If you don't have a real stake in the new, then just surviving on the old - even if it is about efficiency - I don't think is a long-term game.
Satya NadellaRead
In our business, things look like a failure until they're not. It's pretty binary transitions.
Interpretation
Success often appears as failure until it becomes evident, showing a clear transition between the two states.
Satya Nadella's quote emphasizes the often deceptive nature of business outcomes, where what initially seems like a failure may later reveal itself to be the precursor to success. The notion of a 'binary transition' suggests that these two states—failure and success—can be starkly different, yet the journey between them can be complex and non-linear.
In practice
In a motivational speech to young entrepreneurs, you could use this quote to encourage them during difficult times.
If you don't have a real stake in the new, then just surviving on the old - even if it is about efficiency - I don't think is a long-term game.
You look at marketing: everything that's happening in marketing is digitized. Everything that's happening in finance is digitized. So pretty much every industry, every function in every industry, has a huge element that's driven by information technology. It's no longer discrete.
What matters is 'Have you done a better job of making our experiences feel like home on Windows?' That's our real goal, and that's what we're going to stay focused on.
If you don't jump on the new, you don't survive.
I want everyone inside of Microsoft to take that responsibility. This is not about top-line growth. This is not about bottom-line growth. This is about us individually having a growth mindset.
At Microsoft, we're aspiring to have a living, learning culture with a growth mindset that allows us to learn from ourselves and our customers. These are the key attributes of the new culture at Microsoft, and I feel great about how it seems to be resonating and how it's seen as empowering.
Achievement must be made against the possibility of failure, against the risk of defeat. It is no achievement to walk a tightrope laid flat on the floor. Where there is no risk, there can be no pride in achievement and, consequently, no happiness. The only way we can advance is by going forward, individually and collectively, in the spirit of the pioneer. We must take the risks involved in our free enterprise system. This is the only way in the world to economic freedom. There is no other way.
For me, getting your number retired is the greatest accomplishment. There is no accolade with more significance that you can receive from an organization or school. Whether it was my four years at Central Arkansas or all my seasons with the Bulls in Chicago, it's a sign of respect for what I have done.
Your brand name is only as good as your reputation
The willingness to experiment with change may be the most essential ingredient to success at anything.
I know it's not the most important thing for me to win the most Grand Slams and be remembered in this world. I certainly don't have to win little tournaments here, there and everywhere, I don't have to win at all. Although I do want to.
The goals is to create a really high 'floor' for this organization, where the 'off' years are years where you might win in the high-80s and sneak a division or a wild card or win 90 games and get in and find a way to win in October. And the great years, you win 103 and win the whole thing.
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