Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Microsoft’s financial New Year begins on 01 July of each year and the company’s CEO has used this as an opportunity to rally the troops and lay out a new mission and vision statement for the company.
The last 16 months with Satya Nadella at the helm of the company has seen dramatic shifts in focus and reach.
Not only do Apple products appear on stage during major Microsoft event keynotes but most Microsoft services have Android and Apple apps before they sometimes arrive on the company’s own platforms.
In laying out his new direction for the company Nadella uses some words and phrases that we have heard him use regularly so, in at least this area, the Microsoft messaging is pretty clear and consistent.
However, it is not all positive as he does indicate some hard choices are going to be necessary along the way.
The key areas he plans to bring this all together with are below:
Mission. Every great company has an enduring mission. Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. I’m proud to share that this is our new official mission statement. This mission is ambitious and at the core of what our customers deeply care about. We have unique capability in harmonizing the needs of both individuals and organizations. This is in our DNA. We also deeply care about taking things global and making a difference in lives and organizations in all corners of the planet.
Worldview. We must always ground our mission in both the world in which we live and the future we strive to create. Today, we live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, and the transformation we are driving across our businesses is designed to enable Microsoft and our customers to thrive in this world. It’s important to note that our worldview for mobile-first is not just about the mobility of devices; it’s centered on the mobility of experiences that, in turn, are orchestrated by the cloud. That is why we think of these two trends together. What we do with our products and business models has to account for this fundamental transformation.
Strategy and ambitions. Our strategy is to build best-in-class platforms and productivity services for a mobile-first, cloud-first world. Our platforms will harmonize the interests of end users, developers and IT better than any competing ecosystem or platform.
Culture. We fundamentally believe that we need a culture founded in a growth mindset. It starts with a belief that everyone can grow and develop; that potential is nurtured, not predetermined; and that anyone can change their mindset. Leadership is about bringing out the best in people, where everyone is bringing their A game and finding deep meaning in their work. We need to be always learning and insatiably curious. We need to be willing to lean in to uncertainty, take risks and move quickly when we make mistakes, recognizing failure happens along the way to mastery. And we need to be open to the ideas of others, where the success of others does not diminish our own.
You can read the entire content of Nadella’s email to Microsoft employees over at GeekWire.
*Article updated to reflect 16 months as CEO.
