tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post113494282544423969..comments2024-03-18T12:52:48.117-07:00Comments on Mini-Microsoft: Post-Break - Dividend, The Bench, Brummel, and ScobleWho da'Punkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1137035936267016402006-01-11T19:18:00.000-08:002006-01-11T19:18:00.000-08:00Regarding corporate bench, this is old information...Regarding corporate bench, this is old information (now bench is 1 year long rather than 2, and they cut out a couple of the aspects listed here), but apparently the general structure of the MS bench is public information:<BR/>http://www.bluepointleadership.com/casestudies/index.php?link=000086Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1136167535954818702006-01-01T18:05:00.000-08:002006-01-01T18:05:00.000-08:00Let it be noted: Brummel is the key to this compan...Let it be noted: Brummel is the key to this company's future. HR? Yes, believe it. Just you wait. She absolutely gets it and is not afraid of anything and has the power to change the entire company. I can't wait.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135878984939767042005-12-29T09:56:00.000-08:002005-12-29T09:56:00.000-08:00I totally agree that some changes need to be swift...I totally agree that some changes need to be swift and disruptive. The lack of such actions concern me. Leaders should be willing to assume some risk in taking such action, but it seems like all of our leaders are seriously risk averse. While I would never fully condone or expect leadership of a large corporation like MSFT to make ad hoc, gut-level decisions - I don't expect them to spend months in strategy meetings reviewing 10,000s of slides only to end up with small, non-meaningful changes we're getting today.<BR/><BR/>I was in a comp meeting a few weeks ago that represented multiple roles for the division I work in. Same comments were raised there re: fair pay, equity with competitors, etc. I wonder how many similar discussions are taking place with HR and compensation consultants. So much time and effort is being wasted by approaching the same problems at the division or group level and not at the corporate level. To me, one of the greatest failures of MSFT is our HR department - they truly are not representing the employees very well or driving and communicating change very well.<BR/><BR/>Why can't a quick decision be made: <BR/><BR/>1 - Realize the 65% percentile pay target relative to the industry worked well when our stock options were splitting every 2 years, now it simply doesn't work. A change is needed.<BR/>2 - To afford the change, e.g. costs, something else has to happen - some cost cutting somewhere else. <BR/>3 - What's everyone complaining about? The fat cats, middle- and upper-management that are not incented to being risk-takers. They want to minimize the decisions they have to make to ensure they can stay at MSFT as long as possible. This the the best target for reducing costs.<BR/>4 - Biggest, quickest change: Offer incentive package for the "fat cats" to take early retirement. If they don't, make it clear their role, success measures, and compensation will be changing, i.e. they will need to start justifying their salaries. Not only make it clear, make it so obvious they will not succeed in the "business as usual, rest and vest" fashion that 80% of those offered the option of leaving w/the package take it. Then simply bump the 65% percentile to 75% or higher.<BR/><BR/>Suddenly, across the board, we're that much more competitive with the likes of Google et al. This wouldn't nearly solve all problems, but it's a huge step in the right direction and could be accomplished in a couple of quarters.<BR/><BR/>Plus the fact that there are nearly 800 different jobs at MSFT today adds to the complexity of the business. Serious organizational change needs to happen swiftly to reduce that number to a manageable level. This sort of change should not be evolutionary, but revolutionary- taking place ASAP in order to show the good performers MSFT is committed to making the obvious required changes happen sooner rather than later. Otherwise the bleeding will only get worse and at some point our health will cross over to a serious state. I don't want to see that happen. We need invasive surgery now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135540640640099652005-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:002005-12-25T11:57:00.000-08:00I'd go as far as to cancel all holiday parties and...I'd go as far as to cancel <I>all</I> holiday parties and the stupid picnic as well. Come on people, its really a waste...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135326270888261662005-12-23T00:24:00.000-08:002005-12-23T00:24:00.000-08:00"So, now explain where the morale budget went agai..."So, now explain where the morale budget went again?"<BR/><BR/>Investors down 50%+ since 00 in part due to the $5-10B hemmorrage that is your still unprofitable division and you're whining about morale budgets? Unbelievable. Try making a profit and then perhaps you can complain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135238762044607752005-12-22T00:06:00.000-08:002005-12-22T00:06:00.000-08:00Look intel is suffering this too http://www.facein...Look intel is suffering this too http://www.faceintel.com<BR/><BR/>--<BR/>Not sure what this is, I know many people at intel. The folks behind this site are a bunch of angry people being charmed by one nutjob who stole from intel and got fired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135233732012196002005-12-21T22:42:00.000-08:002005-12-21T22:42:00.000-08:00"If this is the corporate blog experiment that we ..."If this is the corporate blog experiment that we all know this is, wouldn't you rather have more control of the situation?"<BR/><BR/>- yes this is clearly a corporate expirament.<BR/><BR/>Let's not talk to much bout HR (as you will be redirected to "hey we are just messengers")<BR/><BR/>Lets spin cycles on corporate confidental so you can have HR spit in your face "you have lost and this is how we are winning the war"<BR/><BR/>Lets not talk about the issues in NDT (as you will be redirected to "hey its just one person")<BR/><BR/>Look intel is suffering this too http://www.faceintel.com<BR/><BR/>well foo-2-u.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135189332314502022005-12-21T10:22:00.000-08:002005-12-21T10:22:00.000-08:00In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consist...<I>In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consisted of no movies or group events for the year, and then the Holiday party pretty much sucked.</I><BR/><BR/><I>To the whining XBox guy the XBox groups budget probably went to buy a free machine and games. Dollars dont fall from the sky for any group.</I><BR/><BR/>Now this just proves people don't read and then blather. I stated that we paid for our XBox(s) when they were released. The same basic price as everyone else except we got a couple of games and the extra controller included. Don't invent or speak on subjects you don't know anything about. We paid for them and then only 500 people were allowed to buy them, not everyone. There were a lot more people involved then were allowed to purchase. No money needed to fall from the skies. So, now explain where the morale budget went again? I guess you can'tAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135184144475276922005-12-21T08:55:00.000-08:002005-12-21T08:55:00.000-08:00Mini - on the whole racism thing. I'm a little sho...<I> Mini - on the whole racism thing. I'm a little shocked. From a man who has noteriety solely for inflammatory comments and insights into issues within the company, your response / censoring of 'racism' seems a bit false.</I><BR/><BR/>Racism discussion: yes, there seems to be something there, but don't you think it's probably <I>everywhere</I> one way or another? <B>Don't answer that</B>. I know my capabilities and, well, there are some hills I know I just can't climb. For now, anyways, that discussion is one of them. That genie is not getting out of the bottle thanks to me, though of course I think about it. Anyone out there is more than welcomed to start and manage that conversation for now.Who da'Punkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135178378726676302005-12-21T07:19:00.000-08:002005-12-21T07:19:00.000-08:00>In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consis...>In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consisted of no movies or group events for the year, and then the Holiday party pretty much sucked.<BR/><BR/>To the whining XBox guy the XBox groups budget probably went to buy a free machine and games. Dollars dont fall from the sky for any group.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135154493394118002005-12-21T00:41:00.000-08:002005-12-21T00:41:00.000-08:00Mini - on the whole racism thing. I'm a little sho...Mini - on the whole racism thing. I'm a little shocked. From a man who has noteriety solely for inflammatory comments and insights into issues within the company, your response / censoring of 'racism' seems a bit false.<BR/><BR/>This appears to be much less about race than it is about non-merit based rewards (real or perceived - financial or otherwise). <BR/><BR/>The question of bias seems to be just the sort of topic that only a forum like this could help air.<BR/><BR/>I understand where it has the potential to devolve, but it also has the opportunity to bring the issue forward.<BR/><BR/>Your identity has been suggested in the past, and that you yourself are Indian and a manager. Does the suggestion of bias (or that you yourself may be biased) scare you enough to warrant censorship?<BR/><BR/>I'm only hypothesizing, but if it isn't handled here, it's not a short stretch of the imagination that someone will open a blog to talk about it elsewhere. Atleast here, you'd have some control.<BR/><BR/>I didn't make the comment, but it's not the first time I've seen statements like this on the blog.<BR/>There's some resentment originating from someplace - if it's misunderstood, let's air the issue.<BR/><BR/>If this is the corporate blog experiment that we all know this is, wouldn't you rather have more control of the situation?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135147152567055322005-12-20T22:39:00.000-08:002005-12-20T22:39:00.000-08:00Please get your bleep machine back up again. The o...<I>Please get your bleep machine back up again. The open source imbeciles have found their way back in.</I><BR/><BR/>True. It has crossed a bit of a line. I'll pay more attention going forward.Who da'Punkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135143198853445382005-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:002005-12-20T21:33:00.000-08:00Microsoft enjoyed its most prolific growth under a...<I> Microsoft enjoyed its most prolific growth under a couple of retarded assholes, Gates and Ballmer. <BR/>-------------------------------<BR/>Gates is man of the year, but what has he ever done that's worth a turd as a computer scientist? Brin and Page are ten times smarter than Gates and Schmidt is better than Balmer. </I><BR/><BR/><BR/>C'mon Mini, this is another screw up of yours IMO. No matter what we feel about MS, nobody has the right to use these kinds of names for Gates and Ballmer. Even if you subtract the last five years, the twenty years before has earned these guys some modicum of respect.<BR/><BR/>Please get your bleep machine back up again. The open source imbeciles have found their way back in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135142798826303002005-12-20T21:26:00.000-08:002005-12-20T21:26:00.000-08:00Time to do some revisionist comment un-approving. ...<I> Time to do some revisionist comment un-approving. I screwed up and let a discussion of racism bloom. It caused a big flow of comments I'd rather not follow. Sorry for taking a step down that path but I'm rapidly retreating now. </I><BR/><BR/>Thanks Mini. That is a touchy subject that I know many people have an opinion about. The torrent of comments you got proved that this is a major concern. Unfortunately it will not be easy to open the floor for discussions on this. Sometime Someday, we should find a way of discussing *that* topic. Even if you just request comments from people and summarize without allowing post-Mini feedback.<BR/><BR/>But if you are really concerned about bad managers, fiefdoms, favoritism and games people play for stack ranking success, you have to find a way to broach the topic. After all you are Who da Punk and you have touched on virtually all subjects so far.<BR/><BR/>Keep the work goingAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135141867634482112005-12-20T21:11:00.000-08:002005-12-20T21:11:00.000-08:00>In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consis...<I>>In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consisted of no movies or group events for the year, and then the Holiday party pretty much sucked.</I><BR/><BR/>It probably helps if the group is profitable. Over here, we started making $$$ a couple years back and it was all sunshine and lollipops from that point forward.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135141662271675442005-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:002005-12-20T21:07:00.000-08:00It ain't exactly heaven out there in the (Google) ...<I>It ain't exactly heaven out there in the (Google) Plex and we have our share of retarded assholes who have a my-way-or-highway attitude in meetings.</I><BR/><BR/>Microsoft enjoyed its most prolific growth under a couple of retarded assholes, Gates and Ballmer. Having some retarded assholes on board is not bad. However, Microsoft’s DNA is predicated on a celebration of the retarded asshole. With growth slowing, its evident that just as quickly as RAs can push a company’s growth, so too can they hasten its decline. Take your own advice: Don’t be evil. It comes back to bite you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135141205971950382005-12-20T21:00:00.000-08:002005-12-20T21:00:00.000-08:00How history rhymes with itself... MSN is to Micros...How history rhymes with itself... MSN is to Microsoft what OS2 was to IBM...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135141157377044402005-12-20T20:59:00.000-08:002005-12-20T20:59:00.000-08:00Time to do some revisionist comment un-approving. ...Time to do some revisionist comment un-approving. I screwed up and let a discussion of racism bloom. It caused a big flow of comments I'd rather not follow. Sorry for taking a step down that path but I'm rapidly retreating now.<BR/><BR/>Mini.Who da'Punkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18205453956191063442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135133160144971502005-12-20T18:46:00.000-08:002005-12-20T18:46:00.000-08:00I mean, you're telling me that an org can send eve...<I>I mean, you're telling me that an org can send everyone and their spouses to Whistler and still throw parties all year long before that? </I><BR/><BR/>SQL Server did not have the usual Friday winedowns the whole year, saving money for the ship party. There were no parties all year long before that.<BR/><BR/>However, the Whistler trip was very nice. 5* hotels (Fairmont and Four Seasons), meals, activities (lift tickets/rentals, for ex.) all paid for. This was a reward for 5+ years of work since last release. However, I don't think there will be such trip after the next (shorter) release.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135123334100147422005-12-20T16:02:00.000-08:002005-12-20T16:02:00.000-08:00Morale budgets. Now there is a laugh. In the XBo...Morale budgets. Now there is a laugh. In the XBox group (2003) our morale budget consisted of no movies or group events for the year, and then the Holiday party pretty much sucked. However, I think what is worse is how the different groups get treated completely differently. You folks think that XBox is so great, but we are treated like the bastard step children. It took me 2 weeks to get one simple $12.95 book authorized for purchase. No one in the entire group was allowed to take any windows training classes at all for several years. The reasoning was "We do games here and you don't need windows classes". Of course it would help when a bunch of people get RIF'd if they had taken a few courses, they might have actually been able to move to a windows group. So instead a bunch of them had to leave the XBox group. The original XBox people had to buy their XBoxes (which wasn't a bad deal), but now they are giving them away. Big deal, it is about time. It is only reasonable that people who got the hardware and original software out to market get a machine and copies of the games. It is somehting that Nintendo and Sony both do. Do we want to have competition, or do we want everyone leaving to go to better jobs somewhere else. The last three ship parties I went to were so under pressure for new products to be released that they consisted of a few bottles of champagne out in the parking lot, and then back to the office for more work. We didn't go anywhere. Hurray for MS and XBox. MS does as little as they can, and then they wonder why people vent their disappointment. Let them do more than the basics of getting by and then they will get better reviews from their employees. They ignore the annual anonymous surveys. Then we give them a 2.5 for overall employee satisfaction, and they still don't care. It is a shame we can't stack rank the Executives out.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135121546910485742005-12-20T15:32:00.000-08:002005-12-20T15:32:00.000-08:00'Office Shared - at least we get screwed a lot' us...'Office Shared - at least we get screwed a lot' used to be the slogan. Glad to see nothing changed since I left that tarpit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135117505647378802005-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:002005-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00Regarding Partner/VP comp vs. everyone else. The ...Regarding Partner/VP comp vs. everyone else. The discrepancy is so HUGE I had to leave the Company. I was in a position to see this directly, and when I saw that many of the folks on the bench program were precisely the wrongs ones to be leading the company into the future, there was no way I could stay. To see a GM who was a poor leader, causing disfunction within his organizatoin earning a bonus in the six-figures was just too much. But more than that it demonstrated just how wrong of a track the company is currently on - very sad considering how great a company Microsoft has been.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135105888944514142005-12-20T11:11:00.000-08:002005-12-20T11:11:00.000-08:00MSR: There are some amazing scientists there doing...MSR: There are some amazing scientists there doing some amazing work and the rest of the company ignores it.<BR/><BR/>I buy that there are a few real good researchers at MSR. However, every time we had to deal with some idea from research, the code was unusable, all we effectively had was 'here's an idea with a good-looking but poorly-working prototyp'. When you have to commit more than 15 people for a full cycle to put an idea into a product, chances are there are more valuable features that could be implemented with the same manpower.<BR/><BR/>So: Don't whine about getting to spend time with your hobby on Microsofts payroll without having to contribute to the bottom line. Thank your favourity deity instead.<BR/><BR/>Bet you even got a XMas party. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135105438122296772005-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:002005-12-20T11:03:00.000-08:00If your team squandered it earlier in the year and...<I>If your team squandered it earlier in the year and wasn't able to throw a holiday party, then tough luck.</I><BR/><BR/>Our team sure didn't have any other morale events money was squandered on. Which raises the question - where does morale money go if it isn't wasted on ICs? Any chance manager morale is raised with extra-high bonuses instead?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7555958.post-1135102853980204242005-12-20T10:20:00.000-08:002005-12-20T10:20:00.000-08:00Bi-weekly teamwide parties? Morale trips to Whist...Bi-weekly teamwide parties? Morale trips to Whistler? Our team reserved a conference room after-hours.<BR/><BR/>Blew our morale budget? Offhand, I can only think of two morale events in the last year... a trip to Gameworks, and a dinner event in town.<BR/><BR/>Either morale budgets are dramatically different for each team, or we're enhancing shareholder value by returning ours unspent.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com