Microspeak: North Star – The Old New Thing (2015)

4 months ago

The term 'North star' gained prominence at Microsoft around October 2015, having been in use for about a year prior.
A citation from May 2015 defines 'north star' as 'a compelling picture of an improved world.'
The term became popular at Microsoft, possibly after being used by a major executive.
In a team meeting, 'north star' was used to describe long-term goals or guiding principles for features and directions.
The speaker defined 'north star' as a goal beyond immediate objectives, serving as a guiding principle, though this definition isn't found in dictionaries.
A top executive later used 'north star' in a company-wide email, aligning it with Microsoft's mission to empower people and organizations.
The author notes their habit of collecting jargon and new terms during meetings for their 'Microspeak' citations.

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