Looking back, looking forward.
As the year draws to a close, I find myself back east with some time to reflect upon this whirlwind of a year.
About once a year I try to force some “whitespace” into my life in order to give my mind the opportunity to seriously question strategic assumptions, and for abstract/creative thought. At this time last year I was just returning from one of those level-setting trips after cruising/exploring Antarctica with my family – an incomparable experience. I was reinvigorated and, as always, ready to shake things up. Of course, little did I know what was in store for me/us in ‘05.
The year began with a bit of nostalgia, as I participated in a couple of main-stage events at IBM’s Lotusphere in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Notes. It was a tremendously fun homecoming – particularly because of the time I got to spend catching up with many former partners and colleagues, including Mike, whose counsel/help ultimately proved to be quite pivotal. (While there, over cocktails, Volker was the first to start harassing me to restart my blog.)
From a business perspective, the first quarter was interesting, complex, exciting and exhilarating at a level that’s hard to describe. Several opportunities presented themselves that we’d never before conceptualized; we learned a great deal. And by March, due to the tireless efforts of an amazing set of talented individuals, Groove agreed to be acquired by Microsoft. To have their work become an integral element of the Office system was a pivotal opportunity for those in the Groove ‘family’ who’ve believed in the product and its potential for eight long years. Thanks to the thoughtful integration of the organization by Chris, David, Eric, Ken, Steven, et al., Groove is well on the path to filling its role in what will be an amazing Office ‘12’. I’m very proud of what it has become, and thankful for the strong leadership as I’ve spent most of my time in Redmond.
From a personal perspective, it’s been a year of change in many dimensions. My daughter began her first year at Penn; my son is now engaged; I turned 50. Most significantly, my wife and I began a new bi-coastal adventure. I’ve got an apartment in downtown Seattle – my primary residence since early April – while my wife lives primarily at our home north of Boston. On most weekends and some weeks, I fly east; on some weekends and some weeks, she flies west. After doing it for months, we’ve fallen into a ‘groove’ that works quite well. I’ve also had fun experimenting with ways to “bring the coasts together” using technology – setting up always-on ‘portals’ between various rooms in both places just to see how this telepresence-based peripheral awareness might feel. I’ve now got more ideas; I’ll probably write about this at some point.
This year at Microsoft I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work closely with and learn from a broad set of talented people – particularly Bill & Steve, Jeff & Kevin & Jim & Robbie, Craig & David, Brad & Chris & Kevin, but also SO many others. I’ve learned a tremendous amount in such a short time; this is an incredibly complex and interesting organization, with assets and opportunities that I hadn’t begun to imagine until being inside. I very much look forward to working with them and their teams as we jointly reshape the company and its direction for this next phase of growth.
Actually, I look forward to many things in 2006.
The response to the ‘disruption’ memo has been frankly overwhelming, in a very positive way. Having worked with Kevin, Jim, Jeff and Robbie this month to finalize ownership of the key services scenarios, I now look forward to engaging these individuals and their teams who will lead this user-focused transformation to service-enhanced software. As a certain core group of people are well aware, we’re now in execution mode; it’s going to be a fascinating year indeed!
Separately, I look forward to working with my brother Jack and his nascent “concept development” group to rapidly incubate many ideas that have been spinning around in our minds – some for years. These won’t initially be ‘products’ per se: they’ll range from fun hacks testing out a concept, to highly useful solutions. We’re talking about potentially setting up a website where you can download some of these things as they emerge; stay tuned.
I also look forward to the imminent birth of an organization being built within the context of my group that is an outgrowth and expansion of humanitarian work we’ve been doing for years at Groove. I’ll talk more about this early in the year; stay tuned.
I look forward to the Office ‘12’ and Vista introductions! It’s going to be great to see peoples’ reactions to the user experience innovations in 12, and it’ll be really exciting for the teams that have poured so much of themselves into these efforts.
I look forward to using more and more Windows Mobile devices. Months ago I pulled the plug on my blackberry and went cold turkey to an HTC Typhoon-class device. A great device that is much more useful for triaging email than I’d imagined, but I really do need a thumb keyboard. As of last week I’m now using/testing the upcoming Treo 700w, and it’s great! The pipeline of cool devices about to emerge is stunning, and the software platform incomparable. Much to look forward to, and many new ideas for Jack as to what we might do with these devices’ capabilities…
If 2005 was a year of “change” for me, 2006 will be a year to “build”. Much of what I seek to accomplish here is already clear; some is emergent thinking. As plans gel, I very much look forward to interacting with some of our largest customers so they can play an active role in shaping the ‘services transformation’ of enterprise systems in a way that’s material and meaningful to their businesses.
I very much look forward to this spring, when I’ll have the opportunity to spend a bit more time in China than I have in the past. It will be a time to clear the mind; to learn; to again reset assumptions.
I’m intrigued to see what a transformed Red Sox will do … and of course, I very much look forward to my son’s wedding, and celebrating with many extended family members I haven’t seen in ages.
It’s looking to be a fascinating year! And I look forward to working with many of you. My best wishes for a wonderful holiday…
