4 ms·
Sinofsky is really good at running Windows & Office, but is he the right guy to successfully expand beyond that? MS is getting its butt kicked in mobile, social
by swilliams 15y ago
Sinofsky is really good at running Windows & Office, but is he the right guy to successfully expand beyond that? MS is getting its butt kicked in mobile, social, and consumer electronics, all of which Sinofsky doesn't have direct experience.
- redthrowaway 15y agoGates didn't have direct experience in any of the areas Microsoft ended up dominating. In the end, the CEO's role is more visionary than mentor. His job is to guide, not to teach. A good CEO can make smart choices about technologies with which he's unfamiliar, if he has a vision in mind. Compare Sculley and Jobs in their approach to Apple: neither was technologically gifted, but Sculley relied on the engineers to dictate direction, whereas Jobs (mk II) dictated direction to the engineers. The point is that a CEO need not be Gates: he need not have an intimate knowledge of the technology, so long as he has a clear and accurate vision of its future.
- varikin 15y agoAlso, it doesn't have to be the CEO with the vision. The CEO can, in the scenario, find and back up someone else with the vision.