“Our goal is to integrate all of the ways we contact each other in a single environment, using a single identity that spans phones, PCs and other devices. Our vision is to make it easy for people to reach each other using the mode of communication that is the most productive, on the device that is most convenient, while at the same time providing individuals with the highest levels of control over when and how they can be reached, and by whom.”
Bill Gates is still the richest man in the world (by an even greater margin since Buffet gave him most of his money!), and continues to drive forward towards the New World of Work.
This goal and vision are interesting for those of us excited by the trends and directions of our future… just imagine being able to identify the person that you want to communicate with, then select the most appropriate medium of communication for the outcomes that you hope to achieve from that interaction. And with the weight of Microsoft behind such a project, it might just happen… even if it’ll be filled with bugs and security concerns. Strangely enough though, that there are security bugs is almost reassuring at times – just imagine if the whole system really was watertight how much more dangerous it could be. I find the structure even more interesting though…
Designing our lives is as complex as designing the strategy for a major corporation – and far more important. We are each gifted with a range of talents, skills and abilities that are uniquely suited to pursuing our personal objectives and fulfilling a purpose. Yet how to we ascertain the direction we ought pursue? How do we remove the limitations of our beliefs so that we can consider what we really should be doing, rather than hiding from our greatest strengths? If you know that you would love to be a musician, but you are scared, you could just as easily end up as a mathematician or as a doctor. It’s not to say that being a musician is any greater than being a doctor – the issue, to me, is about being true to yourself… the great challenge that lies before us remains to ‘know thyself’.
We need to set goals and create for ourself a vision – for without vision, the people perish. Yet to capture a vision for our future and express our goals for manifesting that vision remains one of our greatest challenges, as individuals, as nations and as humanity. What is your vision? What are your goals?
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