5 lessons from outgoing Microsoft software architect Ray Ozzie — from Fast Company by E.B. Boyd

From DSC:
Key quotes that directly relate to those of us in higher education:

1. Take time to paint a vision of the future

2. Put past successes “in perspective”
Once a company has done something well, it’s easy to keep doing that thing. In fact, it’s hard to stop doing it, because your company–its structure and incentives–get organized around enabling that successful thing to keep happening. But if the bigger picture in your industry changes, as it is in the tech sector, that successful thing may no longer be optimized to the new environment. Continuing to do it (from DSC: i.e. the status quo), and not shifting to a product line better suited to the new landscape, will put you at a disadvantage against competitors who do adapt, not to mention new entrants who have designed themselves with the new needs front of mind.

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“This will absolutely be a time of great opportunity for those who put past technologies & successes into perspective,” Ozzie writes, “and envision all the transformational value that can be offered moving forward.”

3. Recognize what’s inevitable in your industry
The flip side of putting past successes in perspective is recognizing what new developments are inevitable. The news industry, for example, spent a lot of time fighting the Web and digital news before finally accepting their inevitability. Think of how much energy would have been saved–and, more, put to better use–had the industry sought to dive into the digital world, rather than fight it.

4. “Inevitable” is not the same as “imminent”

5. Real transformation has to come from within


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