iOS and Android.
I wish there was more material on how he sees Artificial Intelligence will pervade our personal lives and businesses. While there is a bit of that, it is mostly public knowledge. It would have also been good to read more about his earlier years in Microsoft.
Overall, a book I liked for it’s simplicity and especially the values it emphasises.
The culture change which Satya talks about does come across as real and significant especially if you have a close view of the industry. He talks of his learnings of empathy from his personal life (with a child with special needs) and the progression of his thoughts and plans for Microsoft. While the theme of empathy seems to repeat too often through the pages, it is certainly an important one – especially for large organisations.
The other theme is one of a collaborative ecosystem – working together with competitors where necessary. The discussion around privacy in the later part of the book (where Microsoft stood on the same side as Apple) makes for interesting reading. And there is the episode he describes where he walks onto the stage at an event holding an iPhone (he does soften the blow by saying most of the applications on the phone were from Microsoft!). Microsoft’s new approach to how it deals with it’s competitors, is now seeing it develop more and more solutions which run on iOS and Android.
I wish there was more material on how he sees Artificial Intelligence will pervade our personal lives and businesses. While there is a bit of that, it is mostly public knowledge. It would have also been good to read more about his earlier years in Microsoft.
Overall, a book I liked for it’s simplicity and especially the values it emphasises.
February 4, 2023
In the first half, I despaired of any value in this book, though I did enjoy hearing about Mr. Nadella's youth in India, his family, and his love of cricket, which would endear him to anyone from the Commonwealth, including me. Like all companies that have owned a powerful franchise (DOS/Windows and Office) Microsoft had lagged in innovation, and come too late to the Web and mobile, and almost too late for the Cloud. This is central to the very nature of technology business, and not a failure of management, in my opinion. I experienced, as an employee of Kodak, the political and technical difficulties of developing new business as your key technology (silver halide imaging in our case) gradually loses its monopoly. Political infighting takes over, because new technologies often threaten the livelihood of existing employees and partners.
My heart sank as Mr. Nadella began to spout chillingly familiar bullshit about the need for listening to customers and learning from them, employee empowerment, and empathy, culminating in a mission that was meant to excite the employees soon after his appointment:
Suddenly, the book changed. On page 119 he mentioned "rose petals in a field of shit," and we were off and running. He began talking in active terms about the need for leaders to generate energy and make things happen—to deliver success. He very quickly started to do things and all the sloganeering and empty words were left behind in a cloud of dust. He focused the company on the few businesses and technologies with the greatest potential for growth, and expanded Microsoft's partnering efforts, meeting with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and fellow Indian, and building on his own intense business development background with Windows NT, the first of Microsoft's server products. Microsoft also acquired LinkedIn, finding that the two organizations shared many values and a commitment to honor, essential ingredients of trust. Nadella credits the economic success of the United States to innovation and the existence of the political and economic institutions that support business growth. He seems a deeply honorable man, highly intelligent and even scholarly, influenced profoundly by his late mother, who was a scholar of Sanskrit. The political and economic institutions of his native country are relatively weak (although purportedly improving) but his sense of honor, love of family, and fundamental decency that were formed there are central to his success in the United States.
Satya Nadella described the painful process of setting new directions for the business, with strong emphasis on the Cloud, mobile, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, but always centered on the fundamental needs of human beings. I bought some Microsoft stock not long after he was appointed, mostly just to keep track of him, and I am very glad that I did. I think that there is an excellent chance that the company will be great again under his leadership.
I would suggest this book to investors, tech industry followers, and business historians. No one ever became a great leader by reading about it, but aspiring executives might get some ideas.
My heart sank as Mr. Nadella began to spout chillingly familiar bullshit about the need for listening to customers and learning from them, employee empowerment, and empathy, culminating in a mission that was meant to excite the employees soon after his appointment:
We exist to build products that empower others.Shit. And, of course, he then nobly emphasized diversity and inclusion, imperatives for political survival, if not success.
Suddenly, the book changed. On page 119 he mentioned "rose petals in a field of shit," and we were off and running. He began talking in active terms about the need for leaders to generate energy and make things happen—to deliver success. He very quickly started to do things and all the sloganeering and empty words were left behind in a cloud of dust. He focused the company on the few businesses and technologies with the greatest potential for growth, and expanded Microsoft's partnering efforts, meeting with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and fellow Indian, and building on his own intense business development background with Windows NT, the first of Microsoft's server products. Microsoft also acquired LinkedIn, finding that the two organizations shared many values and a commitment to honor, essential ingredients of trust. Nadella credits the economic success of the United States to innovation and the existence of the political and economic institutions that support business growth. He seems a deeply honorable man, highly intelligent and even scholarly, influenced profoundly by his late mother, who was a scholar of Sanskrit. The political and economic institutions of his native country are relatively weak (although purportedly improving) but his sense of honor, love of family, and fundamental decency that were formed there are central to his success in the United States.
Satya Nadella described the painful process of setting new directions for the business, with strong emphasis on the Cloud, mobile, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing, but always centered on the fundamental needs of human beings. I bought some Microsoft stock not long after he was appointed, mostly just to keep track of him, and I am very glad that I did. I think that there is an excellent chance that the company will be great again under his leadership.
I would suggest this book to investors, tech industry followers, and business historians. No one ever became a great leader by reading about it, but aspiring executives might get some ideas.
October 28, 2017
A VERY long memo to Microsoft employees - I didn't get the sense that the book's purpose was anything more than explaining to the employees why Satya was a great CEO choice, how he is on top of knowing what will take Microsoft to the next level and how some of the initiatives he has taken since joining are all "first of its kind"/ "never heard of"/ "ones he has a knack for".
I also didn't like the tone of superiority and 'look I have growth mindset, but I will still go ahead and proclaim this will work and wow this is working' all along. A more humble, more vulnerable, more anecdotal, and more relevant to non MS folks narrative is what I kept missing all along this read..
I also didn't like the tone of superiority and 'look I have growth mindset, but I will still go ahead and proclaim this will work and wow this is working' all along. A more humble, more vulnerable, more anecdotal, and more relevant to non MS folks narrative is what I kept missing all along this read..
March 20, 2023
Interesting behind the scenes observations on culture change and the reinvention of Microsoft. Maybe a bit too smoothed out and optimistic, but definitely a thought provoking book
Real change depends on culture change
Fascinating how I listened to this book on an iPhone, write this review on a Mac, how this review is posted to an Amazon group company’s website but despite all this Microsoft being wildly successful and ubiquitous in 2023.
I remember two weeks ago wanting to set up a sharepoint rather than a Google Drive with my team, not to mention all the promise ChatGPT holds for the future of Office.
More thoughts to follow 🖥️
Real change depends on culture change
Fascinating how I listened to this book on an iPhone, write this review on a Mac, how this review is posted to an Amazon group company’s website but despite all this Microsoft being wildly successful and ubiquitous in 2023.
I remember two weeks ago wanting to set up a sharepoint rather than a Google Drive with my team, not to mention all the promise ChatGPT holds for the future of Office.
More thoughts to follow 🖥️
January 19, 2018
This read was entirely for work; I nevertheless decided to write a review for those thinking about picking up the book.
To me this book was the written form of an inspirational speech by Satya Nadella, the current CEO of Microsoft, who succeeded Steve Ballmer in 2014.
The book consisted three parts. Nadella first gave a brief description of his background: growing up in India, obsessed in cricket, studied EE in college and moved to the U.S. to obtain masters in CS, joined Microsoft shortly after graduation, traded his green card for H1-B visa to bring his Indian wife along, and that his first-born was a child with special needs. He briefly covered his pre-CEO leader roles in search and then in cloud.
In the second part Nadella walked us through his first few years as the chief executive, and the renewal efforts he instituted. He inherited not only the the secular decline of the PC market and the strategically-misguided acquisition of Nokia he had previously voted against, but the widespread inertia, confusion and disappointment within Microsoft. His narratives centered around cultural changes to embracing empathy, innovation, personal passion, peer-learning, diversity…all fed into an overarching “growth mindset”. Of course sweeping change of corporate culture was easy said than done; middle management felt left out, “lack of growth mindset” became a trending catchword for blaming colleagues …
Nadella also touched on his endeavors to convert major competitors like Google and Apple from enemies to partners.
In the last part, which occupied just under half of the book, Nadella elaborated on his vision for Microsoft and technology industry in general. He presented his rationale for Microsoft’s strategic priorities: artificial intelligence, mixed-reality and quantum computing. He went on to exam the proper balance between data privacy/free speech and security/government surveillance, and urge the government around the world to appreciate and support technology as it continues to propel the global economic development.
To be honest, A Microsoft employee might see this book as a more inspirational read. I nonetheless appreciated the abundance of insights it provided. I could use deeper discussions on some of the topics, along with more Microsoft inside stories, but the sitting CEO might be under restrictions for competitive and personal reasons.
Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has staged one of the most successful revivals among the legacy technology behemoths. it was way late in the game of smartphone ecosystem, but pretty much caught up with Amazon in cloud offerings. In my opinion its captive Windows and office customers are its most valuable assets; if it focuses more on products addressing the consumers’ production rather than consumption needs, it will stand out from its peers and stay well-positioned in the technology market for the foreseeable future.
To me this book was the written form of an inspirational speech by Satya Nadella, the current CEO of Microsoft, who succeeded Steve Ballmer in 2014.
The book consisted three parts. Nadella first gave a brief description of his background: growing up in India, obsessed in cricket, studied EE in college and moved to the U.S. to obtain masters in CS, joined Microsoft shortly after graduation, traded his green card for H1-B visa to bring his Indian wife along, and that his first-born was a child with special needs. He briefly covered his pre-CEO leader roles in search and then in cloud.
In the second part Nadella walked us through his first few years as the chief executive, and the renewal efforts he instituted. He inherited not only the the secular decline of the PC market and the strategically-misguided acquisition of Nokia he had previously voted against, but the widespread inertia, confusion and disappointment within Microsoft. His narratives centered around cultural changes to embracing empathy, innovation, personal passion, peer-learning, diversity…all fed into an overarching “growth mindset”. Of course sweeping change of corporate culture was easy said than done; middle management felt left out, “lack of growth mindset” became a trending catchword for blaming colleagues …
Nadella also touched on his endeavors to convert major competitors like Google and Apple from enemies to partners.
In the last part, which occupied just under half of the book, Nadella elaborated on his vision for Microsoft and technology industry in general. He presented his rationale for Microsoft’s strategic priorities: artificial intelligence, mixed-reality and quantum computing. He went on to exam the proper balance between data privacy/free speech and security/government surveillance, and urge the government around the world to appreciate and support technology as it continues to propel the global economic development.
To be honest, A Microsoft employee might see this book as a more inspirational read. I nonetheless appreciated the abundance of insights it provided. I could use deeper discussions on some of the topics, along with more Microsoft inside stories, but the sitting CEO might be under restrictions for competitive and personal reasons.
Under Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft has staged one of the most successful revivals among the legacy technology behemoths. it was way late in the game of smartphone ecosystem, but pretty much caught up with Amazon in cloud offerings. In my opinion its captive Windows and office customers are its most valuable assets; if it focuses more on products addressing the consumers’ production rather than consumption needs, it will stand out from its peers and stay well-positioned in the technology market for the foreseeable future.
October 13, 2017
Why does Microsoft exist? And why do I exist in this new role? That was the questions Nadella asked of himself when he was offered and appointed as the CEO of Microsoft - only the third CEO in its 40-year history. Why am I writing this book is another question that I think Nadella should have asked himself.
Hit Refresh is according to Nadella, not a biography, nor is it a book solely about himself. It's not really a book about technology although that does feature a lot. Nor is it a book about the challenges of leading one of the most valuable companies in the world. In fact I find it very strange as a book. Nadella wanted this book to be about the transformations happening in him, Microsoft and technology and he half-manages to write about these subjects.
The first few chapters are about him. His upbringing in India where he grew up loving cricket but finding a second love in computers. His move to the US where he worked his way up through Microsoft. And then about how he became a father to three children. It's a very broad picture of his life and clearly he didn't really want to go into details, preferring to skirt through formative years and only mentioning specific events that would portray him in the culture that he wants to bring to Microsoft.
Transformations in Microsoft is also dealt with swiftly and superficially. He acknowledges how Microsoft lost its leadership and have to catch up. This part of the book is partly super interesting material about the inner workings of Microsoft and some of the executive decisions you rarely hear of and part of evangelizing the Microsoft mission. Nadella writes a lot about how he brought a culture change to Microsoft after his appointment as CEO and how quickly it turned around things.
Lastly transformation in technology. Nadella switches to long term thinking and writes how Microsoft is focusing on three particular technologies: mixed reality, AI and quantum computing. This is the part of the book I found most interesting, simply because it seems to be more genuine that the rest of the book. Nadella is clearly passionate about the changes in technologies and how it will affect society.
Overall the book is not really that bad. It's not really that good either. Why it was written, I have no idea. On some level, it seems like a way for Nadella to legitimize his position as CEO as he writes about how his life seemingly brought about the right kind of qualities needed to lead Microsoft. On another level it's a bit of a sales pitch, trying to convince the world that a new Microsoft is here. And for employees it seems like it's written to convince them of the culture which can sometimes be seen as corporate kool aid. I didn't enjoy the parts about his life as it didn't seem like he really wanted to tell the reader about it. The Microsoft politics and executive decisions are really interesting but again, it's very superficial, only mentioning negativity whenever it's something that posterity would agree with Nadella's view (as in the Nokia acquisition perhaps wasn't the best idea). The part I really liked was the forward-looking chapters. This is where Nadella is at his most lucid. In fact, writing an entire book about that would probably have been better than this book.
I would recommend reading the last 4 four chapters and treating it like a really long read on Nadella's vision and thoughts about the future. For Nadella's life and career at Microsoft, hopefully he'll get down to really writing a tell-all biography when he at some point decides to retire.
Hit Refresh is according to Nadella, not a biography, nor is it a book solely about himself. It's not really a book about technology although that does feature a lot. Nor is it a book about the challenges of leading one of the most valuable companies in the world. In fact I find it very strange as a book. Nadella wanted this book to be about the transformations happening in him, Microsoft and technology and he half-manages to write about these subjects.
The first few chapters are about him. His upbringing in India where he grew up loving cricket but finding a second love in computers. His move to the US where he worked his way up through Microsoft. And then about how he became a father to three children. It's a very broad picture of his life and clearly he didn't really want to go into details, preferring to skirt through formative years and only mentioning specific events that would portray him in the culture that he wants to bring to Microsoft.
Transformations in Microsoft is also dealt with swiftly and superficially. He acknowledges how Microsoft lost its leadership and have to catch up. This part of the book is partly super interesting material about the inner workings of Microsoft and some of the executive decisions you rarely hear of and part of evangelizing the Microsoft mission. Nadella writes a lot about how he brought a culture change to Microsoft after his appointment as CEO and how quickly it turned around things.
Lastly transformation in technology. Nadella switches to long term thinking and writes how Microsoft is focusing on three particular technologies: mixed reality, AI and quantum computing. This is the part of the book I found most interesting, simply because it seems to be more genuine that the rest of the book. Nadella is clearly passionate about the changes in technologies and how it will affect society.
Overall the book is not really that bad. It's not really that good either. Why it was written, I have no idea. On some level, it seems like a way for Nadella to legitimize his position as CEO as he writes about how his life seemingly brought about the right kind of qualities needed to lead Microsoft. On another level it's a bit of a sales pitch, trying to convince the world that a new Microsoft is here. And for employees it seems like it's written to convince them of the culture which can sometimes be seen as corporate kool aid. I didn't enjoy the parts about his life as it didn't seem like he really wanted to tell the reader about it. The Microsoft politics and executive decisions are really interesting but again, it's very superficial, only mentioning negativity whenever it's something that posterity would agree with Nadella's view (as in the Nokia acquisition perhaps wasn't the best idea). The part I really liked was the forward-looking chapters. This is where Nadella is at his most lucid. In fact, writing an entire book about that would probably have been better than this book.
I would recommend reading the last 4 four chapters and treating it like a really long read on Nadella's vision and thoughts about the future. For Nadella's life and career at Microsoft, hopefully he'll get down to really writing a tell-all biography when he at some point decides to retire.
October 9, 2017
As a current Microsoft employee I now like Satya even more after reading his book: Hit Refresh. He comes across as more humble and thoughtful than any other current CEO in the tech sector, yet is just as driven and intelligent. I particularly like his mantra of having empathy for our customers and colleagues. Listen first and seek to understand before making any judgement, but be willing to challenge long held beliefs. Satya convinced me changing culture from the top-down and bottom-up is critical to Microsoft's future growth and success. Genius technical and strategic decisions from the top is not enough.
Anecdotes about Satya's severely disabled son, mother and wife's sacrifices, and employees with disabilities really illustrated Satya has learned the importance of empathy. I was particularly struck by one anecdote when he first interviewed at Microsoft. He was asked "Imagine you see a baby laying in the street, and the baby is crying. What do you do?". As a young engineer without children he answered the question exactly as I would have 10 years ago: "You call 911". I love the interviewers response: "You need some empathy, man. If a baby is laying on the street crying, pick up the baby." This is a "yeah, duh!" moment where Satya started to learn the importance of empathy.
On the literary side of things the book wasn't quite as strong. Some of the themes felt forced as he bluntly repeated certain phrases over and over from chapter to chapter without much finesse. Obviously, I'll cut him some slack as writing books isn't his full-time job and he's an engineer at heart (or at least a cricket player).
His technical vision also worried me a bit due to lack of details and questionable insight when talking about the future of AI. I thought the three big bets of AI, mixed reality, and quantum were excellent choices but I would have liked more details. What the heck is "topological quantum computing"? It would have been nice to at least have some sort of high level overview or analogy instead of just throwing out a term I've never heard and say "Microsoft's doing this and it's going to be incredible, trust me!". I also thought his glossing over of the singularity was off when he described it as "the moment when computer intelligence will surpass human intelligence, [which] might occur by the year 2100". Um, almost all singularity proponents think it will almost certainly happen by 2100, the question is more will it happen by 2050. It then becomes a much more pressing issue, especially when it comes to jobs displacement which Satya covered extensively. Finally, this statement with no further explanation baffled me: "A worthy target for quantum will be advancing AI's ability to truly comprehend human speech and then accurately summarize it." I've never heard any credible AI researcher say quantum computing would be necessary, let alone useful, for doing such a task. As far we know the human brain doesn't use quantum computing and we can do that task just fine.
Even with Satya's questionable understanding of what technological singularity proponents/alarmists like Ray Kurweil, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are saying, I really like his paraphrasing of Alan Kay that he believed we should "Stop predicting what the future will be like; instead, create it in a principled way." That's the most important sentiment and I suspect as AI advances even faster than Satya realizes he'll quickly adapt with his growth mindset. That combined with his empathy and belief that "We can't do business effectively in 190 countries unless we prioritize the creation of great local economic opportunity in each of those countries", I think Microsoft and the world will be just fine. Satya is a great CEO and he makes me proud to work for Microsoft.
Anecdotes about Satya's severely disabled son, mother and wife's sacrifices, and employees with disabilities really illustrated Satya has learned the importance of empathy. I was particularly struck by one anecdote when he first interviewed at Microsoft. He was asked "Imagine you see a baby laying in the street, and the baby is crying. What do you do?". As a young engineer without children he answered the question exactly as I would have 10 years ago: "You call 911". I love the interviewers response: "You need some empathy, man. If a baby is laying on the street crying, pick up the baby." This is a "yeah, duh!" moment where Satya started to learn the importance of empathy.
On the literary side of things the book wasn't quite as strong. Some of the themes felt forced as he bluntly repeated certain phrases over and over from chapter to chapter without much finesse. Obviously, I'll cut him some slack as writing books isn't his full-time job and he's an engineer at heart (or at least a cricket player).
His technical vision also worried me a bit due to lack of details and questionable insight when talking about the future of AI. I thought the three big bets of AI, mixed reality, and quantum were excellent choices but I would have liked more details. What the heck is "topological quantum computing"? It would have been nice to at least have some sort of high level overview or analogy instead of just throwing out a term I've never heard and say "Microsoft's doing this and it's going to be incredible, trust me!". I also thought his glossing over of the singularity was off when he described it as "the moment when computer intelligence will surpass human intelligence, [which] might occur by the year 2100". Um, almost all singularity proponents think it will almost certainly happen by 2100, the question is more will it happen by 2050. It then becomes a much more pressing issue, especially when it comes to jobs displacement which Satya covered extensively. Finally, this statement with no further explanation baffled me: "A worthy target for quantum will be advancing AI's ability to truly comprehend human speech and then accurately summarize it." I've never heard any credible AI researcher say quantum computing would be necessary, let alone useful, for doing such a task. As far we know the human brain doesn't use quantum computing and we can do that task just fine.
Even with Satya's questionable understanding of what technological singularity proponents/alarmists like Ray Kurweil, Elon Musk and Stephen Hawking are saying, I really like his paraphrasing of Alan Kay that he believed we should "Stop predicting what the future will be like; instead, create it in a principled way." That's the most important sentiment and I suspect as AI advances even faster than Satya realizes he'll quickly adapt with his growth mindset. That combined with his empathy and belief that "We can't do business effectively in 190 countries unless we prioritize the creation of great local economic opportunity in each of those countries", I think Microsoft and the world will be just fine. Satya is a great CEO and he makes me proud to work for Microsoft.
February 19, 2019
Mr. Satya Nadella begins the afterword of the book with some serious questions of existential nature. He uses questions like, why am I here, why Microsoft exists and so on, to explain his points. Wish he had asked a similar question about the purpose of this book, clarifying himself before even penning the foreword, for this book is a potpourri of thoughts and ideas, all lying disorganised across the pages.
What is one allowed to expect from a book written by the CEO of a tech giant like Microsoft? Imagine. Microsoft rode to the pinnacle by leading the PC revolution. Then lost their reputation due to questionable, predatory business practices. They also lost revenue by not taking the explosion of market for mobile devices seriously. It was Microsoft that produced a ‘tablet’, well before Apple was even a force to reckon with. But they were not able to make enough people interested in it and lost out. The whole world was switching to mobile devices from PCs, but Microsoft sat basking in the past success, entering the market only at the point of saturation. Just as people were starting to write off Microsoft as another giant about to bite the dust, it turned the tables and rode to the forefront of the Cloud revolution. Today Microsoft has caught up with Amazon and provides cutting-edge cloud solutions to the customers, on par with Amazon’s AWS.
When a company has such eventful history, you expect the CEO to churn out a book full of management wisdom and interesting anecdotes. But this book happens to be a damp squib. This book is not a memoir/autobiography, since very little and only the essential information is shared about Mr. Nadella’s childhood in India, his migrating to the USA for studies and eventually for a job at Microsoft. This book deals about his elevation to the role of CEO and his attempts at changing the ‘culture’ – a word hackneyed to the point of irritation – in only a superficial manner. The book then delves into the future of computing – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mixed Reality and Quantum computing – again as an overview without offering much to take in. The book ends by exuding positive beliefs about the future of technology and the co-existence of humans and AI. Trying to convey all these things at once, this book ends up being dull, uninspiring, repetitive and boring.
Incoherently and insipidly written, this is a book that you can safely skip.
What is one allowed to expect from a book written by the CEO of a tech giant like Microsoft? Imagine. Microsoft rode to the pinnacle by leading the PC revolution. Then lost their reputation due to questionable, predatory business practices. They also lost revenue by not taking the explosion of market for mobile devices seriously. It was Microsoft that produced a ‘tablet’, well before Apple was even a force to reckon with. But they were not able to make enough people interested in it and lost out. The whole world was switching to mobile devices from PCs, but Microsoft sat basking in the past success, entering the market only at the point of saturation. Just as people were starting to write off Microsoft as another giant about to bite the dust, it turned the tables and rode to the forefront of the Cloud revolution. Today Microsoft has caught up with Amazon and provides cutting-edge cloud solutions to the customers, on par with Amazon’s AWS.
When a company has such eventful history, you expect the CEO to churn out a book full of management wisdom and interesting anecdotes. But this book happens to be a damp squib. This book is not a memoir/autobiography, since very little and only the essential information is shared about Mr. Nadella’s childhood in India, his migrating to the USA for studies and eventually for a job at Microsoft. This book deals about his elevation to the role of CEO and his attempts at changing the ‘culture’ – a word hackneyed to the point of irritation – in only a superficial manner. The book then delves into the future of computing – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Mixed Reality and Quantum computing – again as an overview without offering much to take in. The book ends by exuding positive beliefs about the future of technology and the co-existence of humans and AI. Trying to convey all these things at once, this book ends up being dull, uninspiring, repetitive and boring.
Incoherently and insipidly written, this is a book that you can safely skip.
March 9, 2021
I believe, it is easier to be the CEO of a successful start-up that you founded, than to become a CEO of an already established company by working your way up. And probably, for that reason, I have more respect for Satya Nadella and Sundar Pichai, than for Zuckerberg. Or maybe I am biased, because I am an Indian, after all. :)
Nevertheless, I was interested to know more about Satya Nadella to understand how an average Indian Engineer became the CEO of one of the most powerful IT companies of the world. After all, from his academic career Nadella is no genius, right? He is not the IIT IIM Stanford or Harvard type. India exports thousands of such average Joes to US every year, but only few make their mark. So, what differentiated him so that the founders of Microsoft chose him to succeed them - exceptional leadership skills, vision, performance, what?
And did I get that from this book? Sadly NO. :(
This book read like a boring elongated name-dropping, unstructured, somehow motivating speech in a corporate event, than a well-defined thought-out book that could inspire and enlighten many.
I hope and I am sure, Nadella is much more a capable leader and a visionary CEO, than he is a writer (though probably, his co-writers would have done bulk of the writing).
Nevertheless, I was interested to know more about Satya Nadella to understand how an average Indian Engineer became the CEO of one of the most powerful IT companies of the world. After all, from his academic career Nadella is no genius, right? He is not the IIT IIM Stanford or Harvard type. India exports thousands of such average Joes to US every year, but only few make their mark. So, what differentiated him so that the founders of Microsoft chose him to succeed them - exceptional leadership skills, vision, performance, what?
And did I get that from this book? Sadly NO. :(
This book read like a boring elongated name-dropping, unstructured, somehow motivating speech in a corporate event, than a well-defined thought-out book that could inspire and enlighten many.
I hope and I am sure, Nadella is much more a capable leader and a visionary CEO, than he is a writer (though probably, his co-writers would have done bulk of the writing).
January 2, 2018
Ranging somewhere around 3.5 stars, this book is Satya Nadella's manifesto. His worldview on how technology is going to shape up the world in coming times. The beginning parts present stories from his life - school, Microsoft, transitions etc. The end parts however contain more of his manifesto, about how technology and society should interact etc which makes this difficult to read at times. Still not a bad read from one of the new CEOs of a tech giant. 1 time read for sure. Also, follow the sources listed at the end of the book.
September 29, 2017
Really loved the first half of this book. Overall information was really good but it got a little too technical and regulation based in the back half.
October 16, 2019
I've got this book from a FRIEND and spent an etnire weekend on reading it. It is definitely the book you want to read if you are serious about progarmming and computers. I will rceommend it to a few friend programmers.
June 18, 2018
I believe that a little bit of PR in a book is good, but 100% PR makes me sad.
TL;DR if you want to make something good, just give all your money to Microsoft, because they are the best.
TL;DR if you want to make something good, just give all your money to Microsoft, because they are the best.
November 21, 2017
I'm a Microsoft employee, but this opinion is my own.
This book describes three topics, at a high level:
- Satya Nadella's career and personal life: from a student in India to becoming the CEO of Microsoft, and everything in between, including his personal challenges
- Microsoft's transformation under Satya's tenure
- Industry trends, policies, regulations and how tech companies should enable people to become more productive
Satya's story is encouraging. This is the true story of someone who is talented, works very hard and gets to the top of one of the most influential companies of our times. He explains how his parents influenced him and how his passion for cricket helped shape his leadership style. Then he elaborates on his move to the United States and how none of this could have happened in case his wife (who was his girlfriend back then) did not get a visa. In fact, Satya went as far as giving up his green card to make this happen. I learned a lot from his examples and felt encouraged to take on challenges if that is what my heart tells me I need to do.
On the Microsoft transformation, if you follow Microsoft (as an employee, enthusiast or any other role) it is super fun to see the internals on how the CEO search went from his point of view, and the inside stories on projects like HoloLens, Office for iOS, the quantum computer and others. Satya took a 180 degrees turn with the company focusing on a massive culture change that encourages us all to have more empathy, ask more questions and learn more (be a learn-it-all, not a know-it-all). He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple strengthened recently and gives the company a clear focus on three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing.
The last part of the book focuses on regulations and how our laws need to be modernized in a digital world. He cites how Microsoft Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, describes that laws that were written when a simple "adding machine" was available. The same way technology evolved, our laws need to respond to that evolution and it makes no sense to apply centuries-old laws on our current reality. We all need to care about public safety and security, but writing backdoors into software is like giving authorities a master key to all safes ever built. Satya gives guidelines on what those policies should look like and where to start.
In summary, there's lots to learn from this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in the future of technology, in leadership, and to any Microsoft enthusiast.
This book describes three topics, at a high level:
- Satya Nadella's career and personal life: from a student in India to becoming the CEO of Microsoft, and everything in between, including his personal challenges
- Microsoft's transformation under Satya's tenure
- Industry trends, policies, regulations and how tech companies should enable people to become more productive
Satya's story is encouraging. This is the true story of someone who is talented, works very hard and gets to the top of one of the most influential companies of our times. He explains how his parents influenced him and how his passion for cricket helped shape his leadership style. Then he elaborates on his move to the United States and how none of this could have happened in case his wife (who was his girlfriend back then) did not get a visa. In fact, Satya went as far as giving up his green card to make this happen. I learned a lot from his examples and felt encouraged to take on challenges if that is what my heart tells me I need to do.
On the Microsoft transformation, if you follow Microsoft (as an employee, enthusiast or any other role) it is super fun to see the internals on how the CEO search went from his point of view, and the inside stories on projects like HoloLens, Office for iOS, the quantum computer and others. Satya took a 180 degrees turn with the company focusing on a massive culture change that encourages us all to have more empathy, ask more questions and learn more (be a learn-it-all, not a know-it-all). He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple strengthened recently and gives the company a clear focus on three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing.
The last part of the book focuses on regulations and how our laws need to be modernized in a digital world. He cites how Microsoft Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, describes that laws that were written when a simple "adding machine" was available. The same way technology evolved, our laws need to respond to that evolution and it makes no sense to apply centuries-old laws on our current reality. We all need to care about public safety and security, but writing backdoors into software is like giving authorities a master key to all safes ever built. Satya gives guidelines on what those policies should look like and where to start.
In summary, there's lots to learn from this book. I recommend it to anyone interested in the future of technology, in leadership, and to any Microsoft enthusiast.
February 23, 2019
Satya Nadella is the third CEO at Microsoft, following Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. “Hit Refresh” is his story and journey, one that is in the middle of still being told.
It covers his physical journey included growing up in India, college in Wisconsin, early jobs in Silicon Valley, and finally his long-term career at Microsoft, from engineer to leader to CEO.
It covers his philosophical journey of discovery through personal pain and family challenges that truly understanding diversity and inclusion brings humility, respect, and unity.
It covers his personal quest to lead real cultural change at Microsoft; to rediscover the soul and focus that it’s founding fathers had to make the world a better place for everyone.
It covers his future vision of technology, which includes the synergistic melding of mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing to shift our economies and society.
Does it include an underlying layer of self-promotion for a Microsoft comeback to its glory days? Yes, but at the same time, Nadella is fairly honest about his company’s mistakes and lessons learned. He was more open and honest than I expected, and I respect him for that. I was especially interested in how he addressed the need to Harnish technology in way that tackles society’s greatest challenges – climate, cancer, and providing people with productive and meaningful work as more and more jobs are eliminated through automation. Chapters eight and nine were more than worth the price of the book alone.
More importantly, the truth this book reveals feels almost like an oxymoron - Nadella is a people person leading a technology company. A company famous for previous leaders being known for understanding computer language more than social skills.
Although I prefer fiction to non-fiction, this was an excellent read. Although I didn’t fully understand most of mixed reality and quantum computing, I came away with a greater understanding of Nadella’s leadership and vision of a better society, not only through technological advancements, but by being better humans.
I was moved by his optimistic outlook and influenced enough to share his insight with others in my circle of influence and friendship. Hopefully, you will too.
It covers his physical journey included growing up in India, college in Wisconsin, early jobs in Silicon Valley, and finally his long-term career at Microsoft, from engineer to leader to CEO.
It covers his philosophical journey of discovery through personal pain and family challenges that truly understanding diversity and inclusion brings humility, respect, and unity.
It covers his personal quest to lead real cultural change at Microsoft; to rediscover the soul and focus that it’s founding fathers had to make the world a better place for everyone.
It covers his future vision of technology, which includes the synergistic melding of mixed reality, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing to shift our economies and society.
Does it include an underlying layer of self-promotion for a Microsoft comeback to its glory days? Yes, but at the same time, Nadella is fairly honest about his company’s mistakes and lessons learned. He was more open and honest than I expected, and I respect him for that. I was especially interested in how he addressed the need to Harnish technology in way that tackles society’s greatest challenges – climate, cancer, and providing people with productive and meaningful work as more and more jobs are eliminated through automation. Chapters eight and nine were more than worth the price of the book alone.
More importantly, the truth this book reveals feels almost like an oxymoron - Nadella is a people person leading a technology company. A company famous for previous leaders being known for understanding computer language more than social skills.
Although I prefer fiction to non-fiction, this was an excellent read. Although I didn’t fully understand most of mixed reality and quantum computing, I came away with a greater understanding of Nadella’s leadership and vision of a better society, not only through technological advancements, but by being better humans.
I was moved by his optimistic outlook and influenced enough to share his insight with others in my circle of influence and friendship. Hopefully, you will too.
January 7, 2020
4.5 stars
This book is a partial memoir of Satya. In the first part of the book, he described his time in Microsoft and how he ended up as CEO. In the second part, he explains the increasing privacy concerns after Snowden whistle blowing, the benefits (outweighing these privacy concerns) to be gained by increasing reliance on technology, his suggestions/advices to world leaders to promote local entities for technological development, etc, etc.
To be honest, the recent privacy concerns made me decrease sharing in social media such as facebook, storing in cloud server. His words provide a bit hope for relying on technology. Hope his ambitions come true.
He use the word empathy a bit too much.
This book is a partial memoir of Satya. In the first part of the book, he described his time in Microsoft and how he ended up as CEO. In the second part, he explains the increasing privacy concerns after Snowden whistle blowing, the benefits (outweighing these privacy concerns) to be gained by increasing reliance on technology, his suggestions/advices to world leaders to promote local entities for technological development, etc, etc.
To be honest, the recent privacy concerns made me decrease sharing in social media such as facebook, storing in cloud server. His words provide a bit hope for relying on technology. Hope his ambitions come true.
He use the word empathy a bit too much.
February 10, 2020
This had been my breakfast companion for a month. Loved to start the day with some positivity and insights on Microsoft's mental shift.
Satya sounds true to his name and has candidly expressed his opinions, strategies, beliefs and changes that he wanted to manouvre in Microsoft. Writing in hindsight is always easier, but here he has taken up the challenge to write in present-tense.... in spite of being well aware of how much of the stuff could backfire.
One unique thing that captured my fancy was having two titles per chapter - sort of heading and sub heading, which makes it very easy to recollect and reference prior instances.
Enjoyed reading this.
Satya sounds true to his name and has candidly expressed his opinions, strategies, beliefs and changes that he wanted to manouvre in Microsoft. Writing in hindsight is always easier, but here he has taken up the challenge to write in present-tense.... in spite of being well aware of how much of the stuff could backfire.
One unique thing that captured my fancy was having two titles per chapter - sort of heading and sub heading, which makes it very easy to recollect and reference prior instances.
Enjoyed reading this.
October 22, 2017
For the first time in 2016 Microsoft offered a free upgrade to Windows 10. That was surprising to me as I had never seen Microsoft offer anything for free. But at that time I didn't pay much attention to the fact and happily upgraded to Windows 10 and encouraged others to do so as well. I checked out the new Internet Explorer and Bing for a month before I decided to switch back to Google Chrome and Google search. I now realize that unwittingly, I was a part of the Microsoft's new campaign and I am not sad I was.
What gripped me from the beginning of this book was the tone of honesty and integrity with which the transformation story of Microsoft was narrated. Satya Nadella is a candid writer and has a deep grasp of Microsoft and it's history. He brings forth the challenges facing Microsoft when he took over as the CEO and in a totally uncharacteristic and 'unMicrosoft' way he picks out Culture as the starting point of change. The people angle he brings out has deep set roots in his brought up and his own personal experience as a father, a husband and a son and above all a human being. All the while one can see the humanitarian working in the foreground with a hint of the technologist at the back ground.
Don't mistake Satya as a humanist without a grasp on technology. As Satya outlines his personal challenges and how his specially abled Son was able to use Microsoft's technology to his advantage, you see how deeply Satya understand technology and it's utility in human transformation. Later on when he outlines Microsoft's strategic plan, he focuses on those areas where Human Computer Interactions are bringing about transforamtion. Satya has his eyes set out on AI, ML and the Cloud and he has taken strides to propel Microsoft to take concrete steps in that direction. These chapters read like a technologists vision while the humanitarian always remains in the background.
From a managerial point of view, Satya, brilliantly outlines and weaves both his humane approach and his technological vision into a profitable business strategy that has propelled Microsoft into the frontlines in technology and is transforming it into a leader that it once was. In the process we discover some of the brilliant projects that weren't paid attention to earlier and the leading edge that Microsoft could get, if they begin using the same and weave into its strategic pattern.
Finally, Satya talks about building sustainable business by helping both Private and Public Sector enterprises and Governments. His discussion on Privacy is deep and some of his solutions truly are a balance between legal requirements and user privacy.
I am thrilled to know that Satya reads Science Fiction and there are many books we've read in common. Some of the ideas that he has enjoyed and thought possible were enjoyed by me too. It's a good book, although it gets into a skim read towards the end. Recommended for those who are interested to read business strategy, tech savvy enthusiasts and those who want to know where Microsoft is headed in the near future
What gripped me from the beginning of this book was the tone of honesty and integrity with which the transformation story of Microsoft was narrated. Satya Nadella is a candid writer and has a deep grasp of Microsoft and it's history. He brings forth the challenges facing Microsoft when he took over as the CEO and in a totally uncharacteristic and 'unMicrosoft' way he picks out Culture as the starting point of change. The people angle he brings out has deep set roots in his brought up and his own personal experience as a father, a husband and a son and above all a human being. All the while one can see the humanitarian working in the foreground with a hint of the technologist at the back ground.
Don't mistake Satya as a humanist without a grasp on technology. As Satya outlines his personal challenges and how his specially abled Son was able to use Microsoft's technology to his advantage, you see how deeply Satya understand technology and it's utility in human transformation. Later on when he outlines Microsoft's strategic plan, he focuses on those areas where Human Computer Interactions are bringing about transforamtion. Satya has his eyes set out on AI, ML and the Cloud and he has taken strides to propel Microsoft to take concrete steps in that direction. These chapters read like a technologists vision while the humanitarian always remains in the background.
From a managerial point of view, Satya, brilliantly outlines and weaves both his humane approach and his technological vision into a profitable business strategy that has propelled Microsoft into the frontlines in technology and is transforming it into a leader that it once was. In the process we discover some of the brilliant projects that weren't paid attention to earlier and the leading edge that Microsoft could get, if they begin using the same and weave into its strategic pattern.
Finally, Satya talks about building sustainable business by helping both Private and Public Sector enterprises and Governments. His discussion on Privacy is deep and some of his solutions truly are a balance between legal requirements and user privacy.
I am thrilled to know that Satya reads Science Fiction and there are many books we've read in common. Some of the ideas that he has enjoyed and thought possible were enjoyed by me too. It's a good book, although it gets into a skim read towards the end. Recommended for those who are interested to read business strategy, tech savvy enthusiasts and those who want to know where Microsoft is headed in the near future
March 5, 2018
Full review on: FLIPPING THROUGH THE PAGES
This book is not for everyone. It is for those who understand technology a bit and are interested in knowing the inner workings of an organization like Microsoft. Not just about Microsoft, you need to learn what a person Satya Nadella is how is reached from a small place in India to where he is today.
Now let’s move to the probable reasons as to why you should read it.
1. To know Satya Nadella’s journey from India to Microsoft
Satya Nadella’s journey is encouraging as well as powerful. His story shows us that how hard work and talent can lead you to the places you only dream about. Satya belongs to a middle-class Indian family. He talks about his life and friends in India and how his parents shaped his future to be a better human being. He was and is a big cricket enthusiast and he explained how the game of Cricket actually helped him to learn the qualities like leadership and empathy. The part where Satya told about his initial move to the US was very moving. His wife was having trouble in getting the visa and he was ready to give up his green card in case she did not get it. But luckily she got it. I was surprised to know that their first child is disabled. I can understand the difficulties that they would have faced. There were so many things to learn from Satya’s examples. He encourages you to take challenges and to listen to your heart sometime. He tells the importance of family and how it helps make your future.
2. If interested in knowing more about Microsoft and how actually Microsoft did “hit refresh”
It was fun to know the internal working of Microsoft. When Satya became the CEO, and even the years before that, Microsoft was going downwards. He took many decisions which not only changed the face of Microsoft but allowed them to transform the Microsoft completely. The decisions were not at all easy, but it was important to take those. Satya Realised that except Office, none of their products were selling as they had speculated because of the competition going on in the market from the rivals like Amazon and Apple.
Satya did many changes in the company’s culture and took a complete 180 degrees turn (Hit Refresh) to not only encourage the employee’s satisfaction but also encouraged them to have more empathy. He encouraged them to learn more, to ask questions and to participate fully.
3. If you want to know what actually goes behind successful companies and their struggles
This is not a hidden fact that so much politics go inside big companies like Microsoft. It was amazing to know the work culture of Microsoft, its various work programmes, its team divisions and inside details. If you are someone who likes to join Microsoft someday or is simply fascinated by it, you would find it particularly interesting. It doesn’t matter how big is an organization. There is always a room for more improvement and growth. Microsoft was too lenient a few years ago and employees were unsatisfied. Satya tried to change this and thus helped Microsoft to come out of the difficult phase.
4. If you are a tech person or love technology
Oh yes! If you simply love technology you should read this whether you are in a technical field or not. Satya has talked about many technologies which I was amazed to hear for the first time. There was seriously so much to learn about the new products that Microsoft is making or the current projects they are working on. I had heard many of the names before, but I had never gone into the details of things like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But Satya’s words will take you on that amazing journey. As per him, currently there are three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing and they have to work towards making a hold on those.
5. If you want to learn the basic importance of leadership, empathy, equation of trust etc.
This was my favourite part of the book. It was more like a moral teaching. Satya told that in today’s world we should try to make friends even with our enemies. He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple have provided benefits to Microsoft and have given future alliances to strengthen themselves with a clear focus. With making the enemies friends (fre-enemies) often we can get profits in some fields, if not at all. He talked about the importance of leadership and how that leadership quality helped him to overcome the failure that Microsoft was going towards.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to learn from this book. Not only you can learn many things about Satya himself, but also about the Microsoft’s journey and the changes, it incorporated in order to survive. This book can get a little technical in between. But if you are a technology enthusiast you should definitely read this. You should read this to understand how technology is going to change and is going to affect YOU and what role you can play into this.
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This book is not for everyone. It is for those who understand technology a bit and are interested in knowing the inner workings of an organization like Microsoft. Not just about Microsoft, you need to learn what a person Satya Nadella is how is reached from a small place in India to where he is today.
Now let’s move to the probable reasons as to why you should read it.
1. To know Satya Nadella’s journey from India to Microsoft
Satya Nadella’s journey is encouraging as well as powerful. His story shows us that how hard work and talent can lead you to the places you only dream about. Satya belongs to a middle-class Indian family. He talks about his life and friends in India and how his parents shaped his future to be a better human being. He was and is a big cricket enthusiast and he explained how the game of Cricket actually helped him to learn the qualities like leadership and empathy. The part where Satya told about his initial move to the US was very moving. His wife was having trouble in getting the visa and he was ready to give up his green card in case she did not get it. But luckily she got it. I was surprised to know that their first child is disabled. I can understand the difficulties that they would have faced. There were so many things to learn from Satya’s examples. He encourages you to take challenges and to listen to your heart sometime. He tells the importance of family and how it helps make your future.
2. If interested in knowing more about Microsoft and how actually Microsoft did “hit refresh”
It was fun to know the internal working of Microsoft. When Satya became the CEO, and even the years before that, Microsoft was going downwards. He took many decisions which not only changed the face of Microsoft but allowed them to transform the Microsoft completely. The decisions were not at all easy, but it was important to take those. Satya Realised that except Office, none of their products were selling as they had speculated because of the competition going on in the market from the rivals like Amazon and Apple.
Satya did many changes in the company’s culture and took a complete 180 degrees turn (Hit Refresh) to not only encourage the employee’s satisfaction but also encouraged them to have more empathy. He encouraged them to learn more, to ask questions and to participate fully.
3. If you want to know what actually goes behind successful companies and their struggles
This is not a hidden fact that so much politics go inside big companies like Microsoft. It was amazing to know the work culture of Microsoft, its various work programmes, its team divisions and inside details. If you are someone who likes to join Microsoft someday or is simply fascinated by it, you would find it particularly interesting. It doesn’t matter how big is an organization. There is always a room for more improvement and growth. Microsoft was too lenient a few years ago and employees were unsatisfied. Satya tried to change this and thus helped Microsoft to come out of the difficult phase.
4. If you are a tech person or love technology
Oh yes! If you simply love technology you should read this whether you are in a technical field or not. Satya has talked about many technologies which I was amazed to hear for the first time. There was seriously so much to learn about the new products that Microsoft is making or the current projects they are working on. I had heard many of the names before, but I had never gone into the details of things like quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But Satya’s words will take you on that amazing journey. As per him, currently there are three big technology trends: artificial intelligence, mixed reality and quantum computing and they have to work towards making a hold on those.
5. If you want to learn the basic importance of leadership, empathy, equation of trust etc.
This was my favourite part of the book. It was more like a moral teaching. Satya told that in today’s world we should try to make friends even with our enemies. He describes how partnerships with companies like Samsung, Adobe and Apple have provided benefits to Microsoft and have given future alliances to strengthen themselves with a clear focus. With making the enemies friends (fre-enemies) often we can get profits in some fields, if not at all. He talked about the importance of leadership and how that leadership quality helped him to overcome the failure that Microsoft was going towards.
Final Thoughts
There is a lot to learn from this book. Not only you can learn many things about Satya himself, but also about the Microsoft’s journey and the changes, it incorporated in order to survive. This book can get a little technical in between. But if you are a technology enthusiast you should definitely read this. You should read this to understand how technology is going to change and is going to affect YOU and what role you can play into this.
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November 4, 2019
Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. These are the three most passionate exhortations one finds in "Hit Refresh" by Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft. An autobiography subtly disguised as an expression of the current cultural ethos prevailing inside the world's largest tech behemoth, "Hit Refresh" is an alarmingly thought provoking book. Emphasising his reluctance in writing a memoir ("I'll save that for my dotage"), Satya Nadella briefly traces his origins and adolescence spent primarily in the South Indian City of Hyderabad. The son of an Economist father (a believer in Marxism) and a scholarly mother, Nadella - as is invariably the case with a teeming multitude of Indians - was strongly addicted to the thralls and throes of cricket. Representing his school as an off spin bowler, Nadella egregiously confesses his adoration for M.L.Jaisimha, a former Indian batsman known for his languid grace and flamboyance, both on and off the pitch.
The hustle and bustle of Hyderabad makes way for the serene environs of Redmond as Nadella leaves India at the age of twenty to chart his destiny in the United States of America. A move to Microsoft exposes him to the turbulence and tumult of the advancements in technology and he soon becomes absorbed, assimilated and seeped into the cauldron of innovation. "Hit Refresh" lends itself to impression at various levels. Citing his own personal experience, Nadella elucidates how technology can play a pivotal role in improving the quality of life. Zain, his first born was an unwilling victim of a complication at birth, which led to him suffering from Cerebral Palsy. However, exponential leaps in technology has ensured that even when wheelchair bound, Zain enjoys a quality of life that is refreshing, cheery and almost happily bespoke.
Nadella expresses his beliefs, vision and hopes in an ingenious fashion by taking recourse to self devised equations. For e.g.
(Education + Innovation) * Intensity of Tech Use = Economic Growth;
E + SV +SR = T/t which translates to Empathy + Shared Values + Safety and Reliability = Trust over time.
But the racy part of the book is reserved for what seems to be Nadella's three pet peeves - Mixed Reality; Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. Conjuring heady possibilities if these three concepts that could have a profound influence on mankind in the future, Nadella left me reeling with exultation and fear! We are at a crossroad where paradigm shifts in technology assumes moralistic, ethical, social, scientific and cultural challenges that determine our very existence. Nadella without shying away from the hard and harsh facts pulls all punches to reassure us that when computer learning equals or even transcends human learning, we will come face to face with euphoria rather than calamity. He makes his point by choosing as his accomplices an eclectic mix of books and movies. Notable examples being "Machines of Loving Grace" by John Markoff, Rod Sterling's "The Twilight Zone"; "Westworld" starring Yul Brenner and Disney's "Big Hero 6".
Quoting Goethe, Nadella writes "he who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own". We can safely say that by reading "Hit Refresh", one can certainly know that mankind now knows that there is still a lot more left to know!
The hustle and bustle of Hyderabad makes way for the serene environs of Redmond as Nadella leaves India at the age of twenty to chart his destiny in the United States of America. A move to Microsoft exposes him to the turbulence and tumult of the advancements in technology and he soon becomes absorbed, assimilated and seeped into the cauldron of innovation. "Hit Refresh" lends itself to impression at various levels. Citing his own personal experience, Nadella elucidates how technology can play a pivotal role in improving the quality of life. Zain, his first born was an unwilling victim of a complication at birth, which led to him suffering from Cerebral Palsy. However, exponential leaps in technology has ensured that even when wheelchair bound, Zain enjoys a quality of life that is refreshing, cheery and almost happily bespoke.
Nadella expresses his beliefs, vision and hopes in an ingenious fashion by taking recourse to self devised equations. For e.g.
(Education + Innovation) * Intensity of Tech Use = Economic Growth;
E + SV +SR = T/t which translates to Empathy + Shared Values + Safety and Reliability = Trust over time.
But the racy part of the book is reserved for what seems to be Nadella's three pet peeves - Mixed Reality; Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. Conjuring heady possibilities if these three concepts that could have a profound influence on mankind in the future, Nadella left me reeling with exultation and fear! We are at a crossroad where paradigm shifts in technology assumes moralistic, ethical, social, scientific and cultural challenges that determine our very existence. Nadella without shying away from the hard and harsh facts pulls all punches to reassure us that when computer learning equals or even transcends human learning, we will come face to face with euphoria rather than calamity. He makes his point by choosing as his accomplices an eclectic mix of books and movies. Notable examples being "Machines of Loving Grace" by John Markoff, Rod Sterling's "The Twilight Zone"; "Westworld" starring Yul Brenner and Disney's "Big Hero 6".
Quoting Goethe, Nadella writes "he who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own". We can safely say that by reading "Hit Refresh", one can certainly know that mankind now knows that there is still a lot more left to know!
November 28, 2017
Living in Silicon Valley, I have never been a great fan of any of Microsoft’s successful products like Office, Internet Explorer, Outlook or Windows. For personal computing, I moved to using Ubuntu for an Operating system and then moved on to the Chrome OS four years ago. Till a few years ago, even Wall Street probably looked at Microsoft as a dying corporation. Not anymore. It is no longer the evil empire. Its recent products like the Surface Pro would even win approval from design giants like Apple. It is even cool to like Microsoft these days, not least because it is bringing a lot more dollars into the stock portfolios of engineers in Silicon Valley! Microsoft has embraced Linux, made up with Google and even Apple, built partnerships with Adobe and become a significant player on the Cloud infrastructure and Artificial Intelligence - all in a matter of just four years. These are certainly path-breaking transformations for the company. How did they accomplish all this? Is it something abstract like rediscovering the company’s soul as the title of this book claims? Or is it something more mundane? I thought that this book may provide some insights into how it happened. It turns out that it is due to both the abstract and the concrete, as per Nadella’s narrative.
At the end of Steve Ballmer’s reign, it was no secret that Microsoft was suffering from multiple problems. The staff’s swagger of the 1990s was gone and morale was heading south. It was widely acknowledged that the tech giant had got bogged down in bureaucracy. Politicking was said to be rife among the management. It was in such a context in 2014 that Satya Nadella took over Microsoft. He acknowledges these problems in the first chapter and believes that innovation is the answer to bureaucracy and teamwork the answer to politicking. The essence of Nadella’s approach to the transformation of Microsoft’s work culture seems to be built around the following tenets: Rediscovery of the company’s soul is to be achieved through harmony in the work environment, empathy towards one another, continuous learning and finally, change at the individual’s level in identifying their passions and linking them with that of Microsoft’s mission.
NadelIa shares his personal story of how his son Zain was left with cerebral palsy after suffering asphyxia in utero. His wife Anu was instrumental in helping him come to terms with this situation. With her help, he realizes that it is not a setback but a chance to grow in life. His focus on empathy is a natural offshoot of this episode in his life. The other thing he writes about is how Microsoft must recapture its lost soul in its revival under his leadership. Soul is an abstract and nebulous entity. But Nadella succeeds in giving it concrete shape by recasting it in terms of Microsoft’s basic mission. I found his formulation of Microsoft’s mission quite innovative and fundamental. It was widely believed in the 1990s that a computer in every desk and in every home is the primary mission statement of Microsoft under Bill Gates. But, Nadella goes deeper behind this statement and investigates the spirit behind this and says that Microsoft’s mission was actually to empower people, to empower every person and every organization to achieve more. Hence, Microsoft’s raison d'etre is to enable and enhance this empowerment. As a result, he evaluates every action that he takes as a leader, as to whether it empowers the capabilities of people or hinders them. His moves in the Azure cloud infrastructure, in Artificial intelligence and in the partnership moves towards Apple, Google, Samsung and other rivals seem to be derived from this empowerment principle.
Nadella’s approach to inspiring his staff under his leadership is also innovative. He has not exhorted them towards making great AI products or making breakthroughs in Quantum Computing. Instead he says that Microsoft’s culture now should be about every employee realizing his/her personal passions using Microsoft as a platform to pursue that passion. In other words, he asks every employee to identify her innermost passions and to connect them in some way to Microsoft’s mission and culture. I think this is quite novel and innovative in inspiring a creative workforce. Effectively, it throws the ball into the employee’s court. It allows everyone to pursue their passion at work. It does not let one to sit around and complain that nothing exciting is going on in the company or his job is boring. On the contrary, it makes everyone ask serious questions about one’s own professional life and mission. It seems to me that if every employee really does what Nadella has asked of him/her, then Microsoft should emerge as a creative and passionate place to work.
The initial chapters of the book are about Nadella’s early days in India, his education in Hyderabad, his mother who was a Sanskrit scholar and his father, a Marxist and an engineer. But it is his focus on the game of cricket which captured my attention. Satya was not a real nerd because he played cricket at a sufficiently capable level in his state. He was a great fan of M.L.Jaisimha, who was the flamboyant captain of the Hyderabad cricket team in those days. Being a lover of cricket and an equally ardent admirer of Jaisimha myself, I can relate to Satya’s lessons from cricket and their relevance to management ! The first lesson is that, just as in cricket, one must have respect for one’s competitor but one shouldn’t be in awe of him. One must always go and compete irrespective of who the opponent is. The second lesson is that one must put the team first, ahead of personal goals and recognition. The third and most important lesson is that a leader must bolster the confidence of the people he is leading and bring out the best in them, just as one does on a cricket field.
Overall, the book is diplomatic in tone, taking care not to ruffle any feathers within Microsoft. It is understandable as Nadella looks up to both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. It is unlikely that he would openly critique them even if he has solid cause to do so. Additionally, Satya’s own approach to management is one of co-operation, empathy and partnership rather than confrontation. The downside of this is that the book glosses over how key cultural changes were accomplished in Microsoft under his leadership. After all, the image of Microsoft’s corporate culture under Gates and Ballmer was one of aggressive competition instead of partnership, tough love instead of empathy and conflict rather than cooperation. Such a culture does not morph into its opposite without substantial struggle. But Satya’s narrative has no details of what went on in their conference rooms and how the change was (or is being) accomplished. Certainly, Satya has done a terrific job in turning Microsoft’s fortunes around in four years that he has been the CEO. I would have liked more insights into this change so that we know that this upswing is not ‘magic’ and there are reasons to believe that it will continue irrespective of Satya continuing as CEO.
There are times when one feels that the book is partly a marketing effort for Microsoft. However, overall, I felt that it is an honest and self-effacing effort by Satya and his team. Satya seems to believe that the IT world is big enough for all the IT giants to prosper instead of having to view it as a zero-sum game. This comes through clearly in the chapter ‘Friends or Frenemies?’. If only the superpowers of this world adopt the same approach to the world, there would be a lot less conflicts and wars!
At the end of Steve Ballmer’s reign, it was no secret that Microsoft was suffering from multiple problems. The staff’s swagger of the 1990s was gone and morale was heading south. It was widely acknowledged that the tech giant had got bogged down in bureaucracy. Politicking was said to be rife among the management. It was in such a context in 2014 that Satya Nadella took over Microsoft. He acknowledges these problems in the first chapter and believes that innovation is the answer to bureaucracy and teamwork the answer to politicking. The essence of Nadella’s approach to the transformation of Microsoft’s work culture seems to be built around the following tenets: Rediscovery of the company’s soul is to be achieved through harmony in the work environment, empathy towards one another, continuous learning and finally, change at the individual’s level in identifying their passions and linking them with that of Microsoft’s mission.
NadelIa shares his personal story of how his son Zain was left with cerebral palsy after suffering asphyxia in utero. His wife Anu was instrumental in helping him come to terms with this situation. With her help, he realizes that it is not a setback but a chance to grow in life. His focus on empathy is a natural offshoot of this episode in his life. The other thing he writes about is how Microsoft must recapture its lost soul in its revival under his leadership. Soul is an abstract and nebulous entity. But Nadella succeeds in giving it concrete shape by recasting it in terms of Microsoft’s basic mission. I found his formulation of Microsoft’s mission quite innovative and fundamental. It was widely believed in the 1990s that a computer in every desk and in every home is the primary mission statement of Microsoft under Bill Gates. But, Nadella goes deeper behind this statement and investigates the spirit behind this and says that Microsoft’s mission was actually to empower people, to empower every person and every organization to achieve more. Hence, Microsoft’s raison d'etre is to enable and enhance this empowerment. As a result, he evaluates every action that he takes as a leader, as to whether it empowers the capabilities of people or hinders them. His moves in the Azure cloud infrastructure, in Artificial intelligence and in the partnership moves towards Apple, Google, Samsung and other rivals seem to be derived from this empowerment principle.
Nadella’s approach to inspiring his staff under his leadership is also innovative. He has not exhorted them towards making great AI products or making breakthroughs in Quantum Computing. Instead he says that Microsoft’s culture now should be about every employee realizing his/her personal passions using Microsoft as a platform to pursue that passion. In other words, he asks every employee to identify her innermost passions and to connect them in some way to Microsoft’s mission and culture. I think this is quite novel and innovative in inspiring a creative workforce. Effectively, it throws the ball into the employee’s court. It allows everyone to pursue their passion at work. It does not let one to sit around and complain that nothing exciting is going on in the company or his job is boring. On the contrary, it makes everyone ask serious questions about one’s own professional life and mission. It seems to me that if every employee really does what Nadella has asked of him/her, then Microsoft should emerge as a creative and passionate place to work.
The initial chapters of the book are about Nadella’s early days in India, his education in Hyderabad, his mother who was a Sanskrit scholar and his father, a Marxist and an engineer. But it is his focus on the game of cricket which captured my attention. Satya was not a real nerd because he played cricket at a sufficiently capable level in his state. He was a great fan of M.L.Jaisimha, who was the flamboyant captain of the Hyderabad cricket team in those days. Being a lover of cricket and an equally ardent admirer of Jaisimha myself, I can relate to Satya’s lessons from cricket and their relevance to management ! The first lesson is that, just as in cricket, one must have respect for one’s competitor but one shouldn’t be in awe of him. One must always go and compete irrespective of who the opponent is. The second lesson is that one must put the team first, ahead of personal goals and recognition. The third and most important lesson is that a leader must bolster the confidence of the people he is leading and bring out the best in them, just as one does on a cricket field.
Overall, the book is diplomatic in tone, taking care not to ruffle any feathers within Microsoft. It is understandable as Nadella looks up to both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. It is unlikely that he would openly critique them even if he has solid cause to do so. Additionally, Satya’s own approach to management is one of co-operation, empathy and partnership rather than confrontation. The downside of this is that the book glosses over how key cultural changes were accomplished in Microsoft under his leadership. After all, the image of Microsoft’s corporate culture under Gates and Ballmer was one of aggressive competition instead of partnership, tough love instead of empathy and conflict rather than cooperation. Such a culture does not morph into its opposite without substantial struggle. But Satya’s narrative has no details of what went on in their conference rooms and how the change was (or is being) accomplished. Certainly, Satya has done a terrific job in turning Microsoft’s fortunes around in four years that he has been the CEO. I would have liked more insights into this change so that we know that this upswing is not ‘magic’ and there are reasons to believe that it will continue irrespective of Satya continuing as CEO.
There are times when one feels that the book is partly a marketing effort for Microsoft. However, overall, I felt that it is an honest and self-effacing effort by Satya and his team. Satya seems to believe that the IT world is big enough for all the IT giants to prosper instead of having to view it as a zero-sum game. This comes through clearly in the chapter ‘Friends or Frenemies?’. If only the superpowers of this world adopt the same approach to the world, there would be a lot less conflicts and wars!
October 17, 2017
It is difficult capture how one speaks in one's writing. Satya, however, does exactly that; he has a distinct composure when he speaks in public; he does not rush over sentences, or become overtly enthusiastic with his facial expressions; he conveys his emotions through the eloquence of his speech to the way his eyes "light up" when he is talking about his passions.
If you've ever heard any of Satya's speeches, you can literally hear his voice while reading "Hit Refresh". He writes with the same literal elegance as he talks, and his composure is expressed through his philosophical take on what it means to build an institution that lasts, to create a culture of empathy, and to persevere through the hardest times.
A good leader draws not only from their own personal experience, but from the experiences of the greats who came before; Satya is standing on the shoulder of giants, from cricket players to German philosophers to Austrian poets to MIT professors. At the same time, he is a great expository writer, explaining the concepts of Distributed Systems and Quantum Computing so clearly that anyone with a basic understanding of English can comprehend.
Lastly, Satya values empathy, and he makes an active effort to illustrate his point about empathy in leadership. One of his reasoning behind the new Microsoft mission statement is that Microsoft does not strive to be that "cool" company with brilliant people who are all geniuses, closed off from the world; rather, Microsoft wants to be the company that makes things to help other people make things and make things happen.
G.K Chesterton once said, “There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.”. Satya is the real great man.
If you've ever heard any of Satya's speeches, you can literally hear his voice while reading "Hit Refresh". He writes with the same literal elegance as he talks, and his composure is expressed through his philosophical take on what it means to build an institution that lasts, to create a culture of empathy, and to persevere through the hardest times.
A good leader draws not only from their own personal experience, but from the experiences of the greats who came before; Satya is standing on the shoulder of giants, from cricket players to German philosophers to Austrian poets to MIT professors. At the same time, he is a great expository writer, explaining the concepts of Distributed Systems and Quantum Computing so clearly that anyone with a basic understanding of English can comprehend.
Lastly, Satya values empathy, and he makes an active effort to illustrate his point about empathy in leadership. One of his reasoning behind the new Microsoft mission statement is that Microsoft does not strive to be that "cool" company with brilliant people who are all geniuses, closed off from the world; rather, Microsoft wants to be the company that makes things to help other people make things and make things happen.
G.K Chesterton once said, “There is a great man who makes every man feel small. But the real great man is the man who makes every man feel great.”. Satya is the real great man.
February 10, 2019
Satya became one of my favorite CEOs after reading this book. This book gives you a great glimpse into how he thinks, why he does what he does and how he transformed Microsoft into the company that it is today, compared to what it was 4 years back.
His stories on personal career path, culture transformation at Microsoft, his battle with raising children with special needs, building partnerships, working on philanthropic and innovative projects and more make this a compelling read!
Overall, I'd recommend reading this to get a glimpse of where Microsoft is headed.
His stories on personal career path, culture transformation at Microsoft, his battle with raising children with special needs, building partnerships, working on philanthropic and innovative projects and more make this a compelling read!
Overall, I'd recommend reading this to get a glimpse of where Microsoft is headed.
August 29, 2019
I enjoyed the first half where he talked about how he turned around Microsoft. Satya's empathy lead management style is more aligned with my own preferred management style. It was nice to see that he can be successful with this as opposed to the Bezos Amazon culture. It made me think Microsoft might be a good company to work for. But the second half expanded into solving world problems, here I felt his plans lacked much depth, he would put forth 3-5 bullet points with little reasoning or details on how he thought these actions would solve the underlying problems.
June 9, 2020
The story of how Microsoft changed from an universaly hated ugly duckling of the Windows 95 era to the developer friendly company of the 2020s is to me one of the most interesting ones in the modern tech industry's history. And apparently, this was in no small part thanks to Mr. Nadella and the change of Microsoft's culture he championed. Therefore, I enjoyed quite a bit reading about his opinions and perspectives. If you are interested in this story of a ship turned around and crave more insight, definitely go grab it.
October 20, 2017
Satya's views on most things are very deep! He details his own personal evolution in an absolutely honest manner. I could connect with his emotions at many places and that made reading this book even more personal for me. And as a new hire at Microsoft, I found the book very informative and encouraging. I recommend it to all who want to be leaders in any technical field.
November 3, 2017
I read to understand businesses and I thought i could learn a bit on Microsoft.
It was a waste of time.
It was a waste of time.
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