The Insider's Guide to Innovation @ Microsoft

By: JoAnn Garbin, Dean Carignan, Eric Horvitz - foreword

Narrated by: JoAnn Garbin

In this unique guide, you’re not just hearing about innovation—you're learning how to do it from the people behind some of the biggest breakthroughs of the last 50 years at one of the most influential and valuable companies in the world.

Are there innovation truisms that hold from one initiative to the next? Are there strategies that appear again and again in the success stories of businesses as varied as gaming and cloud infrastructure? Are there behaviors common to creative leadership in every role, from research to sales? And if these patterns exist, could they be distilled into teachable practices? These are the questions Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin, two senior innovation leaders at Microsoft, set out to answer.

The Insider’s Guide to Innovation at Microsoft reveals the patterns behind Microsoft’s biggest wins and losses—from the Xbox revolution to the Windows Mobile miss and the unexpected rise of Bing in AI. Based on dozens of interviews only fellow “Microsofties” could secure, this book shares behind-the-scenes stories brimming with insights and proven practices that transcend time and technology.

©2025 Dean Carignan and JoAnn Garbin (P)2025 Recorded Books