A big culture shakeup is in the works at Microsoft

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella released a letter to employees today via the Microsoft website, and while the missive is aimed at employees in terms of syntax, it’s clearly designed to address the public, too. The occasion for the letter is the kick-off of Microsoft’s fiscal 2015, ahead of the final results for FY 2014, which drop July 22. The subject matter is a call to action, combined with a warning that Microsoft is about to enter a period of significant organizational change. Nadella closes with more detail on the changes required, which include reorganization and streamlining. He evokes the image of a leaner, more agile Microsoft, which can anticipate and innovate more quickly. That’ll mean a flatter organization, he says in the letter, and already he’s asked the Microsoft leadership team to submit its ideas on how they can “simplify their operations and how they work.” The goal of the change is to make sure Microsoft focuses on and delivers to its users and customers what Nadella calls its “core.” “At our core, Microsoft is the productivity and platform company for the mobile-first and cloud-first world,” he writes. “We will reinvent productivity to empower every person and every organization on the planet to do more and achieve more.”