Review: Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone

Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Satya Nadella
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a story about how Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft sought to change Microsoft’s culture and rediscover it’s soul. It makes for interesting reading, especially with his emphasis on empathy being the bedrock of his thinking – trying to move public perception of Microsoft being a big uncaring giant falling behind competitors like Apple, to a more forward-looking organisation which invests in research, it’s people and it’s culture.

The culture change which Satya talks about does come across as real and significant especially if you have a close view of the industry. He talks of his learnings of empathy from his personal life (with a child with special needs) and the progression of his thoughts and plans for Microsoft. While the theme of empathy seems to repeat too often through the pages, it is certainly an important one – especially for large organisations.

The other theme is one of a collaborative ecosystem – working together with competitors where necessary. The discussion around privacy in the later part of the book (where Microsoft stood on the same side as Apple) makes for interesting reading. And there is the episode he describes where he walks onto the stage at an event holding an iPhone (he does soften the blow by saying most of the applications on the phone were from Microsoft!). Microsoft’s new approach to how it deals with it’s competitors, is now seeing it develop more and more solutions which run on iOS and Android.

I wish there was more material on how he sees Artificial Intelligence will pervade our personal lives and businesses. While there is a bit of that, it is mostly public knowledge. It would have also been good to read more about his earlier years in Microsoft.

Overall, a book I liked for it’s simplicity and especially the values it emphasises.


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Review: The Wife Between Us

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I took up this novel after reading a number of other reviews. While the writing is very good, and so is the story, my rating is not as high as many of the other reviewers. The pace is really quite slow till about the middle of the book, after which the story progresses pretty well.

This is a domestic drama + thriller and the story revolves around 3 primary characters – Richard, Vanessa & Emma. Vanessa and Richard are separated, and Richard is all set to marry Emma. This is something Vanessa finds very difficult to take and she is obsessed with doing something about it.
It is a little difficult to get into any further details without spoilers, and hence I will avoid that.

However, there are a number of aspects of all the three characters which are revealed gradually, and there are twists as you move along.

Overall, well worth a read for it’s story and writing, and yet – would have been great if the pace had been better.


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