Microsoft Innovation

Dick Bass on Microsoft’s lack of Innovation

A critique from a former Microsoft VP about Microsoft issues with innovation shows that even with huge resources, talented people, and world class research, cultural roadblocks and internal competition can severely impede successful delivery of innovation.

Official Microsoft Response

Surprisingly, as John Gruber noted, Microsoft officially responded without refuting any of the points made. Their main arguments are that their objective is success on a large scale, that it is difficult, and it takes time sound like excuses that don’t give you the feeling that the problems are going to be addressed.

Scott Berkun former Microsoft manager and Innovation Author

Good to see Scott Berkun offering his opinion on Microsoft creative destruction since after all he has the background to speak authoritatively on the subject of Microsoft and innovation. His list of reasons for the problems:

Design by Committee

Design by management rank

Management bureaucracy

Lack of accountability of unprofitable divisions

Not learning from failures (innovation can not be done without risking failure but it is important to learn from it)

The key thing here is not to bash Microsoft – they have had some successes too – but to highlight issues that could be holding your organization back from innovative market success.