Welcome to the Room: A lesson in leadership by Satya Nadella(jsnover.com)
jsnover.com
Welcome to the Room: A lesson in leadership by Satya Nadella
https://www.jsnover.com/blog/2026/02/01/welcome-to-the-room/
59 comments
Interesting. So Steve Ballmer saved Xbox from the RROD, and then went on to appoint a dude who would go on to make Ballmer even richer. And the new guy then goes on to destroy Xbox once again.
I wonder what this will look like in 20 years from now.
I wonder what this will look like in 20 years from now.
I'm no MS lover, but this is the same guy that increased the MS share price tenfold.
He temporarily increased MS share price tenfold, at the cost of jeapordizing the long term viability of the company.
In 10 years we may well look back at Nadela as the "the man who killed Microsoft" or at least "the man who destroyed Microsoft's position as a top 10 tech firm", and shareholders wont be too happy.
In 10 years we may well look back at Nadela as the "the man who killed Microsoft" or at least "the man who destroyed Microsoft's position as a top 10 tech firm", and shareholders wont be too happy.
When WSL/WSL2 was released and there was a big open source push I actually thought they were righting the ship, then this AI stuff came along (and Win11 UX departure and "Free" OS & ads everywhere) and realized it's the same old MS.
I laugh because if this guy had any foresight, he wouldn't have to beg users to love AI, it would sell itself.
I laugh because if this guy had any foresight, he wouldn't have to beg users to love AI, it would sell itself.
To be fair - he destroyed all Microsoft except Azure
I wonder about that, and decided that Azure is infrastructure first, and software second. MS is destroying/has destroyed their ability to write software, but are still maintaining infrastructure.
But I wonder how many people will be using Azure once the market moves away from windows software. I don't think they have any edge other than windows tie-ins (e.g. Azure ID)
But I wonder how many people will be using Azure once the market moves away from windows software. I don't think they have any edge other than windows tie-ins (e.g. Azure ID)
It's hard to destroy a flaming pile of trash.
Well, this is a good example of "Shareholder value != customer value".
Als also shareholder value != Positive effect on society
You know what? I bet if you got rid of stock buybacks, there'd be more consequences for making a shit product.
Same guy who touted Microsoft's progress on climate goals, then went all-in on AI.
Pretty much all of the major tech stocks have risen by 10x since 2014.
> I'm no MS lover, but this is the same guy that increased the MS share price tenfold.
How does that improve things for customers? This ridiculous affinity for increasing the stock price at the expense of all else is why so many tech products are degrading. Google, MS, Apple, etc.
How does that improve things for customers? This ridiculous affinity for increasing the stock price at the expense of all else is why so many tech products are degrading. Google, MS, Apple, etc.
the CEO answers to shareholders, not the customers. being a public company is a bitch…
They don't have to. They choose to. All sayings about it being a requirement are wrong.
Pretty much all tech stock has 10xed over the past decade. However, the fact that this is being used to justify anything is a problem. The financialized economy has become so powerful that it can treat the real economy with impunity.
If there are no consequences to prioritizing shareholder value at the expense of product utility or ecosystem value, then we are going to get less value from the products that we purchase over time.
This is why the economy doesn't work anymore. We've been swimming in toxic waters for so long that we think it is completely normal to prioritize shareholder value at the expense of everything else; greed is good.
If there are no consequences to prioritizing shareholder value at the expense of product utility or ecosystem value, then we are going to get less value from the products that we purchase over time.
This is why the economy doesn't work anymore. We've been swimming in toxic waters for so long that we think it is completely normal to prioritize shareholder value at the expense of everything else; greed is good.
Finish your thought. MS share price tenfold - what do you conclude from what? What did you want to say?
> Finish your thought. MS share price tenfold - what do you conclude from what? What did you want to say?
So he did his job.
So he did his job.
Is it a software and infrastructure company or an investment scam?
The only thing the elites and rich care about are what people think of them, they do not care about the health of people or how society is dealing with inequality; no they just want you to think that they are smart and worthy of respect.
Hence why they spend so much time on vanity.
Please don't give it to them. They are not special. They are not unique. The vast majority of people on this Earth can do an equivalent job if you gave them the same amount of resources (in this case a monopoly worth trillions).
Hence why they spend so much time on vanity.
Please don't give it to them. They are not special. They are not unique. The vast majority of people on this Earth can do an equivalent job if you gave them the same amount of resources (in this case a monopoly worth trillions).
Some of that is extremely bad advice and explains why MS is in the pickle it’s in.
“Don’t come whining that you don’t have the resources you need. We’ve done our homework. We’ve evaluated the portfolio, considered the opportunities and allocated our available resources to those opportunities. That is what you have to work with.”
Right out of the gate they’re telling you that your judgment is irrelevant to the scope of the problem. Immediately the chances of success are reduced quite a bit because the SME is not trusted to help craft the terms of engagement. If you aren’t at the table to help draft the terms of engagement, to help define the scope and to help define the resources needed, you’re always going to be working from someone else’s plan. Success is defined by not by your ability to execute, but someone else’s ability to plan. They’re telling you that you may be the SME, but they’re the ones who will be making the judgement calls. Politics has risen above engineering and above business strategy.
“You only have 2 controls: 1) The clarity, culture, and energy you give your teams ; and 2) Resource allocation .”
Except we’ve determined you don’t get much of a say in resource allocation, they’ve allocated the resources you get. If you determine the way to win with the plan you were given is to change that, you have to convince other people why their planning was wrong, and that’s rarely easy.
And you, as a leader, have far more than “clarity, culture, and energy”, too.
This shows that some of the major flaws that drove me out of a cushy role in MS in 2004 are still there today. I think Nadella is a better leader than Ballmer in knowing how to respond to markets, but this speech explains to me with crystal clarity why the AI push has gone so poorly. They think they can still dictate the terms of engagement with the market.
“Don’t come whining that you don’t have the resources you need. We’ve done our homework. We’ve evaluated the portfolio, considered the opportunities and allocated our available resources to those opportunities. That is what you have to work with.”
Right out of the gate they’re telling you that your judgment is irrelevant to the scope of the problem. Immediately the chances of success are reduced quite a bit because the SME is not trusted to help craft the terms of engagement. If you aren’t at the table to help draft the terms of engagement, to help define the scope and to help define the resources needed, you’re always going to be working from someone else’s plan. Success is defined by not by your ability to execute, but someone else’s ability to plan. They’re telling you that you may be the SME, but they’re the ones who will be making the judgement calls. Politics has risen above engineering and above business strategy.
“You only have 2 controls: 1) The clarity, culture, and energy you give your teams ; and 2) Resource allocation .”
Except we’ve determined you don’t get much of a say in resource allocation, they’ve allocated the resources you get. If you determine the way to win with the plan you were given is to change that, you have to convince other people why their planning was wrong, and that’s rarely easy.
And you, as a leader, have far more than “clarity, culture, and energy”, too.
This shows that some of the major flaws that drove me out of a cushy role in MS in 2004 are still there today. I think Nadella is a better leader than Ballmer in knowing how to respond to markets, but this speech explains to me with crystal clarity why the AI push has gone so poorly. They think they can still dictate the terms of engagement with the market.
'We Set the Standard. We Are the Standard' -- Microsoft, 1982.
https://archive.org/details/Microsoft_We_Set_The_Standard_We...
https://archive.org/details/Microsoft_We_Set_The_Standard_We...
> you don’t get much of a say in resource allocation, they’ve allocated the resources you get
..and your job is to allocate the resources you have been given.
..and your job is to allocate the resources you have been given.
>> ..and your job is to allocate the resources you have been given.
I can repeat things too! This means your success is not yours, that your job is to implement someone else's plan, so you're not really a leader.
I can repeat things too! This means your success is not yours, that your job is to implement someone else's plan, so you're not really a leader.
I completely disagree with you.
Anyone could solve every problem in the world, if only they had the resources. However, it's also an extremely convenient and versatile excuse. I think removing this excuse is more important than any downside you mention.
At my company I see people hiding behind the "I don't have the resources" excuse literally several times a day.
Anyone could solve every problem in the world, if only they had the resources. However, it's also an extremely convenient and versatile excuse. I think removing this excuse is more important than any downside you mention.
At my company I see people hiding behind the "I don't have the resources" excuse literally several times a day.
> if only they had the resources.
My point isn't that the resources are fixed, I can do more with less than the vast majority of people, it's that the job holder had no say in what resources were allocated. When you're not part of the planning, you're not part of leadership, and that entire meeting was a fraud because no one there actually had the proper agency to succeed.
My point isn't that the resources are fixed, I can do more with less than the vast majority of people, it's that the job holder had no say in what resources were allocated. When you're not part of the planning, you're not part of leadership, and that entire meeting was a fraud because no one there actually had the proper agency to succeed.
I'd like to thank and applaud Satya for finally ushering in the year of the Linux desktop.
I trust this is getting attention and votes for the same reason I'm paying attention here -- to highlight the absolute mediocrity and blah-ness of this whole thing.
Like this was some deep insightful journey and not your entirely typical cheerleader corpo-speak.
Like this was some deep insightful journey and not your entirely typical cheerleader corpo-speak.
> Achieving the Senior Executive status is often mistaken for a comfortable reward, a final destination with enhanced perks and support. A more fitting analogy is reaching the NFL Super Bowl. You are now part of an elite team where nothing less than peak performance is acceptable. As the Navy SEALs put it...
I can't believe anyone actually wrote this.
I can't believe anyone actually wrote this.
In my experience, so many execs love their sportsball and war metaphors.
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How can anyone look at Microsoft’s products and consider their leadership to be good?
Literally the only metric that’s been good has been market cap, but that will not last forever if they continue with their current trajectory.
Literally the only metric that’s been good has been market cap, but that will not last forever if they continue with their current trajectory.
Nadella and Microsoft are both clowns. His enduring legacy will be fumbling the window Microsoft had two years ago to catapult itself into AI-assisted search and Microsoft was primed to be at the front.
Today? All anybody except for Microsoft’s C suite execs want Copilot to do is turn itself off.
He’s an idiot. Ballmer 2.0, except even Ballmer got some cloud stuff right.
Today? All anybody except for Microsoft’s C suite execs want Copilot to do is turn itself off.
He’s an idiot. Ballmer 2.0, except even Ballmer got some cloud stuff right.
At least he's not throwing chairs and giving coked-up hype chants ("developers developers developers"). That guy was everything a leader shouldn't be.
With all the Microsoft haters in this thread, I'm surprised no one has pointed out this is just another example of Microsoft copying Apple.
Satya's speech is essentially the same one Steve Jobs used to give to new VP's at Apple[0].
[0]https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/steve-jobs-said-1-thing-separ...
Satya's speech is essentially the same one Steve Jobs used to give to new VP's at Apple[0].
[0]https://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/steve-jobs-said-1-thing-separ...
Hmmm. Based on the current state of MSFT products, MSFT theory for success involves making shitty products.
Jobs may have been nightmarish to work for. But he had reputation for demanding excellence in his products.
MSFT? Not so much.
Jobs may have been nightmarish to work for. But he had reputation for demanding excellence in his products.
MSFT? Not so much.
I've always thought c suites probably give each other applause and tell each other how great they are. Now I know it's true.
I've watched it happen at two orgs now. Lay off 500 people because you fucked the company for 2 years then congratulate each other for making the decision to write off all the accumulated debt by getting rid of all operating costs. Then come up with some new bullshit vision. Rinse, repeat while extracting wealth from gullible investors and treating staff as expendable.
I'm sure Microsoft is and has been host to some incredibly smart technologists and designers over the years, OP included.
But this only serves to reduce my confidence that much more in the ELTs which have sired the modern incoherent shiny-object-obsessed ecosystem that is Windows and MS at large.
But this only serves to reduce my confidence that much more in the ELTs which have sired the modern incoherent shiny-object-obsessed ecosystem that is Windows and MS at large.
> Every single line, every sentence, every phrase contained within Satya’s speech is a critical lesson, a foundational principle, and vital insight.
Revolting sycophancy is not a good sign for the leadership culture.
Revolting sycophancy is not a good sign for the leadership culture.
> Revolting sycophancy is not a good sign for the leadership culture.
IME, it's the status quo. We all would do well to keep that in mind whenever we read something they write, listen to an interview or speech they give, or get their "wisdom" repeated to us second- or third-hand.
IME, it's the status quo. We all would do well to keep that in mind whenever we read something they write, listen to an interview or speech they give, or get their "wisdom" repeated to us second- or third-hand.
> Revolting sycophancy is not a good sign for the leadership culture.
You seem to think this guy is going to go ask Nadella "hey, did you read my blog post?"
You seem to think this guy is going to go ask Nadella "hey, did you read my blog post?"
I'm more thinking of the people under him reading this and taking onboard how fawningly one talks about one's manager in this company.
If this sticks, before long no one will be able to say anything other than flattery, and critical thinking is over.
If this sticks, before long no one will be able to say anything other than flattery, and critical thinking is over.
The speech is great and all but cmon, don't tell me that Microsoft is "delivering outsized success".
Have you seen the recent windows update bugs, the enshitification of office, recall, bing, etc..
I don't know who else to blame but Nadella for all of that.
Seems more like the guy would be a great politician, great speech to inspire fresh employee, but delivers nothing in reality.
Have you seen the recent windows update bugs, the enshitification of office, recall, bing, etc..
I don't know who else to blame but Nadella for all of that.
Seems more like the guy would be a great politician, great speech to inspire fresh employee, but delivers nothing in reality.
Satya has succeeded greatly in transitioning Microsoft to the cloud and open source coexistence. These successes alone make him one of Microsoft’s great leaders.
Satya has also completely fucked Windows and has been unable/unwilling/uninterested in making it a product that people love. Satya has led to people hating Windows.
Satya has also completely fucked Windows and has been unable/unwilling/uninterested in making it a product that people love. Satya has led to people hating Windows.
Yes, spot on!
Both things can be true. Paul Graham (bless the maker and his passing) declared MSFT dead, but it came back strong.
The copilot fiasco is classic Microsoft Bob territory. They have so much entrenched tech in govt and big corps they can shamble on for years.
Typical Microsoft, not great, not the worst but the overpriced fast casual hamburger of the tech world. An ok meal, somewhat disappointing leaving you feeling greasy with a feeling you paid too much but you know you’ll be back.
Both things can be true. Paul Graham (bless the maker and his passing) declared MSFT dead, but it came back strong.
The copilot fiasco is classic Microsoft Bob territory. They have so much entrenched tech in govt and big corps they can shamble on for years.
Typical Microsoft, not great, not the worst but the overpriced fast casual hamburger of the tech world. An ok meal, somewhat disappointing leaving you feeling greasy with a feeling you paid too much but you know you’ll be back.
Yeah valuations are up but the business and products are looking progressively more fucked every month. If there's anything I've seen it's there are barely any people without macbooks coming out of university now and they are the next wave of influence over the whole sector. No one in the sector wants half the stuff that changes - they just want it to work and stay working. No longer a guarantee. Literally there are teams of people all over the planet all trying to simultaneously unfuck Satya's entire vision to keep their businesses from going down the toilet.
That is not someone you should not take advice from.
That is not someone you should not take advice from.
When I graduated college my friends and classmates enjoyed Windows because it was a stable platform for gaming, despite its EEE strategy. I had even bought a used laptop when they were a luxury few other students had, dual booting RH7 and Win98.
Now I'll probably get my kids MacBooks, despite how buggy MacOS has become. Or maybe a Framework laptop with Linux, if they're feeling adventurous.
Now I'll probably get my kids MacBooks, despite how buggy MacOS has become. Or maybe a Framework laptop with Linux, if they're feeling adventurous.
Is this not satire?
CamperBob2(1)
This is the same guy that shoved AI down the throats of millions of Windows users that forced me to just turn off Windows updates and add bazzite in dual boot.
I remember a long time ago I was talking to an executive that worked at a startup that was eventually acquired by Cisco. After the acquisition, the executive team got coaches to train them to be "inspirational" leaders. One thing that was common was adding a quote from say Marcus Arelius in the signature of their emails to make them sound wiser.
We need to stop this hero worship. Microsoft built a moat, and capitalized on it. They used their connections to block others from coming into the fray.
I don't care what their theory of success is, their definition is cancerous; a malignant one.