Day two of Symposium was at least as good as Day one. The highlight of the day was the interview of Steve Ballmer, President of Microsoft, by Gartner Analysts Michael Smith and Yvonne Genovese. Mr. Ballmer demonstrated his ability to be both dynamic and entertaining. A question regarding Microsoft's licensing practices brought the most reaction and laughter, though, of course, Mr. Ballmer chose not to answer. Conversations with attendees later in the day reflected mixed responses to the presentation. One was positive, applauding the speaker and Microsoft's "pounding perseverance," another great point of laughter. Yet another criticized Microsoft for wanting to "own" it all. However, several of us agreed that technology would not be what it is today without Microsoft.
Gartner Analyst Kathy Harris challenged us with her impressive presentation on innovation. Later, I had the pleasure of talking with her one-on-one to further explore the topic. She stressed the importance of striving for significant, rather than incremental, gains. I somewhat agree with her on this point. However, I think that you can discover important opportunities for innovation if you have the right environment and if you are continually focused on improvement, whether incremental or significant.
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