In 2011, a cartoon zoomed around the internet depicting the organizational setups of various tech companies.

Amazon was a typical top-down setup, with someone in charge and people working for that person, then people working for them, etc. Apple, meanwhile, was depicted with everyone in a circle effectively all answering to the CEO.

Then there was Microsoft, where the cartoon depicted different teams, but each holding guns pointed at one another. For those who knew Microsoft’s cutthroat culture, both internally and to the outside world, it rung very true.

When Satya Nadella was tapped to lead Microsoft in 2014, he decided the company needed a different approach.

“I said ‘We need a learning culture,'” he told an audience at the Vanity Fair’s New Establishment summit in Los Angeles. 

Since then, he’s pushed Microsoft to be more collaborative with competitors, such as through one of his first decisions to release Microsoft’s Office productivity software that works with Apple’s iPhones and iPads. He’s elevated the role of consumer technology at Microsoft, both by expanding the company’s line of Surface computers, and by giving more prominence to the Xbox video game team. 

When Microsoft geared up to release Windows 10, the latest version of software that powers PCs, Nadella made it free for the first year. He’s even said to be looking into a “major” expansion of Microsoft’s presence in Silicon Valley. 

And there’s Microsoft’s old mission statement, “A PC on every desk and in every home” running Microsoft software. Now, it has a more modern twist: “To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.” 

While Nadella didn’t go into much detail during his panel discussion Tuesday, he did write a book about his efforts, called “Hit Refresh,” where he talked about changing Microsoft’s culture. 

Bottom line, he said Microsoft needs to be empathetic, even if it’s actually a massive company that could take on pretty much anyone.

“Instead of viewing things as zero sum, it’s how do we think of partnerships,” he said.

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