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Trends for 2023—The Great Transformation
“Understand: the future belongs to groups that are fluid, fast, and nonlinear.” — Robert Greene Back by popular demand, here is my annual report on trends: Trends for 2023: The Great Transformation. It’s pretty deep. I organized it into 3 main sections: The Context The Trends The Trends Library I think of trends as building …
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The MBA vs. the Innovator and How It Impacts Innovation and Growth
“In every work of genius, we recognize our once rejected thoughts.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson For 20+ years at Microsoft, I’ve watched how businesses are born, grow, and die, not just within Microsoft but with thousands of customers. I became deeply fascinated with the kinds of choices that leaders make and whether it leads to …
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Are You Better than a Bot?—How You Can Differentiate Yourself from ChatGPT
“All your base are belong to us.” – Zero Wing Are you smarter than ChatGPT? Maybe. But rather than be smarter, really it’s really a game of “better together.” Welcome to the age of augmented humanity. As some folks have been saying, it’s not AI that will replace humans. It’s humans using AI that will …
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The Power of Dreams
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” — John Muir One of the most inspiring campaigns I’ve ever seen is Honda’s The Power of Dreams. It’s a series that reminds us how our dreams stir us. It’s a series that reminds us how dreams challenge us to take on the impossible. And crush it. It’s …
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7 Habits of the Best leaders and Leaders-of-Leaders
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe I studied the best leaders and leaders-of-leaders over 25 years at Microsoft. I learned a lot about what great leadership looks like and what terrible leadership looks like. …
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Year End Reflection 2022
“The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, waiting to be written.” — Melody Beattie At the end of each year, I like to reflect on what I learned through a simple process of Year End Reflection from Agile Results. It’s how I put a bow on the last year, learn …
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How I Learned to Live My Values at Work
“Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one’s values.” — Ayn Rand When you learn to live your values at work, you transform your career into a powerful path of inspired growth and greatness. One of the best leadership trainings I ever attended focused on finding your core values. And …
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3 Life-Changing Career Hacks I Learned at Microsoft
“The question isn’t who is going to let me, it’s who is going to stop me.” — Ayn Rand So many people I know are really struggling with their motivation, stress, and their work-life balance. You can quickly change your career whether you are in a job, looking for a job, or transforming your career. …
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How I Kept a Zero Email Inbox at Microsoft for 25 Years
“Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable, personal touches – at scale.” — David Newman I’ll share the story of how I kept a zero email inbox at Microsoft for 25 years, since there are some surprising lessons along the way. But let’s start with a flashback to one day in my office …
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20+ Habits and Practices of Digital Transformation at Microsoft
“Culture change means we will do things differently.” — Satya Nadella This is a short post to put down on paper the key strategies and tactics, habits and practices, and mindset shifts that made Digital Transformation happen at Microsoft. I’ve driven Digital Transformation for more than a decade inside Microsoft, as well as driving Digital …
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Best Digital Transformation Books to Help You Win the Future
“When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, but when done wrong, all you have is a really fast caterpillar.” — George Westerman Here is a roundup of the best Digital Transformation books of all time. These are the Digital Transformation books that really help change your game and …
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16 Amazon Leadership Principles for Innovation, Influence and Impact
“Invention is by its very nature disruptive. If you want to be understood at all times, then don’t do anything new.” ― Jeff Bezos On This Page: What are Amazon’s Leadership Principles 1. Customer Obsession 2. Ownership 3. Invent and Simplify 4. Are Right, A Lot 5. Learn and Be Curious 6. Hire and Develop …
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The McKinsey 3 Horizon Framework for Business Growth Explained
“Long range planning does not deal with future decisions, but with the future of present decisions.” — Peter Drucker I learned about the 3 Horizon framework some years ago as a way of planning business growth and aligning innovation for the future business. It’s a simple model, and that it’s strength. And it creates a …
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My Storyteller Framework–the Challenge, the Change, and the Impact
“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.” –- Robert McKee I became a better storyteller at Microsoft while driving digital transformation out of necessity. How do you become a better leader that can inspire innovation, shape the future, and change the world with skill? This is a story of how …
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How I Became the Unicorn of Microsoft
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson I was never called a unicorn so many times in one year, based on my achievements, my accomplishments, and work experience at Microsoft. I’ve been called a force of nature at Microsoft …
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A Futurist is Born–How I Learned to Predict the Future
“You cannot predict the future, but you can create it.” — Peter Drucker Early on in my career, I kept getting surprised by how the world changed. It could be things at work like reorgs or new priorities or changes in direction. And that’s a big deal at Microsoft. It could be big things in …
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How I Learned That Innovation is a Skill (and You Can Learn It!)
“Every Child is an artist. The problem is to remain an artist once they grow up.” — Pablo Picasso Growing up in a high tech company like Microsoft, I was surrounded by innovation. I knew a lot of Softies that were good at innovation, but I didn’t think of myself as an innovator. Then …
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Best Quotes About Innovation to Inspire Work and Life
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke Here are the best quotes about innovation that will inspire, teach, and grow you in work and life. Innovation is a new idea, method, or device. This is my hand-crafted collection of the …
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What I Learned Building Knowledge Bases at Microsoft
“Knowledge is life with wings.” — William Blake I learned a lot from building world-class knowledge bases at Microsoft over 25 years. Mostly I learned how to learn faster by organizing incredible libraries of profound knowledge. But also I’ve learned that knowledge is an incredible competitive advantage. The value of your skills is the value …
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How Might We–How 3 Words Can Create a Billion Dollar Business
“Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”–- Richard Branson I love it when a simple tool or technique can empower an individual to change the world. At Microsoft, one of the most important skills I developed is the skill of innovation. Innovation is a broader skill with a lot of supporting skills. …