Chapter 24 Never afraid to start all over again

For me, a core competency that is extremely valuable at any point in life is not being afraid to start all over again. Whether I had nothing when I was a student, or now as a top professional manager, president, and CEO, I dare to put everything aside and start from scratch.I can shut down three small and successful companies and enter Microsoft, starting from the grassroots; or I can choose to leave Microsoft and join Shanda after working hard for 10 years from a software engineer to the top leader of Microsoft China. Every seemingly low starting point is the only way to a higher peak.There is no achievement that cannot be let go at any time.This kind of mentality can make people go anywhere.

"I want to see Gates after the interview" One day in mid-October 1994, I was in Los Angeles and received an interview notice from Microsoft headquarters. Earlier, Microsoft Japan told the people at the headquarters that my Japanese is very good.In order to test me, the people at the headquarters faxed two pages of Windows NT software manuals in English and asked me to translate them in Japanese.In less than half an hour, I faxed the translated instructions.A department manager called me and said, "I don't understand a word of your translation, but I showed it to a Japanese colleague who works at Microsoft, and he said that this translation can be used as another version of the instruction manual. Use. So I congratulate you very much for being able to come to the interview."

I set off for Seattle, where Microsoft is headquartered.Arriving at the airport in Los Angeles, according to the introduction of the interview notice, I showed my ID card and reported the name of Microsoft, and the airport immediately issued a ticket to me, and the process only took 5 minutes.After getting off the plane, I found a car rental place at the first exit as instructed.Following the same procedures, I quickly got the car keys and drove straight to the hotel designated by Microsoft to rest.All the arrangements of Microsoft are standardized and meticulous. It is worthy of being a world-class big company. I am both impressed by it and a little uneasy.

Early the next morning, I took the map attached to the notice and drove to Microsoft headquarters.When I was driving, I couldn't help but think of the scene where I had a good conversation with Bill Gates after I joined Microsoft, and I couldn't help laughing.Entering the Microsoft headquarters, I saw that it covers an area as large as a small city. The 15 office buildings are distributed among the shaded green spaces. Tens of thousands of employees are working in their respective positions. There are cars parked everywhere, and there are also buses shuttling among them. Everything is in order...

In the dedicated building for HR, the hiring manager and I exchanged pleasantries and lighthearted conversations.Then he gave me an interview schedule. The interview was from 9 am to 5 pm. Except for the one-hour lunch and break at noon, there was one interviewer per hour, and there were 8 interviews in total.I was a little dizzy, wondering if this was hiring a software engineer, or trying to test my fitness level.But I have more important things to say, so I didn't question this unheard of weird interview method face to face.