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Bill Gates |
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Quotes, Insights
Insights from the founder of
Microsoft |
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Quotes
Authors |
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Success ,
Achievement
I like my job because it involves
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learning. I like
being around smart people who are trying to figure out new things. I
like the fact that if people really try they can figure out how to
invent things that actually have an impact.
Intelligence is an elusive concept. There's a certain sharpness, an
ability to absorb new facts. To walk into a situation, have something
explained to you and immediately say, "Well, what about this?" To ask an
insightful
question. To absorb it in real time. A capacity to remember. To
relate to domains that may not seem connected at first. A certain
creativity that allows
people to be effective.
Capitalism is this wonderful thing that
motivates people, it causes
wonderful inventions to be done.
If I had to say what is the thing that I feel best about, it's
being involved in this whole software revolution and what comes out of
that, because you can go all over the world and go into schools and see
these computers being used and go into hospitals and see them being
used, and see how they're tools for sharing information that hopefully
leads to more peaceful conditions, and just the great research advances
that come out of that.
Creating
Customer Value
We're focused on providing
innovations in software, driving
the
continuous improvement for a much
better experience, and there's a lot going on here that speaks to this
decade and what's going to happen in this decade. We can kind of sum it
up in terms of saying, "Yes, you can."
Every day were saying, 'How can we
keep this customer happy?' How can we
get ahead in
innovation by doing this, because if we don't, somebody
else will.
You need to know about
customer feedback
that says things should be better.
Your most unhappy
customers are your
greatest
source of learning.
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Business Success
When Paul Allen and I started
Microsoft over 30 years ago, we had
big dreams about software. We had dreams about
the impact it could have. We talked
about a computer on every desk and in every home. It's been amazing to
see so much of that
dream become a reality and touch so many lives. I never
imagined what an incredible and important company would spring from
those original ideas.
Of my mental cycles, I devote maybe ten
percent to business
thinking.
Business
isn't that complicated. I wouldn't want to put it on my business card.
Information technology and business are becoming inextricably
interwoven. I don't think anybody can talk meaningfully about one
without talking about
the other.
Virtually everything in business today is an
undifferentiated
commodity, except how a company manages its information. How you manage
information determines whether you
win
or lose. How you use information may be the one factor that determines
its failure or success – or runaway success.
The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation
applied to an efficient operation will magnify the
efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient
operation will magnify the inefficiency.
We always overestimate the
change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the
change that will occur in the next ten.
Don't let
yourself be lulled into
inaction.
Don't make the same
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decision twice. Spend time and thought to
make a solid decision the first time so that you don't revisit the
issue unnecessarily. If you're too willing to reopen issues, it
interferes not only with your execution but also with your
motivation
to make a decision in the first place. After all, why bother deciding an
issue if it isn't really decided?
We are living in a phenomenal age. If we can spend the early decades of
the 21st century finding approaches that meet the needs of the poor in
ways that
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generate profits
and recognition for business, we will have
found a sustainable way to reduce poverty in the world.
People Power
Leaders
are those who
empower others.
>>>
Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people
involved.
If you give people tools, [and they use] their natural ability and their
curiosity, they will develop things in ways that will
surprise
you very much beyond what you might have expected.
I believe that if you show people the
problems and you show them the
solutions they will be moved to act.
You've got to give great tools to small
teams. Pick good people, use
small
teams,
give them excellent tools... so that they are very
productive in terms of what they are doing.
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William
Henry "Bill" Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate,
philanthropist, author and chairman of
Microsoft,
the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among
the world's wealthiest people. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the
positions of CEO and
chief software architect, and remains the largest
individual shareholder. He has also authored or co-authored several books. |
Gates is one of the best-known entrepreneurs of the personal computer
revolution. In the later stages of his career, Gates has pursued a number of
philanthropic endeavors, donating large amounts of money to various charitable
organizations and scientific research programs through the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, established in 2000. |
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