When I ran software companies in the late 1990s, my peers and I both hoped for, and dreaded, meetings with Microsoft.

上世纪90年代末，当我掌管软件企业的时候，我的同行和我一方面希望与微软(Microsoft)会面，另一方面又害怕与它会面。

The prospect of being acquired and making real money — that was tempting. But little fame and glory would follow. Chances were high that the technology would be bought in order to kill it; partnering and collaboration were decidedly and pointedly not the name of the game.

被收购，挣到真金白银——这样的前景十分诱人。然而，接下来不会有什么名誉和荣耀。很可能发生的情况是，微软收购该技术的目的，就是为了将其扼杀；合伙与合作明摆着是不存在的。

How things have changed.

今非昔比了。

Since chief executive Satya Nadella was appointed in February 2014, Microsoft has become a far more open place. Many in the tech world thought the sky had fallen in when Kirk Koenigsbauer, vice-president of Microsoft’s Office 365, appeared on stage at an Apple product launch. But that was indicative of a whole new mindset: instead of trying to eliminate every other tech company on the planet, these days Microsoft wants friends. Partnerships abound: Dropbox hosts billions of Office 365 documents, while Skype and Salesforce are integrated into Office productivity apps.

自2014年2月萨蒂亚•纳德拉(Satya Nadella)被任命为首席执行官以来，微软已变得开放多了。当微软Office 365的副总裁柯克•柯尼希斯鲍尔(Kirk Koenigsbauer)出现在苹果(Apple)产品推介会的舞台上时，技术圈的很多人都感觉太阳打西边出来了。不过，这显示了一种全新的思维：如今，微软不再试图消灭地球上其他每一个高科技企业，它也想结交朋友了。微软与许多企业达成了合作：Dropbox上存有大量Office 365的文档，而Skype和Salesforce也被集成进了Office的效率应用。

Acquisitions are done differently too. Where acquired businesses were once shut down, now they are tapped for wisdom and insight. Founders of acquired companies are taken seriously as entrepreneurs, their views canvassed not just about Microsoft’s products but about its culture too. Where once founders were deemed a threat, now their position as entrepreneurial outsiders is seen as an asset, an opportunity to learn and to refresh both culture and know-how.

完成收购的方式也不同了。微软曾经把收购来的企业关闭，如今却会利用这些企业的智慧和洞察力。微软把被收购企业的创始人当做创业家认真对待，不仅征询他们对微软产品的看法，还征询他们对微软企业文化的看法。微软曾经将这些企业创始人视为威胁，如今将他们作为外部创业者的立场视为一份财富，认为有机会从中学到东西、更新企业文化和相关专业技术。

Anyone who has been part of an acquisition knows that, however strategic such moves may be, what makes them succeed or fail is how well the two cultures fit. So most companies insist that the newcomer conforms to the ways of its acquirer. Microsoft’s approach is both harder and potentially richer: recognising in its acquisitions the opportunity to reinvigorate itself and its place in the world.

任何参与过收购的人都知道，不论这种举动有怎样的战略意义，结果成功与否都取决于两者的企业文化是否匹配。因此，多数企业坚持让被并购的新来者遵从收购方的行为方式。微软的处理方法则更困难一些，可能也会带来更多回报：它在其收购交易中发现为自身重注活力和提振自己全球地位的机会。

You could say that the cultural transformation at Microsoft has replaced fortress walls with a porous membrane: a dynamic relationship between the company and the markets it serves, because that is the only way companies stay young and relevant.

可以说，微软的文化转型是用透气的薄膜代替了城墙，这个透气的薄膜就是微软与其所服务市场间的动态关系。微软这么做的原因是，这是企业保持青春和市场地位的唯一方式。

Most companies I know today are attempting something similar. Daunted by the pace of change, they are trying to become more adaptive: less obsessed with planning, more concerned with flexibility. At Microsoft, this is framed as a shift from a fixed mindset — one that depends on a few superstars — to a growth mindset, in which everyone must be open to learning from everything and from each other.

如今，我了解的多数企业都在试图采取类似做法。变革的节奏之快令他们害怕，他们试图提高适应能力：不再那么执着于规划，而是更关心灵活性。在微软，这种做法被表述为从固定式理念转向增长式理念。固定式理念依赖于少数几位超级巨星，而在增长式理念下，每个人都必须愿意从任何事物和彼此身上学习。

This shift is in line with Mr Nadella’s overall strategy: one in which all technology moves to the cloud and works seamlessly with any and every kind of software. To be a company that can do this requires people who can work effectively with all kinds of technology and all kinds of people. So the company has to be inclusive — both technologically and culturally. And because the technology environment changes at a furious pace, people must be able to do likewise.

这一转变符合纳德拉的总体战略：按照该战略，所有技术都要转向云端，与任何一种软件都能无缝协作。要成为能做到这一点的企业，需要能够与各种各样的技术和人有效协作的人才。因此，微软必须具有包容性——不论是在技术上还是在企业文化上。而且，由于整个科技大环境正在急速转变，人也必须能够迅速地改变自己。

“Transformation has to start with you,” says Michel Van der Bel, chief executive of Microsoft UK, argues.

微软英国首席执行官米海尔•范德贝尔(Michel Van der Bel)声称：“转型必须从自身开始。”

In the past, Mr Van der Bel told me, performance was all about numbers. If the numbers were great, only at the end of a good third quarter might you start thinking about corporate culture.

过去，范德贝尔曾告诉我，业绩只与数字有关。如果数字表现优异，只有在业绩良好的第三季度末，人们可能才会开始考虑企业文化的问题。

But not now. “Now,” he says, “you have to perform and transform at the same time, all the time. Sitting in your office looking at spreadsheets won’t help you meet your numbers. You have to get out, talk to partners, to customers — directly. You have to think about: what have you done differently in your behaviour that makes the company better? What are you learning?”

不过，如今的情况并非如此。他说：“如今，任何时候都必须在保证业绩的同时进行转型。坐在办公室盯着电子表格不会有助于完成业绩目标。你必须走出去，与合作伙伴、与客户——面对面地——对话。你必须思考这样的问题：你对自己的行为方式做出的什么改变让公司变得更好了？你正在学到什么？”

Mr Van der Bel carries an iPhone. It is OK to be curious and informed about other companies’ products. He is learning, he says, that for everyone else to change, they have to see change in their leaders immediately. “It starts with you. You must always show up energised and open. Annual surveys are a thing of the past; you have to get a sense of pulse on a weekly basis. I’m much more thoughtful about which meetings I attend, how I add value. You have to get out more and listen more.”

范德贝尔带着一部iPhone手机。对其他公司的产品保持好奇和了解是完全没有问题的。他说，他正在学到的是，要想让其他人改变，必须让他们一眼看到领导身上的变化。“改变从自身开始。你必须始终显得精力充沛并且思想开放。那种一年一度的调查已经是过去式了。你必须每周都去了解。对于我要开什么会，如何贡献价值，我的想法更多了。你必须更多地走出去，更多地听取他人的意见。”

No one at Microsoft believes they have got it all right and, given the task they have set themselves, change never ends. With acquisitions such as its $26bn deal for LinkedIn, no doubt the company is due another dose of honest feedback. But at least this time, Reid Hoffman, LinkedIn’s chief executive, is less likely to fear being relegated to the broom cupboard — and a lot more likely to be talking to the board.

在微软，没有人认为自己全做对了。而且，考虑到他们为自己制定的任务，改变是永远不会结束的。像260亿美元收购领英(LinkedIn)这样的交易，无疑又会让微软得到一剂真诚的反馈。不过，至少现在领英首席执行官杰夫•韦纳(Jeff Weiner)不太可能担心被打入冷宫，更可能出现的，是他会与微软的董事会对话。