buildingray

I really enjoyed Mitchell Ashley’s post in Network World titled Ozzie, You Must Transform Microsoft. Mary Jo Foley’s recent book, Microsoft 2.0, take a thorough look at some of the challenges that lay ahead for Microsoft but in a few short paragraphs I think Mitchell does a pretty solid job. The man tasked with many of those challenges is Ray Ozzie. I’ve talked about Ray before on this blog and though I’ve not had much experience of seeing Ray up close, I can make some inferences about his approach – in short, he seems considered, hyperbole-free, and respectful. Some would sat slow but the picture above from Wired tells it’s own story. Re-engineering isn’t the work of a moment.

The respectful part is highlighted very well in this 2006 piece from Fortune that shows Ray’s deference to Bill Gates. As you will no doubt have seen from this blanket press coverage over the last few weeks, Bill has stepped down from full time Microsoft work. Will this mean Ray comes more to the fore? In public I hope so but I’m not sure he will (we’ll see him next at the PDC) but internally I suspect Ray’s influence will become more apparent as the services era takes hold. As Mitchell points out, Mesh has Ozzie’s fingerprints all over it and though I can’t really tell you more, that’s just the start. Look back at some of Ray’s presentations over the last few years to see how the pieces are coming together.

This isn’t to say Ray Ozzie is single-handedly going to drive the changes that will be needed to move Microsoft forward – there are lots of others who will make that happen – but at the end of the day, Microsoft is a software company and Ray Ozzie is the Chief Software Architect. Much is expected of him internally and externally.

I’m optimistic – though you could argue I have to be. I sense this quiet man who is building the jigsaw piece by piece will address a good number of the challenges outlined in Mitchell’s post. I’m impressed by the team he’s go around him too and Bill Gates himself recently remarked on this in his Channel 9 interview with Charles Torre.

Great leaders build great teams and great loyalty from those teams. I sense a deep loyalty from Ray’s group and whilst that’s not an immediate recipe for success, there is something else they do more than many – they start with an outside in focus. In re-engineering, that may well be the big change that is needed.