Chapter 29 From One to Three: The Realm of Execution

The Windows development model I changed is what Microsoft will continue to follow for perhaps decades.If I don't go through this method, but follow the rules and be a technician, I definitely have no chance of success.Why do I say that Tang Jun's success can be replicated, and can be replicated in an enhanced way?It is because my method can be learned by everyone. My technology was the bottom one at Microsoft at the time, and I was not promoted because of technology, nor was I promoted because of creativity.There were many people before me with suggestions and ideas, but I was the only one who did it.This is the executive power that is very emphasized in the enterprise.It is precisely because of this execution ability that I have been recognized by the company and thus have a bigger platform to realize my ambition.

At Microsoft, my ability to execute has always been strong.When I became the president of Microsoft China, the headquarters told me what kind of strategy to implement in China, and I usually make bigger things based on this strategy.I have achieved such a state of execution: When many people talk about execution, they mean that if you are asked to do one, you can do one well, but I mean that I can do two and three if I ask me to do one.This is where I feel I have been most successful at Microsoft. The multiple meanings of innovation In China today, everyone is keen to talk about innovation.Because people have realized that the next step of China's development needs to change "Made in China" into "Created in China" through innovation.Only in this way can China become a real economic power.But many Chinese people have a misunderstanding, it seems that only technological breakthroughs are called innovations.In fact, innovation has multiple meanings. It not only refers to technological innovation, but also includes application innovation, business model innovation, and management model innovation.

In today's highly sophisticated technological society, breakthrough technological innovations have become quite rare.If our Chinese enterprises do not make long-term technological investment, it will be very difficult to achieve true technological innovation.In fact, we need to study the market and demand more seriously, and strive for more innovations in market applications and business models. Microsoft's success is the success of the business model from the beginning.Mr. Gates did not sell the entire product of his MS-DOS operating system to IBM as I did, but only sold the right to use this product, so that he can gain long-term benefits from the other party.This is Microsoft's success in business model innovation.

I proposed a new model for the development of internationalized versions of the Windows operating system. This innovation saves Microsoft hundreds of millions of dollars in costs every year, and more importantly, it greatly strengthens Microsoft's market competitiveness.Although this innovation is related to technology, it is not dominated by technology.therefore, True innovation must be based on the understanding of the market and the observation of customer feedback. The developed products must adapt to the market, and the proposed models must be able to solve practical problems.In this, technology is only a means of realization.

Form your first team at Microsoft The first step in building a team is hiring.Because the members of this team are required to be very familiar with the development of the Windows operating system, most of the people I recruit are from within the company.My recruitment principle is very simple, as long as the technology is good, it is the person I want. At this point, I was very familiar with Microsoft's interview process.In the second month of entering Microsoft, I began to participate in the interview of new employees.When the software development department wants to recruit new people, I will often receive email notifications for interviews.Microsoft's interview does not stipulate what can and cannot be asked, as long as it does not involve personal privacy.Whether it is a professional technical issue, or a question about society, culture, art and daily life, it covers everything and everything.There is no limit to the difficulty of the questions.Microsoft's standard is that the interviewer thinks it is suitable.

Manhole cover of classic interview questions There is a widely circulated classic question among Microsoft interview questions: Why are manhole covers round?The original creator is me.Someone said: What a boring question!Really boring.Because I was interviewing others at the Microsoft headquarters at that time, I couldn't think of a better question, so I came up with this question to test Americans. I grew up in a small city in Jiangsu, and I often saw people opening manhole covers to drain water during the yellow plum season.So I asked my father why manhole covers are round.My dad's answer was: "From an aesthetic point of view, a circle is the simplest beauty, so people design the manhole cover to be round." But when I was young, I thought the square was more beautiful, so I asked a professional next door People, he is a construction worker.He said: "This couldn't be simpler. From a mechanical point of view, what is the easiest to move? It must be round."

In fact, there is no standard answer to this question.Most of the time, my interviews don't focus on the results of the problems, but on the examinee's ability to analyze and deal with the problems, and whether he can enjoy the fun of the problem-solving process. How to make more than 3,000 engineers in the Windows department of the headquarters come to program according to my development mode, this is a very simple thing in theory, but quite troublesome in operation.Each module must be modified according to a unified pattern, just like a complex machine, if one part does not match, the machine will not work.As long as one person does not follow the requirements, the project cannot proceed.Accomplishing this task again demonstrates the importance of execution.

In order to convince these engineers, my team and I have done a lot of work, distributing written materials of the new model to them one by one, and organizing classes and promotions for them by department.But even so, engineers often forget to write according to the new mode when they come to write programs.After a period of time, the member of my team responsible for testing reported to me that about 1/3 of the modules were not successful.After all, the traditional development model has been done for a long time, and it is not easy to change it in a short time. Execution depends on diligence.So then I came up with the idea of ​​a little sticky board.I summarized the main content of the new model into a concise "Five Items of Tang's Development Model", and posted it next to each engineer's computer in the form of a memo.The effect of this is obvious.

And I will also mobilize my staff to check regularly.I assigned more than 3,000 engineers to each employee (including myself), and each person was in charge of about 150 offices. After two days of walking, I saw that the note next to the computer fell off and reattached it. For those engineers who often do not follow the requirements, we called them into a meeting and told them very patiently: After our tests, these few modules of yours are not doing well enough, and we want to know if there are any details that we have not explained enough clearly understand.These engineers were moved and felt that we were taking things too seriously, so they would naturally cooperate well.Under this diligent and serious team spirit, my team successfully completed the development mode conversion of the entire operating system of Windows NT version 3.51.

When Windows NT 3.51 came out, I emailed Gates.I attached his previous reply letter above, and I wrote: "Thank you for encouraging me to find a good way of working. Through the joint development of colleagues in the department, we have made the first version of Windows that is universal in Microsoft history. NT operating system. For Microsoft, this is a milestone version. For me, this version is also of great significance. My technical solution can be adopted by Microsoft, which makes me extremely excited. Thanks to Microsoft for giving me such a Opportunity, let me realize my value." Gates said in reply: "I heard about your achievements. You put forward a very good idea, especially this idea can be realized smoothly, I am very happy .This release is a very good milestone in every sense. Keep up the good work. Thank you for your contribution to Microsoft." Still a short letter, but it impressed me.

It is not only Gates' affirmation that makes me feel the joy of success strongly.When I was the department manager of Windows NT at the Microsoft headquarters, I presided over the design and development of Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions of Windows NT 3.51, NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 Far East. The final releases of these versions were all signed by me. .At that moment, I felt that I was so great, because the software I made was used by so many people all over the world!