On Mar. 31, 1999, three team members and I took part in a Microsoft meeting about the company’s gaming strategy. In this meeting, we suggested Microsoft enter the console space–and we were promptly laughed off. After a lot of convincing, the first Xbox launched over two years later, becoming a landmark innovation in both gaming and digital media.
Our success didn’t happen by accident. It took months of collaboration, testing, grassroots organizing, and a little bit of luck to pull it off. And most importantly, it took effective people management. Looking back, I can identify three main contributors to the success of the Xbox project that people leaders should keep in mind in 2023 and beyond.
