微软CEO：文化不变，复兴无望

    纳德拉说：“从我的数据、我的需求、我的任务中发掘更有意义的讯息——在我看来，这就是Office的未来。”

    纳德拉承认，微软在不断下滑的个人电脑业务和迅速被移动设备占据的计算业务占据的市场份额存在显著差异，前者为90%。（他承认，微软在横跨所有设备的市场份额仅有14%。）

    他说：“要在这样一个移动优先的世界自由穿行，我们还需要做大量工作。”

    这就是为什么这家公司这么专注于云计算这种连接所有互联网连接设备的构架。纳德拉说：“我们在云计算方面的目标是，确保我们的云计算和云应用程序出现在全球每台设备之上。”他随后补充说，微软衡量成功的方式是查看一台设备的主屏幕。

    云无法解决人们的问题，但它能够让其他服务和工具完成这件事情。这就是微软专注于云的原因所在。他说：“这是一个由云协调的世界。”

    微软正是通过这种方式进入新生的可穿戴市场。不是尝试着发明新的东西，纳德拉说，微软可以拉伸、调整它最知名的产品：Windows。

    他说：“至于Windows，我们希望把它看作是一个广阔的平台，从可穿戴设备到工业IoT平台，再到个人电脑和平板电脑。”所谓IoT是物联网(Internet of Things)的首字母缩写。尽管如此，“对我们来说，Windows永远是一种设备体验，”由于微软收购了诺基亚公司(Nokia)的设备业务，它现在可以从事第一手实验。

    他说：“我们希望把这些围绕生产力的体验从小屏幕带到大屏幕。”在最辉煌的时期，微软干得最漂亮的事情之一就是它把开发商和IT专业人士拉到了一起。“我们不会过分看重某一个受众群体，”纳德拉说。“这是我们的法宝。”

    但微软不能依靠历史经验向前推进。“我们所熟知的Windows必须做出改变，”他说。Windows已经成为游戏机和手机的操作系统。“但它是5年或10年前，我们在家里的个人电脑上启动的那个Windows吗？”纳德拉问道。“不是。”

    关于战略和文化

    微软需要把重点放在它的生产力核心。那么，Xbox游戏机是否契合纳德拉的愿景？这位首席执行官的回答有点闪烁其词。

    “Xbox距离（这个核心）没有那么远，”纳德拉说。“我们可以做比这个核心更多一些的事情。但问题是，你必须得拥有一种能够这样做的文化。”

    换句话说，你不能把Xbox部门当作一个操作系统部门，他说。

    “我希望我们能够以Xbox为傲，无拘无束地给予它以微软的空中掩护，”纳德拉说。“但与此同时，不能把它跟我们的核心相混淆。”

    “我们需要一些能够孵化新东西的部门，”但也需要“从核心出发来创新，”他说。这将成为微软的再次革新之道。

    “我们擅长生产力和平台，但需要重新思考，”他说。“它不是一个附带项目，而是微软这家公司的立身之本。”

    他凝视着台下的观众。“直到我们真正改变文化，微软才有希望迎来复兴。”（财富中文网）

    译者：叶寒

    “Making more sense out of my data, my needs, my tasks—to me, that’s the future of Office,” Nadella said.

    Nadella acknowledged the disparity between Microsoft’s market share in the declining PC business—90%—and its market share in a computing business that has quickly been dominated by mobile devices. (Microsoft enjoys just 14% share across all devices, he conceded.)

    “We have a lot of work to do still as we navigate this mobile-first world,” he said.

    Which is why the company is so focused on the cloud, the fabric that connects all Internet-connected devices. “Our goal with the cloud is to make sure that our cloud and our cloud applications are available on every device in the world,” Nadella said, adding that the company measures its success by looking at the home screen of a device.

    The cloud doesn’t solve people’s problems, but it enables other services and tools to do so. That’s why Microsoft is focused on it. “It’s a cloud-orchestrated world,” he said.

    Which is how the company is approaching the nascent wearables market. Instead of trying to invent something new, Nadella said, Microsoft can stretch and adapt its best-known product: Windows.

    “When we think about Windows, we want to think of it as a broad platform, from wearables to industrial IoT platforms to PCs and tablets,” he said, using the acronym for Internet of Things. Still, “Windows for us will always be the device experience,” and Microsoft can experiment firsthand thanks to its acquisition of Nokia’s devices business.

    “Our hope is to bring these experiences around productivity from the small screen to the large screen,” he said. At its peak, one of the things Microsoft did best was when it brought developers and IT professionals together. “We don’t over-index on just one constituent,” Nadella said. “That’s our magic.”

    But Microsoft can’t rely on history to move forward. “Windows as we know of it has to change,” he said. Windows is already on the gaming console and the mobile phone. “But is it the Windows that we booted up on our PCs at home five, 10 years ago?” Nadella asked. “No.”

    On strategy and culture

    Microsoft needs to focus on its productivity core. Does the Xbox group fit into Nadella’s vision? The chief executive hedged a bit.

    “Xbox isn’t that far from [the core],” Naella said. “We can do a few more things than the core. But the point is, you’ve got to have a culture to do it.”

    In other words, you can’t treat the Xbox division like an operating systems group, he said.

    “I want us to be comfortable to be proud of Xbox, to give it the air cover of Microsoft,” Nadella said, “but at the same time not confuse it with our core.”

    Though “you need to have places you can incubate things,” you also need to “innovate from the core,” he said. It’s how Microsoft will be renewed again.

    “We are good at productivity and platforms—but rethink it,” he said. “That’s not a side project, that is the very company itself.”

    He peered out over the audience. “Until we really change culturally, no renewal happens.”