By the time Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he inherited one of the largest technology companies in the world. But despite Microsoft’s success, Nadella believed the company needed a different mindset to stay ahead for long.He believed that people should not feel that they know everything and instead, they should be encouraged to stay curious, ask questions and continue to learn.“We need to go from knowing everyone to learning everything,” Nadella said as he described the culture he wanted to build at Microsoft.“If you take two children to school, one of them has more innate ability, but is a knower. The other person has less innate ability, but is a learner. “Learning everything is better than knowing everything,” Nadella said in 2019 on the Hello Monday podcast.More than a decade after becoming CEO, Nadella’s philosophy to learn everything remains one of the ideas most closely associated with his leadership. He led Microsoft’s transformation into one of the world’s most valuable technology companies and continues to shape how the company approaches artificial intelligence.
Curiosity doesn’t kill cats
For Nadella, being a learner is not about knowing less. It’s about accepting that no one has all the answers, especially in an industry as rapidly changing as technology.The Microsoft CEO has often said that curiosity helps people adapt, solve problems and discover better ideas. Nadella believes that employees who continue to learn are more likely to grow with changing technologies and will not be left behind.The philosophy still stands, especially with artificial intelligence transforming workplaces and many people feeling threatened by it. AI tools are changing the way we write, code, analyze data and make decisions. In such an environment, learning new skills can be more important than relying solely on experience.
The book that influenced his thinking
Nadella credited psychologist Carol Dweck’s work on the “growth mindset” as his inspiration and catalyst for that leadership style. According to Dweck, skills are never fixed and can be improved with effort, learning and persistence. Dweck makes the case that successful people in business, sports and the arts started out rather ordinary, but believed they could learn and improve.The philosophy also finds a place in Nadella’s 2017 book Hit Refresh. In the book, he describes how embracing a growth mindset helped change Microsoft’s culture after years of internal competition within the company.He wrote: “The heart of our business must be curiosity and the desire to meet unarticulated and unsatisfied customer needs with great technology.”
A success notice
Nadella also warned that success can sometimes become an obstacle if people stop learning after reaching a certain level.“Success can cause people to unlearn the habits that made them successful in the first place,” he said, reminding professionals that staying curious is often more valuable than becoming comfortable.
