Thoughts on Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates

Finished watching Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates. Interesting insight into what makes Bill Gates tick. I've already mentioned in a previous journal entry that one of the things I've learned is that he reads a lot. To expand on that, he reads 4-5 books on the same topic to get a good understanding of it. An example shown in the documentary, was his collection of books on “Climate Change”.

While he was working at Microsoft, he worked hard. Probably worked harder than anyone else in the company. That was one of the factors that helped Microsoft stay at the top as one of the best software companies in the world. It probably would have sucked to work for Microsoft during their formative years. I say this because of how much they valued “hard work”. When I say hard work, I mean the kind of work where you come into the office early and leave late. Sometimes not leaving at all until you finish what you are working on. The kind of hard work where work-life balance tilts heavily in favor of work. The not fun type of hard work. My impression was that Bill expected this kind of work ethic from everyone who worked in the company.

The antitrust case against Microsoft hit Bill hard. Unsurprisingly, management didn't think they were doing anything wrong. It was interesting to hear his thoughts when he was looking back on it though. One of the reasons he stepped down as CEO of Microsoft, was to personally tackle the case. This is when Steve Balmer stepped in as Microsoft's new CEO; to allow Bill to focus on the case.

He is very much supported by his wife, Melinda Gates. He treats her as his equal and they complement each other very well.

Lastly, it seems like Bill Gates really wants to solve global problems. Problems like sanitation in third world countries, polio and clean energy. And if you've been watching the news lately, he's also trying to come up with a solution for the COVID-19 virus. Whether he can solve those problems in his lifetime, I still don't know. But, even if he doesn't succeed, it wouldn't be for lack of trying.

Tags: #TVShow #BillGates

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