George Kurian, CEO of Netapp

George Kurian is the CEO of Netapp. He rose to CEO after a range of leadership positions in Netapp and Oracle. George came from humble beginnings and had never seen a computer until he got to the US for college! He is now CEO of one of the leading Silicon Valley companies.

What was the most important thing he carried with him from your early years?

I grew up in India during a time when computers and information technology for that matter didn't really exist. We didn't have a television until I was 16 years old. I never saw a computer until I came to the US for college education. And I find it amazing that I work in the computer industry today. But what we lacked in material things, we were blessed to have in family values, the priorities around education, working hard, appreciating the opportunities we were given, and to have the best gift that I could ever get, the gift of having two amazing parents. My parents were both self-starters. They were the real entrepreneurs in our family, and broke ground and created opportunities for themselves, and for their family, and for their community.

And my mom's my greatest hero. She was, even in the '50s and '60s, a firm believer in what people now call a growth mindset, meaning that you have the opportunity to shape your destiny through persistence, and resilience, and the willingness to learn. And she passed away this year, unfortunately, at the age of 89. But even in her last few days, she was learning a new language, Spanish, the sixth language, as a way to be able to converse with her grandchildren, and to learn Spanish together with them. So I carry her, their values, the good habits they taught me, and of course, their courage and faith in me every day.

How has he applied a growth mindset in his career?

I've tried to follow their example by choosing to work in different industries, in different functional areas, I've lived in many different parts of the world. All of those experiences have taught me to understand different work cultures and appreciate different problem solving approaches. Those experiences may have slowed my path to leadership versus somebody that followed a particular discipline through their entire life, but I think it has not only enriched my life, but also given me a very robust set of patterns, the ability to connect the dots for many different aspects of my career. It's also helped me to build teams of very diverse people. I think one of the things that I've learned to appreciate is that, especially at times of change, bringing together people from different backgrounds who approach problems differently can really strengthen the ability of an organization to succeed.

And then, perhaps most importantly, when you are trying to learn new things, you approach the experience with lightness, not carrying the burden of ego, and pride, and fear of failure. I think that is something that my parents have always taught me. The humility to learn new things and to be humble, that you're not the expert, but you're going to approach the problem with the responsibility of being humble and addressing the problem that you're faced with with the responsibility that that requires. And so, I've tried to help our organization wear our accomplishments lightly. And the same with our failures, to treat them as stepping stones that light the way forward a little more, rather than as big burdens that preclude us from making progress. Those are some of the ways that I've tried to use the experiences.

What are the most important lessons learned in pivoting a Fortune 500 company?

There are four or five key lessons. You know, NetApp's business is selling systems and data management software to companies that have large amounts of data that they want to protect and provide access to. We are in the process of transforming our company to much more of a cloud and software and services company. And in doing that, I think the first important lesson is the lesson of a growth mindset, right? To not be afraid to take on transformation and the important thing there is to set some big transformational objectives and to move fast so that the organization isn't tired of transformation.

It's okay to operate with a few north stars rather than a perfect map of where the world is headed. Just to deal with the fact that there is ongoing uncertainty, right? And in some ways I tell our team it's like the the Polynesian sailors that operate by understanding the currents rather than what Western sailors do, which is to have a map and a compass, because it's really hard to have a perfect map of where you going.

The second is during transformation, you're often dealing with an uncertain strategic environment. I think one of the things that I keep telling our teams, it's okay to operate with a few north stars rather than a perfect map of where the world is headed. Just to deal with the fact that there is ongoing uncertainty, right? And in some ways I tell our team it's like the the Polynesian sailors that operate by understanding the currents rather than what Western sailors do, which is to have a map and a compass, because it's really hard to have a perfect map of where you going.

How do you disrupt yourself in a changing tech landscape?

I think the first, most important thing Harish was that we had to decide for ourselves where did our true value lie? And in our business, we realized that it was software, not systems, which was a controversial decision. But our true intellectual property and the true value that we delivered was in software. So we said, listen, if the future world, operates in a model where they don't need our systems, we're going to give the freedom to our new business leaders to actually meet the needs of the future world. And if that meant disrupting our traditional business, we allowed them to do that. And that has been the most profound change. I think what we realized was if we could disrupt our own business, we could disrupt all the competitors' businesses. And what we've seen is exactly that, we have seen a lot of new customers and frankly, the disruption to our traditional business has been a lot less than people expected. It's been much more additive rather than substitutive

How does he find balance in his own life?

Time is the scarce resource in life, and how we use our time is therefore one of the most important decisions we make

I think my parents taught me this lesson, which is that time is the scarce resource in life, and how we use our time is therefore one of the most important decisions we make. I'll tell you that perhaps the defining principle for me is that a life full of activity is not necessarily a life full of meaning. Meaning that you can always find ways to make yourself busy as a CEO, but that doesn't necessarily make you an effective CEO. I think it's important that you care about your priorities, that you're clear about the institution's priorities, and develop good habits. And, reflect on whether you're actually turning those intents on how you spend your time into action. And so, I spend time reviewing my calendar prospectively and saying, "Did I really follow-through on my commitments?"

I've got hobbies, which are great distractions. I spend time cooking with my kids as a way to build connection with them and to build joy into my life. I like photography. I study history, and so on. And then, I think the place that I keep working on is trying to find ways to be more present so that when I'm working on something or when I'm spending time with someone, that I turn off all the other distractions. So, I turn off my mobile phone and notifications, and I check email twice a day rather than all the time. Those are ways that allow you to be present with the person that you're with, which is super important.

And finally, my faith has been able to provide me a buffer at times. When things aren't going too well it brings into perspective what life is really about and how insignificant, at the end of the day, we all are.