Life Lessons25

William Gates

“Humanity’s greatest advances are not in its discoveries, but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity.”  – Bill Gates

Passion, intensity, and tenacity.That’s one way to describe Bill Gates. Bill Gates is a visionary that makes things happen by creating systems bigger than himself and inspiring people to join him on epic adventures to change the world.  He’s not a seeker of fame or a seeker of fortune, although he has both.  He’s a maker of impact.  Technology is his way, and reducing inequities in the world is his game. Bill is full of lessons and insights.  Here are 25 lessons we can take from the pages of his playbook:

Lesson 1 : Change the world, or go home. Not only does that phrase capture the spirit of thousands of Softies … it speaks to the way Bill Gates drives his life.  He lives to build a better world, whether it’s one version, one platform, one system, one idea, one cause, one innovation at a time.  The beauty is, he knows how to scale and amplify his impact in powerful ways – he’s on top of his game.

Lesson 2 : Blaze the trail.  The path isn’t always there.  Sometimes you have to make it.  Sometimes people will think you’re crazy.   Sometimes you are just ahead of the curve. Bill Gates believed that the personal computer was the future and that there should be one on every desktop and in the living room and it would change the way we work and how we live in unimaginable ways.

Lesson 3 : Make an impact. Drive from impact.  Bill Gates makes choices based on impact.  Whether it’s following his passion or investing in a cause, he drives from making impact.  He doesn’t just do things because he can.  He does things because they matter and he can make them scale.

Lesson 4 : Humanities greatest advances are the ones that level the playing field. Bill Gates has a strong belief that “All lives have equal value.” Help those that can’t help themselves.   Everybody deserves a chance at their best life.  Lift the underdogs of the world up. 

Lesson 5 : A sense of urgency. The world changes fast.  The market changes faster.  Bill says, “In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone.”

Lesson 6 : The market doesn’t always drive the right things. In one of his powerful TED talks, Bill says, “That is the market does not drive the scientists, the communicators, the thinkers, the government to do the right things.  And only by paying attention to these things, and having brilliant people who care and draw other people in, can we make as much progress as we need to.” 

Lesson 7 : Live your values. When you let the world know what you’re about, you become a lightening rod and you attract people with the same values.  At Microsoft, Bill Gates attracted people with a passion for changing the world and joining him on a journey to help create better lives through technology and innovation. 

Lesson 8 : Your best gets better with the right people. Bill Gates built a culture of the best and brightest and was good at convincing his friends, such as Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer to join him on his adventures.  By surrounding himself with smart people, Bill was able to scale. Bill also knows how to complement his strengths by having the right people around that make up for his weaknesses.

Lesson 9 : Innovation is the heart and soul of a business. To stay ahead of the game, or even to stay in the game, you have to keep innovating: innovate in your products, innovate in your process, innovate in the markets, etc.  Bill Gates uses innovation as a way to drive impact whether it’s shaping software or saving the planet.

Lesson 10 : Be the platform.Be the platform people can build on.  See the role that you play in building something that let’s other people build on what you do best.

Lesson 11 : Build a better system.There is always a system, whether it’s at the micro-level or the macro level.  The system has inputs and outputs, cycles, and levers.  Whether you’re creating the system or leveraging the system, you’re more effective when you realize that there is a system.

Lesson 12 : Build an ecosystem.  Bill says, “Personal computing today is a rich ecosystem encompassing massive PC-based data centers, notebook and Tablet PCs, handheld devices, and smart cell phones. It has expanded from the desktop and the data center to wherever people need it — at their desks, in a meeting, on the road or even in the air.” 

Lesson 13 : Know how to turn the crank.Take action. Execute. The problem isn’t a shortage of ideas, it’s execution.  Lots of people have ideas. There is an overload of ideas.  The real gap is bringing ideas to market in a way that matters. The secret sauce is ruthless prioritization of the ideas that make the most impact.

Lesson 14 : Take Care of Your People. Bill Gates says, “Great organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people involved.” He set a powerful example of taking care of employees, from private offices for developers to creating a workplace of extreme empowerment, engagement, and passion.

Lesson 15 : Divide and conquer the problem.   Whether it’s slicing the problem into versions over time, or simply taking the most meaningful or highest ROI (Return On Investment) pieces of the problem and tackling them first, you can make progress on the worst of problems or the best of opportunities.  No problem withstands sustained, focused effort that learns and improves over time.

Lesson 16 : Improving your odds doesn’t guarantee success. One of Bill’s stories during his speech at Harvard is how he learned this lesson: “Radcliff was a great place to live.  There were more women up there and most of the guys were mad science types.  The combination offered me the best odds if you know what I mean.”

Lesson 17 : You don’t have to be first to win.  Bill says, “Microsoft has had its success by doing low-cost products and constantly improving those products and we’ve really redefined the IT industry to be something that’s about a tool for individuals.”

Lesson 18 : The toughest feedback to hear, is the feedback you need the most.  Bill says, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” Bill also says, “You’ve got to want to be in this incredible feedback loop where you get the world-class people to tell you what you’re doing wrong.”

Lesson 19 : Business and technology go hand in hand.We’re truly living a knowledge worker world, where information technology is front and center.  Bill says, “It’s pretty incredible to look back 30 years to when Microsoft was starting and realize how work has been transformed. We’re finally getting close to what I call the digital work-style.”

Lesson 20 : Frame the problem.It’s about choosing what to focus on, what’s in and what’s out.  When you frame the problem, you bound it.  Framing also helps you get a better perspective on the problem, as well as share the problem more effectively with others. 

Lesson 21 : Celebrate success, but learn from failure. Don’t repeat the same mistakes and don’t wallow in your wins.  Bill says, “It’s fine to celebrate success but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure.”

Lesson 22 : Technology is just a tool. Don’t lose sight of the end in mind or the difference that makes the difference.  Bill says, “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”

Lesson 23 : Don’t automate inefficiency. Make sure something actually makes sense to automate, otherwise you compound the problem.  Bill says, “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.”

Lesson 24 : Empower people. Put the right information into the hands of the people that can make the most of it.  Bill says, ““The vision is really about empowering workers, giving them all the information about what’s going on so they can do a lot more than they’ve done in the past.”

Lesson 25 : Go digital.Connect people, process, and technology.  Bill says, “One of the wonderful things about the information highway is that virtual equity is far easier to achieve than real-world equity…We are all created equal in the virtual world and we can use this equality to help address some of the sociological problems that society has yet to solve in the physical world.”

Bill Gates was a guy with all the money in the world, yet he showed up every day to change the world.  Rather than just retire and play with his money, he focuses his time, energy, and resources on making a better world. Who better to learn some lessons for life, than from a master of the game of life?  With that in mind, let’s see what lessons we can borrow from Bill Gates’ playbook and apply any of them to your life.

Thank You Very MuchSompong Yusoontorn

“If you can’t make it good, at least make it look good.”