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The Steve Ballmer memo

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June 12, 2002 (Computerworld) -- From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Thursday, June 06, 2002 1:47 PM
To: Microsoft and Subsidiaries: All FTE
Subject: Realizing Potential

The executive staff recently spent several days at a retreat where we had some breakthrough discussions about the company's mission and what we value. We developed a strong consensus about our mission going forward and the values that are its foundation. Simply put, our mission is to enable people and businesses throughout the world to realize their full potential. Today, we use software to help people get there. Over time, this will evolve to be a combination of software and software services. But our mission is not just about building great technology. It's also about who we are as a company and as individuals, how we manage our business internally and how we think about and work with partners and customers.
As an industry leader, we have a unique role in the world -- unique in the contribution we make and the responsibility that comes with that. Customers expect us to hit a very high bar in terms of product and support quality, delivering on our commitments and providing excellent customer-focused decision-making. Our industry wants us to be more actively engaged and open about who we are and about our road map for the future. Our pending settlement with the DOJ adds new responsibilities that we must deliver on. We are committed to working with the DOJ and other government agencies to ensure the settlement is a success and that our relationship is positive and constructive going forward.
The events of the last four years and the changes in our industry make this a good point to take stock of ourselves and our mission, to understand how others perceive us and to think about how we can do a better job explaining who we are and what matters to us. Many of us feel a disconnect in the way we see ourselves and our mission and motives and the way we are portrayed, and only we can change that. I hope this memo helps you to better understand and to communicate our mission, the shared values at the core of the Microsoft community and the things we need to focus on as a company to achieve our mission.
Our Mission
When I told my parents 22 years ago that I was dropping out of Stanford Business School to join a small company called Microsoft in the far northwest corner of the U.S., my father asked the first question: "What's software?" My mother asked me an even more interesting question: "Why would a person ever need a computer?" It seems funny now,

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