Is Microsoft's Nadella Looking Forwards Or Backwards?

In reading CEO Satya Nadella’s memo to the troops shared on July 10th, it struck me the entire thing could be read in two opposite ways, with either backward- or forward-looking possibilities. Perhaps this duality I hear comes out of the journalist instinct and (unfortunate) held assumptions due to years of PR and double-speak from leaders. There is great opportunity either way, but it is longevity that interests us most about Microsoft.