What is Bill Gates's "behind closed doors" technology?

As one of the most successful companies in the world, Microsoft has provided countless excellent software products to hundreds of millions of users around the world in the past two decades. In fiscal year 2005, Microsoft made a profit of $654.38+065 billion, and after paying dividends of $33 billion, it still had $35 billion in cash reserves. There are four main reasons for Microsoft's continuous success: dedicated technology, leadership art, talent management and corporate culture. In these competitiveness that determines the growth and destiny of Microsoft, the leadership art of founder Bill Gates is reflected and permeated everywhere.

As the chief architect, Bill Gates' job is to work out the company's long-term technology roadmap and confirm that the scientific research plans of the various administrative departments of the company are complementary rather than overlapping. So he asked every product and technical department of the company to give him technical reports, most of which were "brainstorming" discussion meetings. Besides getting feedback from Bill Gates, every project team can also benefit a lot from the preparation process. Because, in order to prepare to answer all kinds of questions that Bill may ask, the project team must make a thorough investigation of market, technology, competitors and other information before the report, so as to avoid the risk of behind closed doors.

Bill Gates takes out two time periods every year to think alone in a "closed door" way. This week is called Bill Gates' "Thinking Week". Microsoft's TabletPC, all kinds of more secure software, and the creation of online game business were all outlined in Gates's "behind closed doors" week.

Before the "Thinking Week", Gates will ask elites from various departments to provide him with a lot of reading materials and technical advice in his personal professional field. Gates' technical assistant will also collect reports from all over Microsoft and select reports that he thinks are worth reading for Gates to review. Employees at any level in various departments within Microsoft can submit reports and tell Gates their thoughts. In the "Thinking Week", Gates usually works by burying his head in reading the screened materials and technical suggestions, writing down his own ideas, thinking quietly, and finally making some important decisions that have a significant impact on the company's technical strategy.

On the day before the retreat, Gates arrived at the retreat by helicopter or seaplane-a seemingly ordinary two-story hut built by the water. Quiet and elegant around, orderly inside, a small bedroom for Gates' daily life.

What did Gates do during his seven days in this isolated villa? This used to be a top secret document of Microsoft. No one can know. In 2005, after several years of seclusion, Gates finally agreed to receive a reporter from the Wall Street Journal in a secluded place for the first time.

Through the observation of the invited reporters, we can get a glimpse of some whereabouts of Gates during the seven-day closed week in the spring of 2005.

The Quaker's name for Sunday

After waking up in the morning, Gates didn't get up, but stayed in bed to browse various reports of Microsoft engineers, senior managers and product managers, and scribbled some summaries on the cover of the reports. He often skips breakfast, puts on socks and rushes upstairs to continue reviewing reports. Only at lunch and dinner does he go downstairs and read the newspaper while eating. On this day, he seems to have worked for 24 hours and read dozens of reports, including the Book of Xenon, detailing the development plan of Xenon, Microsoft's next-generation game console, and the development strategy of Microsoft's game console business in the next 20 years, with a total thickness of 120 pages.

the next day

At night, Gates worked until midnight, feeling dizzy. When he was reading a report entitled Speech Synthesis, he began to read the words in the report, such as "angry", "boring" and "interesting". "It was already two o'clock in the morning, and I began to be a little silly." Gates said. As a rest, Gates will play online bridge games for five minutes every day.

the third day

On this day, Gates put on his shoes for the first time after he arrived, walked out of the hut and walked by the lake for half an hour. Nevertheless, he is actually thinking about technical problems in his mind.

The fourth day

Closed reading and thinking for a week will make Gates send out countless emails and comments. After reading the report, these ideas may be conveyed to dozens of Microsoft employees around the world by email. Gates worked until the wee hours. Read an article entitled "Can we get rid of network worms? After the report, he spread his thoughts on this worm report to many employees of Microsoft around the world. Early in the morning, Gates received an email from the Internet Worm Research Group in Cambridge, England.

By the fourth day, Gates had read 56 reports and worked 18 hours for several days. His highest record is reading 1 12 reports a week. In the evening, the sun gradually set on the other side of the lake, and Gates made up his mind to read 24 reports before going to bed. "I slept well, so I can work until two or three in the morning tonight." He said. In this way, by the end of the week, he can read 65,438+000 reports, send emails to hundreds of people, and hand over the closed weekly report to the senior management for research.

After the eighth day

After closing the door, Gates resumed his daily work. In the next few weeks, he held a series of meetings to spread his ideas to various departments of Microsoft during the closing period.

Don't pay attention to how Gates closed the door, but understand why Bill closed the door. A spokesman for Microsoft Research Asia said: "It doesn't matter which form you choose. The key is that you have to understand the true meaning of an action, which may be the real value. " "Closed for a week" is not so magical and should not be seen in isolation. It is only a reflection of Microsoft's overall organizational structure and a link in its operating mechanism. In fact, the spiritual connotation of "closed week" is driven by Microsoft's corporate culture, which is essentially to encourage and motivate Microsoft employees to investigate and study. Bill was able to brainstorm more comprehensively during the "closed door" period. "Closed Week" is in the same strain as Bill's previous organizational construction.

As every employee of Microsoft, they are particularly looking forward to "Closed Week". As long as they are willing, their reports may be sent to Bill and read carefully. "Closed Week" gives them a chance to become people who may affect Microsoft's future, and also makes them more aware of where Microsoft belongs.

Kai-fu Lee, Microsoft's global vice president, said: "Gates usually writes down his thoughts by reading the screened materials and technical suggestions, thinks quietly, and finally makes some important decisions that have a significant impact on the company's technical strategy."

Some people have commented that Gates's twice-yearly "behind closed doors" is of great significance, which will not only point out the direction for Microsoft's development prospects, but also outline the future of the entire technology industry. A week's painstaking cultivation can find several new fields for the technology industry, and also light a bright light for Microsoft to open a new market with a population of several million.

Burning endlessly.

Passion is an important personality that everyone who is eager to succeed should have. Nothing is closer to a life of hope than a life of passion. A passionate life can get you the best things.

"Passion Burning" —— The Story of Tang Jun

Dare to dream and constantly surpass is the secret of success for Tang Jun, general manager of Microsoft Global Technology Center. When Tang Jun left school, he just wanted to be a teacher, and later tried to start his own business. His goal is to constantly surpass himself. 65438-0992, after receiving his doctorate, Tang Jun started his own business and gained a lot in software, cultural brokerage and legal services. Karaoke scoring system is one of his entrepreneurial "works" and has been patented. He sold the patent to South Korea's Samsung Company for $80,000. Subsequently, he spent $3,000 to register three small companies. 1993, Tang Jun's software company developed a small game machine called "Find Friends" for SMS electronic game company in Osaka, Japan, which was similar to OICQ today and made a sensation. This led Microsoft to find Tang Jun and asked him to take charge of game development. And he has been thinking about why he can't make the company bigger like Bill Gates, even if he lives next door to Microsoft, he won't know the secret, so he decided to go to Microsoft to experience it himself. This has already been done.

1994 Tang Jun joined Microsoft as a senior manager of a development department, and successfully designed and developed several operating systems, including the simplified Chinese version of Windows, and became a recognized world-class expert in computer operating systems.

1997, with the approval of the headquarters, Tang Jun returned to Shanghai with the dream of building a technology center in Greater China. The headquarters is demanding that four managers can be sent from the US headquarters to China, but they must be recalled within one year. When the management system was initially established, four American managers were recalled to China.

At that time, there were many difficulties, but Tang Jun firmly believed that China had world-class talents, and he also firmly believed that he could make world-class achievements in China. So he began a hard interview and recruitment work, and turned his attention to colleges and universities. Today, Wang is the youngest department manager of the technology center, only 24 years old and just graduated for two years. The senior managers who manage 60 or 70 people have only graduated from college for four or five years.

Tang Jun advocates the values of heroism, and "pays attention to shaping the passionate culture." The China team he led quickly mobilized the US headquarters. Only half a year after its establishment, the operation index of the center has jumped to the top of the five technical support centers in the world. 1July, 1999, the center was upgraded to an Asian technology center, and in 20011October, Bill Gates personally unveiled it and announced that it was upgraded to a global technology center during the APEC meeting.

In the survey of college students' career intentions recently released by the Ministry of Education, Microsoft beat IBM and Procter & Gamble with indisputable advantages and became the first choice for college students. The Microsoft Global Technology Center in Shanghai will undoubtedly be the most important department for Microsoft to recruit college students.

Life needs to burn.

Tang Jun often tells his employees that nothing is more enjoyable and fulfilling for computer technicians than programming. But technical support is the savior of those enterprises whose information systems are on the verge of paralysis. "I told them that because of your work, the bank's information system can maintain normal operation, so that the company can smoothly reduce costs and maintain the process of obtaining higher profits and efficiency, and their customers also enjoy efficient services. So is the customs. These industries are the lifeblood of the country, and other industries also benefit from you. I told the staff that it is actually great to do technical support work! " This heroic value and the role of "savior" make these young people excited and become the eternal driving force to maintain the passionate culture.

Passion means the eternal motivation of life, and it means taking work as fun, not obligation. In this way, you will regard your work as a challenge and be full of enthusiasm and dedication to your work. With the enthusiasm and will to pursue success, the future can be perfect.

Passion means action. People who burn with enthusiasm have an immeasurable wealth, which can make up for the lack of other abilities. Some people may not have a good education, but if they have undiminished enthusiasm, they will not care about setbacks, but go forward bravely and the results will be better.

Passion is a catalyst, which will make you full of energy, give you a strong personality and focus on responding to specific goals.

Passion is a kind of power, inspiring oneself and others; It makes you full of strong curiosity about the unknown, it makes you fearless, brave in innovation, explore new fields and realize new life values.

We don't live by a time machine, but by our inner creativity and re-creativity. The vitality inspired by enthusiasm is not limited by the time system, which is just a timing method formulated by human beings according to their own meaning. No time machine can make people say, "Now, I am old, and I am near the end of my life." Although there are ups and downs in life, which may reduce your enthusiasm for life, you should know that this is temporary. As long as you take the right countermeasures with high morale and strong and normal passion, even if you have gone through a difficult mileage, you can still minimize the impact of hardship, get out of all the shadows of failure and move towards success.

The ability to face difficulties, failures, sadness and misfortune is to smile and never lose passion. This is the best performance of positive thinking. People who can achieve this state so successfully should also have firm confidence and belief in their hearts; We should learn how to solve problems with passion; Calm, never flustered, always thinking and discussing, looking for answers and solutions. For passionate people, a failure is only a basic point of a successful life; We should learn skills and experience from failure to strengthen our strength. If you can often overcome these difficulties when you are frustrated, then you can be stronger than before.

Burning themselves

Tang Jun likes pop music and playing basketball in his spare time. His favorite song is Love Like Tide, which is the reserved repertoire of the company party. Tang Jun also set up a "Explorer" basketball team. Every weekend, he must be present and sweat profusely. He is really cool. Tang Jun believes that a person's mental outlook is the first important. He likes people who are honest and have a positive attitude towards life. Only in this way can people really exert their talents in their work and have a positive impact on their colleagues.

To be a man with passion and passionate work is to keep enthusiasm and interest in everything and do everything best, which can help a person form a life of various interests, which can have an impact on most people with active thinking ability. It is not easy to get rid of cowardice and keep high enthusiasm at the same time. But as long as one is determined to do it, no matter how difficult it is, the result will greatly reduce the degree of cowardice. From a deeper level, enthusiasm is a kind of ability creation, which will not reduce vitality, but will promote the development of vitality more easily because of psychological and emotional stimulation.

The problem is that people are full of enthusiasm for a new plan at first, but after a while, that enthusiasm disappears and cools down. It seems that they can't keep that enthusiasm and keep working hard. It is indeed a common problem that a skilled and experienced person is often not excited. The solution to the problem is:

(1) The secret to changing a person's character is to adopt new ideas. This refers to the re-education of thinking methods, which should focus on enthusiasm. Changing the route of enthusiasm will only lighten the weight of enthusiasm, so we need to think in a new, rich and lively way. In due course, our minds will be able to accept the concept of never fading, and the application of this positive principle will lead to enthusiasm never fading.

(2) immediately mentally practice to see yourself as a completely different person, a completely new person. This new person will always keep the same shape: always lively, energetic and enterprising. We constantly imagine ourselves as such a person, and we will become such a person as a result.

(3) Use positive words. This method is suitable for those who are influenced by the use of corrective words, which can change their character. For example, if a person is suffering from mental stress, he may often mention such words as "tranquility", "peace" and "peace". Repetition of these words can easily reduce the concepts they represent. Therefore, in order to improve his enthusiasm, he takes some time out every day to say such things loudly: "wonderful", "powerful", "wonderful" and "wonderful". In fact, our subconscious will eventually accept these repeated hints.

(4) Finally, repeat one sentence every morning to effectively maintain your enthusiasm at a high level: "Today will be the best day; I will feel happy and be able to spend the day happily. " This sentence has changed many people from a passive state to a state of constant enthusiasm.

Burn others to death

Tang Jun's understanding of "Microsoft" is that everything starts from employees and is considered for employees, which is called "micro", so that every employee has an environment to display their talents and potential, which is called "soft". Two prerequisites for Tang Jun to recruit employees are: absolutely first-class professional quality and absolutely high IQ. High salary is not the most attractive for these people, and they can get the same treatment when they go to other companies. What they need is the embodiment of self-worth, continuous improvement and recognition. Therefore, as long as an employee performs well, Tang Jun will immediately give him the opportunity to promote him. This is why the center can reuse those employees who have just graduated for one year and let them manage subordinates much older than him.

Tang Jun always believes that people are the most precious wealth, and the greatest satisfaction of customers is the company's greatest wish. Within the company, employees are customers of the company, and the greatest satisfaction of employees is Tang Jun's greatest wish. Tang Jun's slogan is: "Employees are satisfied and customers will be satisfied." He said: "I can't ask my employees to keep smiling in a dissatisfied state to satisfy customers." Therefore, he insisted on interviewing every employee. The most important thing is to respect them and let them feel that there is no strict hierarchy in the center, some are the warmth of home, some are cooperation, passion and innovation.

Passion can inspire a person to take action. Not only that, it is also contagious and has an impact on people around it. We can't live by ourselves, but also develop the potential and dignity of others. There are no really useless people in the world, but their advantages have not been discovered for the time being. Everyone has his value. Don't judge a person by his appearance, but see his advantages and specialties, create an environment for him to give play to his advantages and specialties, stimulate his enthusiasm and creativity, give play to his talents and reflect his self-worth.

Passion can be invincible. You have no ability but passion, and you can bring talented people to you; You have no money, only passion. You can persuade others to respond to your dreams. You have nothing but passion, and you can get something for nothing, ignite the enthusiasm of others and work for the same goal.

Burn for others

"It is my duty to make you great" is a popular slogan in the technical center. What Tang Jun wants is this kind of team spirit and a virtuous circle. When an employee asks another employee for help, the former's request becomes the first consideration of the latter-he wants to stop what he is doing and work hard for the employee who asks for help. Therefore, in the technical center, employees have formed this atmosphere of putting the help of colleagues first, which is neither the mentality of "I will do my own thing first and then help you" nor the mutual slander. In the center, all non-technical departments, including administration department and human resources department, are the logistics team of employees. As soon as you enter the company, the company will design and formulate your personal career development plan for you. In the office environment, the company has a special restaurant and lounge. When the season changes, the company will consider providing umbrellas, clothes and bags ... these seemingly small things unite a team closely, free everyone from trivial things and devote themselves to their work.

In many companies, it may be a big problem to balance the conflict of interests of employees with high IQ, but it has become easy in Tang Jun's hands. He asked all employees to put the interests of the company first. Competition between departments is a taboo for the company. When two or more departments cooperate, the bad habit of fighting for the interests of the departments is prohibited. Moreover, employees are smart people who know what is best for the company, even if it will benefit one department more. Since departmental interests are subordinate to the interests of the company, personal interests must also be based on the realization of departmental interests. If an employee performs well, but the performance of his department is average, then it is difficult for him to get a reward.

The ideal leader is to get rid of his own selfishness and distractions, always think of others, be ready to help others, and help others realize their ideals and values.

Nothing can be completely accomplished by one person. We should be good at using the wisdom of others to help each other and form a team spirit of "your success is my success". Learn to envy others, not others; Learn to help others, not expose them; We should learn to deal with conflicts constructively instead of trying to avoid them. Learn to aim at your own quality, not at a position: in this way, you can look at yourself and others from a higher and broader perspective, ignite others' enthusiasm with your own enthusiasm, awaken others' sincerity with your own sincerity, encourage each other, form a joint force and succeed more effectively.