Book Review - Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella

My biggest take away from Hit Refresh is (I am paraphrasing here) ‘Change must come from within.’

Personally, I have been amazed at the transition of Microsoft from Evil Software Enterprise to Effective Open Source Contributor. The company’s actions have spoken louder than their words. While some business units have made a faster transition than others - the general direction is clear.

Early on in the book, I found myself reflecting that most of his words apply to personal change, not just change within an organization.

“Every person, organization, and even society reaches a point at which they owe it to themselves to hit refresh—to reenergize, renew, reframe, and rethink their purpose.” – Satya Nadella, Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone

With all the transitions going on in my personal and professional life, this stuck with me.

The later chapters progressed to more of a global level, perhaps one I am not ready for. It is tough for me to think about how my actions can change a person’s outlook on the other side of the world. At this point, I’ll settle to change a person’s outlook on the other side of the building.

If I was posting this to Amazon I would put it at 4.5 stars. While I feel the over feel was right on target, there were portions I felt were augmented by the Microsoft marketing department. In general, it is clear that Satya has a vision that is bigger than Microsoft, that the adoption of technology from any source, will lift all technology.

Additional Reading

Official Site - Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella

Written on April 7, 2018