Quick Thoughts on the Microsoft 2009 Company Meeting
Some quick comments on this year's Microsoft 2009 Company Meeting.
First, how did my six hopes for the Company Meeting hold up?
- Steve Ballmer comes out first to set the context for the meeting in light of a pretty awful FY09 Q3 and Q4: Zilch.
- Practical vision: well, Craig and Ray did seem to focus on the practical aspects of product groups, research, and inbetween the technology transferring power of the labs groups. Seemed practical. But then there was that whole Avatar assistant thing that no one around me felt like was real: one-half.
- Demos are short, sweet, powerful... sorry, but Elop's demos sucked the life out of entire stadium. Some were good, and some were really really short. So: one-half.
- Show us the new stuff. Hey, we did get to see some new stuff. Bing. Zune HD. Map goodness. No Halo. New ad cuteness. But it was still conservative. Hmm. How about: three-quarters realized.
- New simple review system? Phffft. Not unless thwacking balls w/ your avatar is our new review system. 160 for that. Zero for this.
- Serious wrap-up by Ballmer. Zero.
Add that up and we get 1.75/6.00 - hey, almost one-third realized.
Now, I'm not going to go into revealing anything all that interesting that happened in the meeting. Just my general impressions of the day.
Kevin Turner was first and, well, I'm kind of tired of the "ThankYou"s by now. He did take on the job of addressing the tough year and I believe he said some things that really surprised me. Growth hides mediocrity being one of them. That we over hired. Sure we all thought it, too, but to now go and put on the 20/20 glasses and speak it in front of the company gives me hope (hmm, need a new word) that it won't happen again. Same with the realization that you shouldn't start up doing work in good-times that you know you'd drop and cut during bad times.
Dr. Qi Lu might be my favorite techie right now. I was impressed with what he's brought together for Bing and what's coming and how he has focused the team and adopted some of the new technology that Satya was showing. Who the hell thought we'd be feeling so good about our search decision engine? Ever?
Elop. Steven. Baby. Dynamics. XRM. Really? What did I do to you to have that forced down my eyeballs? I'm pouring another glass of wine right now hoping I can kill whatever brain cells are still connecting this demo memory together. Geez. Did anyone give you advice that this was a bad idea? If so, keep listening to them. If not, you're seriously lacking good reports willing to give you honest feedback.
Robbie Bach did okay, but I can't say the demos blew me away. The table-top demos were full of slick sparkly presentation but... it was all stuff I've seen one way or another so nothing new there. He missed a golden opportunity for Microsoft-Fan-Boy love to go and have someone play Halo:ODST on stage or show some great Zune HD apps.
Bob Muglia. What did he talk about? I remember the real cool tech for traces and then WinDiff. Did he talk about how we're losing the edge on client development for Windows and how it's all a confused multi-SDK technology mess centered around everything being .NET based?
Sinofsky went pretty fast - when in doubt, load up the stage with a bunch of new, cool technology and play with it. I loved the reveal on the Mac Air case ("It's aluminum!"). And I think Steven gets the best line for when the train let loose its blaring whistle he said something along, "This is where someone mentions about the trains running on time."
Craig and Ray: it was nice that they switched up their presentations - that added some energy. But not enough. It seemed a lot more practical this year, other than what I mentioned previously about the whole very well staged Starfire demo. I hadn't seen that in like... over ten years.
And then Steve Ballmer. I've got say, at this point in the day I was pretty much in a "Where's mai KoolAid" funk until Mr. Ballmer came on stage and started presenting. I feel this is a big transitional year for Microsoft. I've said we've turned the corner, but that doesn't mean we're out of the bad neighborhood yet, nor are we incapable of making bad decisions all over again. The second half of FY09, and what we are still enduring as part of the economic crisis, has provided a certain level of alarmingly crisp clarity to refocus, and I believe Ballmer's presentation served for about as much focus we're going to see in the near term.
And I like how he ended his presentation. How do we feel? He reflected on how Microsoft is not a normal company and that its employees have an unnatural emotional attachment to it (yep, that's true - it can cause them to have all sorts of crazy reactions and do crazy, passionate things). How do you feel? Steve, well, he wants you to feel good about where we are, what we're doing, and where we're going.
I must feel good, because I have hope.
(Oh, by-the-way, if you see Mr. Ballmer walking your way: hide you iPhone. Trust me on that one.)
Additional links:
- Rule No. 1: Hide the iPhone from Ballmer at the Microsoft meeting
- Microsoft's Bing 2.0: Coming this fall (maybe even next week)
- Twitter highlights from Company Meeting at Safeco
531 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 531 of 531I got an Underperfromed/10 and was asked to leave today. No warning.
I worked in STB
Wednesday, October 07, 2009 10:58:00 PM
We'd be interested to hear more detail here.
I am the original poster.I joined this team 6 months back as a PM.
The present charter was a change for me in terms of what I did earlier. During the review, my manager said that he will not manage me out and work with me in this review period. I had no inkling this would be so sudden. I was called into a meeting with my manager at 1:00 pm. One HR generalist was also there. The HR person did most of the talking. I got 2 weeks severance and had to sign some documents. I was not escorted out but was told that I will have to leave by 5:00 PM. My email/access was removed the same day. The lesson i learnt here was not to trust your manager and be carefule when changing jobs. I thought this job was a challenge but unfortunately my team was less patient with me
"Errrm, you might want to mention P/E ratios, since its the only thing you wrote about that allows you to judge the performance of company."
Actually that's not entirely true but here ya go:
HP - 15.95
IBM - 13.44
AAPL - 33.30
REDHAT - 62.86
MSFT - 15.78 and just for fun...
GOOG - 35.78
"ummm bobbie. stock price means nothing. apple's market cap is significant, but red hat's market cap is only 5 billion."
You're all smart guys here, did I REALLY need to restate the obvious that Red Hat is a vastly smaller enterprise than MSFT?
"Errm...the actual stock price dollar figure is, by itself, pretty irrelevant."
Unless you're buying or selling the stock.
"One redhat share could be worth ten thousand dollars and it still wouldn't mean much"
Um yea it means it would be worth $10,000 in your IRA.
You guys are splitting hairs, the stock price is the bottom line and it hasn't gone anywhere under the current regime. Pick your favorite stock site and compare the % increase in price with MSFT and one of the other major competitors. The numbers are what they are or as Bill Parcels said "you are what your record says you are" and the record of the current SLT is dismal at best.
Do people believe that the T-Mobile / Sidekick / Danger / Microsoft "complete data loss" event will have any long term effect on future MS phone efforts?
Mmm, probably not. Good luck selling anyone on any future cloud storage-related initiatives, though.
This Sidekick thing is incredible.
You couldn't ask for a more precise fiasco.
"First, where were you guys when our stock was hitting $40? Why do you blame him when stock goes down but never give him credit when it goes up? If he is such a reason for moving stocks then consider the fact that stock has went up from $14 to $26 in just last few months. Fact is stock market is random and purely at mercy of juggernauts like Goldman Sacs regardless of how companies actually perform."
Steve is the CEO. He just does not like to be held accountable, which umm kind of goes with the job. If you bother to look at YTD gains for competitor companies or just tech companies you will see MSFT stock gains are much less. As for whining about 'being at the mercy' of Wall Street, all market players are in the same boat.
So I reject your pathetic attempt at defending Ballmer.
"All the MS women who toiled at length to gain advanced degrees from top schools, or sharpen your technical skills - heads up - what's really important: shoe level = stock lvl.
B. Kevin - what's your opinion?"
B. Kevin here, and THANK YOU FOR ALL YOU DO!"
Well let me say that here at MSFT we believe in diversity. Don't forget to do your mandatory training on that now! Therein you will learn that we value different perspectives, experiences and viewpoints. Everyone here has equal opportunity ... which is why I am puzzled, y'all, by the statistics on LinkedIn that show MSFT workforce to be 72% male and 28 female. Of that 28% half are admins (little SLT joke there).
A lot of you accuse me of just being a sales mouthpiece with little insight or fresh ideas.But I have though of an innovative solution to this yawning gender disparity. Today working with LisaB we are extending our medical benefits to allow men to have gender reassignment. BTW this is not voluntary ... your likelihood of being selected is based on your review score. And let's just say you U/10s best learn to sing soprano.
Here's an article on HR's role, and video of an HR executive explaining what HR does with employee complaints (via undercoverlawyer.com):
Hostile Work Environment -- Why Human Resources Doesn't Care About You
Youtube: Confession From Human Resources Executive
There is a very interesting and detailed account of the problems in the Microsoft mobile development process, based on some fairly detailed leaks, here:
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2009/10/09/exclusive-pink-danger-leaks-from-microsofts-windows-phone/
I like the part where the executive in charge had the thought she was the right person to lead the project while listening to a song by Pink - deep thoughts.
Exclusive: Pink Danger leaks from Microsoft’s Windows Phone
welcome to the world of
Cloud Computing
aka
Vapor Computing
enjoy the magic and cheers!
You'd be an idiot if you leave the same day. Tell them you're leaving in 2 weeks and will do "whatever is necessary to transfer responsibilities". Spend 3-4 days wrapping things up (you won't finish everything, so don't bust your ass too hard), and spend the rest of the time drinking free soda and collecting a fat paycheck. If they're managing you out, they'll be relieved that you're going and won't mind paying for an extra week or two.
I tried this, nope. manager had an axe to grind since i was also taking 2 weeks of vacation to find another gig. they wanted to AXE me before i resigned and avoid the BS-review they were about to get me. I would have had a better chance of coming back if i decided to since my last review was a gem compared to this fake one.
I decided to trade in my original iPhone for the Imagio. I wanted to give WinMo a fair shot. I figured, it couldn't be that bad.
Bad? It is EMBARRASSING. I wanted to throw the phone out of the car. Hurting that phone would be worth any amount of money I paid for it.
Media: Fugettaboutit. All you get is some crappy RSS feed reader that launches an even more crappy Windows Media Player. Media libraries? Music/Podcast/Video organization. None-existent. WinMo is no iPod. I especially love that random "out of memory" while playing my podcasts. Crazy.
Touch? Are you kidding me? The iPhone is flawless. Accurate keyboard, the scrolling makes sense. Try to touch scroll on WinMo - its either too fast or too slow. I had to give up on touch and use the stylus. Oh great, another half-effort to implement a feature without any clue whatseover.
What does Apple do that Microsoft can't? The iPhone user can focus on the exciting content and not on figuring out how to use the unintuitive, clumsy, buggy UI. WinMo has some cool features, but the sloppy design kills it dead. I get the feeling that the phone has been designed by committee and by some of those really great managers we have hired to get big bonuses and use big words. All I have to say is that they DESERVE their WinMo devices.
If Balmer had ANY INTEGRITY, He would have thrown the WinMo device on the ground and demand that the WinMo team build something that actually works for people. Maybe that kind of fire-under-the-pants would make them make something of actual value. But Balmer is about lies and cheerleading, not about achievement or success.
Today, I returned the Imagio and got the iPhone 3Gs and am now enjoying life again.
In a just world, this Sidekick thing would put Microsoft out of business.
It's a bit grotesque to compare this to the Lockheed L-1011 (since nobody died) but the correlations are pretty clear. What's the one thing you never do when you've got customers trusting you with their data?
I think customers probably would have accepted a rollback to last week, or last month, or even last year, accompanied by the same mea culpa. The fact that nothing was available pretty much demonstrates (from a strict corporate risk-assessment standpoint) that Microsoft is not a sufficiently well-structured and well-architected company to trust with anything important.
I'm sure interesting counter-arguments could be mounted claiming that I'm being too harsh. But I really don't think I am. The data loss may be an isolated incident (like the L-1011 crash) but it didn't happen in a vacuum; it has to be understood in a context of chronic failures in all different areas of Microsoft's business. It's time to ask some hard questions about just how badly rotted this "software company" is, and whether it realistically can ever become a trusted entity again.
This Sidekick thing is incredible.
You couldn't ask for a more precise fiasco.
It helps take some of the negative press away from the awful WM 6.5 launch.
Company Market Cap YTD Price Performance
MSFT
Microsoft Corp
229.2B +32.1%
AAPL
Apple Inc.
169.6B +121.8%
RHT
Red Hat, Inc.
5.2B +108.8%
HPQ
Hewlett-Packard Company
110.2B +28.0%
INTC
Intel Corporation
111.3B +35.6%
you forgot to mentioned others like
ORCL (+15%)
RNWK (+10%)
JAVA/SUNW (gone)
These are once big names. why don't you compare to MSFT? I think MSFT is doing ok.
"I got an Underperfromed/10 and was asked to leave today. No warning. I worked in STB
Wednesday, October 07, 2009 10:58:00 PM - I am the original poster."...
Sounds perplexing, and doesn't sound like you were properly 'performanced out'. Find out why.
Make sure you apply for your unemployment benefits first. Then ask MS, in writing, to see your entire personnel file, or for a copy of it to be mailed to you.
An email to the external HR alias you were given on exit, should suffice. You may have to remind them of the law that they must provide access to it, even to former employees gone <1-2 years. (see WA Bureau Labor & Indust.)
You then have a few months to talk to an atty to help you understand what might have happened and/or seek EEOC support if you feel your Civil rights were violated.
Your exit situation should be carefully documented in your personnel file. Something in your file might shed a light on something, and provide ideas.
Other web resources:
welaweb.com or undercoverlawyer.com
Even if you do not decide to pursue any legal recourse, just talking to an employment atty might help you resolve your situation personally.
btw, you cannot be required to sign ANYTHING by ANYONE, especially if they did not allow you any time to review it with an atty (days, not hours), and you're not SOL because you did.
"roughlydrafted.com"
Yeah, that's the site to go to when looking for unbiased discussions of MS and credible "leaks". LOL.
Exclusive: Pink Danger leaks from Microsoft’s Windows Phone
This together with the Sidekick data loss (no backup!!!) calls for heads to roll, starting with Roz Ho.
The problem, simply, is TOO MANY EMPLOYEES. Period. MSFT needs to get rid of 2/3 or 3/4 of the employees.
There is no problem, per se, of having a lot of employees. But they must be productive. MSFT's problem is that 70% (or so) of the employees are not productive, but merely layer upon layer upon layer of 'management'.
A wide, low organizational chart always indicates a better organization than a narrow, high one.
The guy going on about how the stock price is the measure of success of a company is so igonorant (despite half a dozen people politely correcting him), and so adamant that he is right, he just has to be part of upper mangagement.
The guy going on about how the stock price is the measure of success of a company is so [ignorant] (despite half a dozen people politely correcting him), and so adamant that he is right, he just has to be part of upper mangagement.
So what IS the measure of success for MSFT?
Layer Upon Layer uopon Layer of Management - How true... The way even HR teams are being layered across HR, Staffing, POC, Learning is counter productive.
And these Layers of Management just keep globe trotting in Biz Class, without contributing to any top line or bottom line or Cust Satisfaction.
Even small single sub regions, have CVP/Chairman, and another MD, and Several GMs, and dozens of Directors, and Regional Managers above an Account Manager who actually drives the accounts and Biz. All these layers only add review cycle overhead, and Millions of $s in Travel budgets.
The guy going on about how the stock price is the measure of success of a company is so igonorant (despite half a dozen people politely correcting him), and so adamant that he is right, he just has to be part of upper mangagement.
To a shareholder, the stock price is the measure of success of a company.
I'd love to know why this MS/Danger, T-Mobile, Sidekick disaster is not bigger news. This should be front page on all the majors.
Have any of the key players actually released a statement re: what the hell happened?
"you forgot to mentioned others like
ORCL (+15%)
RNWK (+10%)
JAVA/SUNW (gone)
These are once big names. why don't you compare to MSFT? I think MSFT is doing ok."
Well, I am a little puzzled by your post. JAVA is not 'gone' it is trading up 139% YTD. Nobody cares about Real Networks. And ORCL was trading at $13 5 years ago, about $21 today. MSFT was trading at $25 5 years ago, and surprise, surprise is trading at $25 today.
Of course ORCL and MSFT have one thing in common: they are both run by conceited old farts. Apparently though Ellison is the better businessman.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO!
-bkt
"In a just world, this Sidekick thing would put Microsoft out of business."
Indeed. Just think if you are currently, or considering being, a BPOS customer. All your CRM, mail etc. managed by Microsoft. Now just wait for that 'oops!' phone call from BPOS ... scary stuff. After this more than ever I would not trust MSFT with my data.
To the guy that got U/10 and canned (and the bunches of you that are about to get it through the month of October):
Peformance plan, anyone? Whether you "deserve it" or not - the gods have chosen you - and best of luck actually digging yourself out of a perf plan in this climate - you can't :
Don't waste you time asking to see your file or seeing an attorney. Your firing was vetted long before it happened. That is all HR exists for is to protect the company from being sued by angry employees.
Yes, sign up for unemployment and don't look back. Seeing a lawyer, not signing paperwork, etc won't get you anything but drag out an already unpleasant experience. Enjoy the unemployment for a few weeks and then find a job somewhere else. I left and have enjoyed computers and technology more now than I did at MS for a long time as the whole corporate doublespeak sucks your will to live.
"Microsoft a "Bunch of Clueless Idiots," Says Danger Source
http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#1SxNDP/www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/microsoft-sidekick-team-bunch-clueless-idiots?partner=homepage_newsletter/
It is impossible for MS to compete in the mobile space, even if Steve Jobs himself was put in charge of WM.
#1 Ballmer would never switch to a proven-successful mobile OS like Linux or BSD.
#2 It would be impossible to start a new, separate, next-generation group (e.g. Pink/Danger) because of the political infighting; WM would use its political capital to kill it. Any future MS mobile project will have to be based on the WM turd, run all existing WM software, blah blah.
#3 Because of company politics, any new thing will have to be based on .NET and only run .NET stuff. This limits the 3rd party developer pool and ensures that the resulting device will be slow and lame compared to the iPhone. (See: Android and Java.)
#4 "Strategic guidance" from the top will ensure that any new project will just copy the iPhone, flaws and all, instead of result in a superior OS/product.
#5 More company politics will force any mobile platform to "leverage" other company platforms--e.g., it would have to use the painfully awful mobile Media Player and IE codebases instead of the far superior free open-source alternatives used by Apple, Google, etc.
I would love nothing more than to work on a team that's trying to one-up the iPhone but if you look up "doomed to fail" in the dictionary you will see a picture of a Microsoft cell phone.
"The guy going on about how the stock price is the measure of success of a company is so igonorant (despite half a dozen people politely correcting him), and so adamant that he is right, he just has to be part of upper mangagement."
Thanks bunches, I'll console myself by watching my 401k and IRA gaining steadily every day.
Let me put this whole thread to bed with this thought:
If stock isn't a measure of a companies success what's the point of having a stock price? You buy shares in anticipation of a stock price moving up so you MAKE MONEY.
Take a look at the lifetime chart for MSFT. You will see that from nearly day 1 of the Ballmer regime and after 20 years of steady increase, the stock price nosedived and has been generally flat in between recessions when times were good for everyone else.
THAT'S the point I'm trying to make and it's on the head of the CEO because it's his ship, he's the top dog and big cheese. It's about scoreboard plain and simple.
"The guy going on about how the stock price is the measure of success of a company is so igonorant"
His price comparison alone was ignorant. But market cap appreciation, or erosion in MS's case, is an important dimension on which to assess management's overall success. It also has implications for employee recruitment and retention, the sustainability of leadership and their strategies, and so on. MS's record there isn't just bad, it's terrible. One of the worst in Top 20 technology. And that's for the decade, not just ytd.
If you perform worse than some, or for short periods of time, you can argue it's not necessarily indicative of management or strategy problems. But when you perform worse than almost everyone for very long periods of time (as MS has), then you have to acknowledge you're doing something wrong. Unless of course you're SLT. In which case you just pretend the record isn't that bad, or that the stock price doesn't matter, and carry on as usual.
Mini -
It's time for another post, don't you think? Here are a few topics:
- WinMo 6.5 launch
- Pink incident
- Windows Vista SP2 Launch (codenamed Windows 7)
- Upcoming Earnings Release
And the first two concern your division (you are in E&D, aren't you?).
"There is no problem, per se, of having a lot of employees. But they must be productive. MSFT's problem is that 70% (or so) of the employees are not productive, but merely layer upon layer upon layer of 'management'."
Not sure what org you're in, and maybe in Redmond you could get by with 30% of the staff you have now, but that's not the case in the field. 70% of the employess are unproductive? Please.
Peformance plan, anyone? Whether you "deserve it" or not - the gods have chosen you - and best of luck actually digging yourself out of a perf plan in this climate - you can't :
Don't waste you time asking to see your file or seeing an attorney. Your firing was vetted long before it happened. That is all HR exists for is to protect the company from being sued by angry employees.
Yes, sign up for unemployment and don't look back. Seeing a lawyer, not signing paperwork, etc won't get you anything but drag out an already unpleasant experience. Enjoy the unemployment for a few weeks and then find a job somewhere else. I left and have enjoyed computers and technology more now than I did at MS for a long time as the whole corporate doublespeak sucks your will to live.
While your advise has some merits, you should not give recommendations here to "not follow up"
a) to get your paperwork if you have not gotten it.
- get it and force the company to correct errors
- get it and provide a rebuttal and offsetting context
b) Yes move on as quickly as you can but there are mistakes all the way up the bank for many of these "removals" ... finding a competant lawyer to help you assess options help you for future "constructive" dismissal even if you find no legal recourse.
- taking MS to court has cost implications but other than that there should be no reason why you can not explore your options.
There are some teams at MS whom have a sympathetic ear to such malicious managers so you may find yourself back in the company. addressing the first one will help you come back, the latter will not necessarily do so.
Some of the managers who axed you were probably looking for a scapegoat so their time is coming next year. I know of 3 such managers stuck in the joan of arc syndrome being lead to paris at this time.
speaking of dysfunction
http://www.microsoft.com/business/smb/en-nz/themes/grow-your-business/dysfunctional.mspx
I'd love to know why this MS/Danger, T-Mobile, Sidekick disaster is not bigger news. This should be front page on all the majors.
Maybe because it impacted <1m users? That's why it's not major news.
This is a really bad thing, and there's no real excuse for not maintaining regular backups of the data. But it is not the worst thing to ever happen.
People will make sure that one of the first questions they ask when purchasing services from us (or any of our competitors) is details on our backup plan. I'm sure we'll come up with some sort of guarantee to show we're serious about protecting their data.
Oh, and the people that have already filed lawsuits for the sidekick issue...good luck with that. You should read the long contract you signed when you signed up for services. This won't go far.
Oh, and the people that have already filed lawsuits for the sidekick issue...good luck with that. You should read the long contract you signed when you signed up for services. This won't go far.
Do you mean T-Mobile? I think that lawsuit might have legs.
People will make sure that one of the first questions they ask when purchasing services from us (or any of our competitors) is details on our backup plan. I'm sure we'll come up with some sort of guarantee to show we're serious about protecting their data.
Oh, and the people that have already filed lawsuits for the sidekick issue...good luck with that. You should read the long contract you signed when you signed up for services. This won't go far.
You're missing the entire point.
I'm the person who wrote that "in a just world," this would put Microsoft out of business (above). You're belittling what happened, making lame excuses about "risk" and blaming the consumers, which is what companies always do when they're caught harming their customers. "They should have known better" etc. (And it's less than a million people, so who cares.) It's despicable.
If I were a Sidekick customer, I would be joining any class action suit I could find, and telling everyone I knew, personally and professionally, to completely sever all ties to Microsoft...and I'd be in the right to do it. I wouldn't want to be treated like (or thought of as) ineffectual, harmless collateral damage, and neither should any of them.
Your reference to the "contract" just makes me angrier. This is classic American corporate negligence, comparable to poisoning water supplies and building cars with unsafe components. The same snide remarks as you're making always come forth from corporate mouthpieces in those situations. Take a moment to reconsider what you're saying, and think about how upset you'd be if you'd lost all your email and photos permanently because Microsoft can't be bothered with the rudimentary procedures for handling a SAN.
Stock Price Dude
To quote you:
HP - 46.46
IBM - 122.29
AAPL - 189.27
REDHAT - 27.60
MSFT - 25.67
That's right, the largest open source competitor actually has a higher stock price than MSFT
Don't try and back peddle, you stated that that company A had a higher stock price than company B. That is a meaningless!
Yes, we all agree that MSFT is not doing what it should, but by talking about stock price and comparing them like Apples (pun), you shoot yourself in the foot.
If Apple did a stock split 4:1 tomorrow, reducing it's share to a quarter of it's current value, does that mean the company is now worth 25% of what it was !!!!
Are you seriously suggesting that MSFT should do a reverse stock split and bump up the price to higher than it currently is so the stock price is "higher than the largest open source competitor"
If you give me a $20 bill, and I give you two $10 in return, are you suddenly half as rich?
Dude - Go to school and learn some basic economics, then come back and quote something meaningful about how poor MSFT stock is doing.
Of course ORCL and MSFT have one thing in common: they are both run by conceited old farts. Apparently though Ellison is the better businessman.
A laughed a good five minutes over that, then cried a couple.
"General question...I'm a level 60 FTE planning to leave MS for another job. How much notice should I give my manager before I leave ? Is there a 30 day rule in MS ?"
HR has a FAQ on this. Employment is at will. Either you or Microsoft can terminate without notice. So technically no notice is required. If you want to be nice you could give notice, but your boss could also just fire you that same day you give notice too so be prepared for that.
Indeed. Just think if you are currently, or considering being, a BPOS customer. All your CRM, mail etc. managed by Microsoft. Now just wait for that 'oops!' phone call from BPOS ... scary stuff. After this more than ever I would not trust MSFT with my data.
Microsoft has clearly said the Danger environment, while part of the MS data center, has nothing to do with the rest of the S+S initiatives in the company.
I have some friends who work in ops for BPOS and asked them about the backup policies, and they are insanely strict about that. They've had customers who forgot to extend their trials and expired, or cancelled orders and changed their mind, and are successfully restored without a problem.
I'm not sure about Azure, but most likely it will also have policies around backups.
speaking of dysfunction
http://www.microsoft.com/business/smb/en-nz/themes/grow-your-business/dysfunctional.mspx
Holy crap... all this talk about Microsoft "dogfooding", perhaps it's time to start "dogfooding" on this?
Some key quotes:
"The hallmark of a dysfunctional organization is a gap between reality and rhetoric,"
Still, the real problem stayed at the top. The CEO and his friend of 10 years, the president, "were both volatile people and they weren't changing," Hanson says.
"You need to set a picture at the top of what the company should look like. It's very hard to say to the CEO, 'You're the problem.' "
No company can flourish in an environment that penalizes experimentation or trust.
"When you see a pattern of blaming and people trying to protect themselves and their particular turf, something is wrong,"
It turned out that the company didn't need a new division at all. What it needed was someone to coordinate the company agenda and get the managers to share information.
"Each department flew off on its own, trying to do what was right." Priorities were constantly shifting. Decisions were continually made and unmade.
Lesson: Take the time now to check the health of your workplace. And make the course corrections you need. Starting now.
"I got 2 weeks severance and had to sign some documents."
That sounds odd. I would have expected them to either give you lots of warning to shape up or to give you two months. Maybe Microsoft is changing its ways to save money?
I would not have signed any documents at that point - just to be stubborn to be honest :-). Two weeks pay is not that much if you have not done anything wrong.
I'm the person who wrote that "in a just world," this would put Microsoft out of business (above).
I'm the person whose post you are complaining about. You didn't read anything I typed. Go back and try again.
Oh and by the way, there's not a problem anymore for the vast majority of Sidekick users (haven't seen total numbers posted, but it's apparently a pretty small number of users). Hope the lawyers were paid up front.
It will be interesting to see how our earnings are this period. Google, Intel, IBM, have all done well. If we have not, if we are the only company to still be experiencing the worst of the recession, I don't see how our board can do anything but question Ballmer's leadership.
Stock guy gets a "no hire" from me. Demonstrates obstinate stubbornness and is unwilling to learn.
Do you mean T-Mobile? I think that lawsuit might have legs.
Worse than any lawsuit is the spectacle of Microsoft credibility and competence being dragged through the mud.
Doesn't give future Azure customers warm fuzzies about trusting their data to Microsoft
"Microsoft has clearly said the Danger environment, while part of the MS data center, has nothing to do with the rest of the S+S initiatives in the company."
Who cares? It just speaks to a lack of change control and rigor, not to mention normal operational practices. There is no reason to think that these are present elsewhere ... think MSIT and their patent ineptitude.
MSFT still struggles with the idea of being an enterprise player, and this event shows its desktop roots. Even the way the event was communicated was amateurish 'lost the data, can't get it back but ohh wait we can get it back, at least some of it, not sure which bits though'. LOL.
"That sounds odd. I would have expected them to either give you lots of warning to shape up or to give you two months. Maybe Microsoft is changing its ways to save money?"
In manager training for performance management HR explicitly trains managers NOT to suggest that there is a series of steps leading to termination. Their fear is that this creates an implicit employment contract, and if any of the steps (e.g. warning, bad review, PIP, kaboom) is skipped then the implicit contract has been violated and is contestable in a court of law. Equally managers are not to offer a finite time horizon for the same reason.
Whenever dealing with HR remember they are NOT on your side, ever. They mitigate risk of lawsuits against MSFT by trying to kurb egregious manager behavior, but would burn you at the stake quicker than you can shout "Witch!"
I have now got 2 consecutive A/10 reviews and have formally been put on Performance Improvement Plan(PIP)- I have now been given N number of tasks to be completed in 60 days, failing to complete them will result in my termination at the end of PIP.
While I have realised that I am not a good fit in my current job and have started to look for a different job that can motivate me to excel,I do not want to get fired from my current job before I land a better one. so I am thinking of working very hard to survive this PIP.
Could anyone familiar with this process answer the following questions?
Is PIP designed to fail - That is, has my termination been already decided and this is just a formality to document my alleged incompetence? Or is it a genuine chance for the employee to prove her mettle? Would it be worth spending a whole lot of time hoping to pass the test?
Thanks!
some good links for those in need:
http://www.lni.wa.gov/WorkplaceRights/Wages/PayReq/PersonnelRec/default.asp
http://www.hum.wa.gov/Employment/WLADEmployment.html
keys:
- you have legal right to access your files
- you have 6 months to file a claim /suite against discrementation.
"Over at Microsoft, despite sitting on a pile of money, an adjudicated monopoly, a vast market share, a devoted following, smart employees, and much more in his favor, Steve Ballmer did very little with the company Bill Gates handed to him and is not even close to being considered a great CEO. He may be a terrific technocrat and a super salesman, but it's safe to leave him off the list."
The best IT vendor CEO of the decade is...
Oh and by the way, there's not a problem anymore for the vast majority of Sidekick users (haven't seen total numbers posted, but it's apparently a pretty small number of users).
Just because they got their data back doesn't mean there wasn't or isn't a problem.
I assume many/most Sidekick customers, when faced with the service outage and Microsoft's statement that their data was permanently lost, decided to buy a new phone. So they are likely out hundreds of dollars and all the hours they spent dealing with customer service, buying a new phone, migrating their data, etc.
What's this, Microsoft can un-delete their data? How the F*** does that help them now?
And I'm sure many people had important time-sensitive data stored on their phones. Hotel/rental car reservations, times and dates for important upcoming meetings, etc. Getting that stuff back days or weeks after it would have been useful isn't great.
There were approximately 800,000 Sidekick customers. Yes, that's under a million and to a Microsoft employee that may not sound like much, but it's more than the population of Seattle, and in the Real World, small- to medium-size businesses would kill for that kind of customer base. Assume each one pays T-Mobile $50/month for service (conservative) and that's recurring annual revenue of half a BILLION dollars.
Assume that maybe half that Sidekick customer base is now disgruntled and switched to the iPhone, or Verizon, etc. That's a loss of $240M/year to T-Mobile. I think considering the loss of recurring revenue and the damage to their reputation, T-Mobile would be justified in going after Microsoft for ~$1B and I hope they win.
I decided to trade in my original iPhone for the Imagio. I wanted to give WinMo a fair shot. I figured, it couldn't be that bad. Bad? It is EMBARRASSING.
Yes, WinMo 6.x is not good, or somewhat bad. But that's not because of those reasons you mentioned. WinMo is "bad" because users have to customize it. I used iPhone for two weeks. The most praised iPhone browser crashed on every single link from a Google search result page, when I tried to find a game walkthough. I switched to my very old WinMo phone and the first link gave me what I want (even though it was slow).
Now I'm a very happy Imagio user (with some custimization of course). I'll stick to it until WinMo 7 comes out.
#1 Ballmer would never switch to a proven-successful mobile OS like Linux or BSD.
I disgree. The OS is not the problem. It's the UI and business model. And I don't think #2, #3, and #5 are hurting next-gen WinMo development. Only #4 is somewhat relevant. Hopefully it wouldn't cause too much damage and it will be fixed soon.
Is PIP designed to fail - That is, has my termination been already decided and this is just a formality to document my alleged incompetence?
YES.
Or is it a genuine chance for the employee to prove her mettle?
NO.
Would it be worth spending a whole lot of time hoping to pass the test?
NO.
Is PIP designed to fail - That is, has my termination been already decided and this is just a formality to document my alleged incompetence? Or is it a genuine chance for the employee to prove her mettle? Would it be worth spending a whole lot of time hoping to pass the test?
--
yes your done, get out ..another team internally you are eligible.
I have some friends who work in ops for BPOS and asked them about the backup policies, and they are insanely strict about that.
Businesses in which MS has a strong interest are well maintained. Businesses which are seen as unimportant, declining, or legacy businesses can have their engineering and operations staff shaved down to a skeleton crew and keep running on a wing and a prayer.
That being said, the Microsofties and outsiders bloviating about backups at Danger are just revealing their complete lack of anything resembling a clue. Danger is an acuqisition and is not part of Microsoft's main structure nor is it supported in the same way as Microsoft's mainline business groups. In terms of whether Microsoft's cloud offerings are good or bad, it means absolutely zilch and people in the industry know it.
I used iPhone for two weeks. The most praised iPhone browser crashed on every single link from a Google search result page, when I tried to find a game walkthough.
If you're having those kinds of problems with the iPhone, there's something wrong with your phone. I know dozens of people with iPhones, and they have nothing but praise for the device, and consider the Mobile Safari browser to be absolutely excellent.
To all whiners and Nostradamus's here.
From genuinely reliable sources I've come to know that MS is going to publish very good results this quarter.
Client has performed exceptionally well and sales of Windows 7 haven't started yet. Don't expect any more layoffs in the near future...
So, please stop whining, get your fat asses off your chairs and fscking start working.
Don't forget that this Company pays your salary, health insurance and all other benefits like not so many other companies.
"you have legal right to access your files...."
Can someone Please clarify, if this right is applicable only for Microsoft employees based in the US. Or is the right applicable to all employees of Microsoft, even to those working in Asia or Middle East ?
"Yes, WinMo 6.x is not good, or somewhat bad. But that's not because of those reasons you mentioned. "
This is why Microsoft is FAILING in this area and others. Arrogance like this. You are telling me, the customer, that my opinions about your product are wrong. Get a grip.
I am in Windows. One of our managers left our team ( I think his position was wiped out), and he went to Windows Mobile. His new manager's manager was the SDET in our team 2 years ago. What an amazing promotion speed he got..I don't like WinMo phone but I like the team there. They are hiring/promoting crazily, and wasting our money crazily.
"Is PIP designed to fail - That is, has my termination been already decided and this is just a formality to document my alleged incompetence? Or is it a genuine chance for the employee to prove her mettle? Would it be worth spending a whole lot of time hoping to pass the test?"
NO!
Hey - you are an adult and they have to lay out what you need to do? Maybe in better times, but during a time when they are looking to lose a few thousand employees? You will have to walk on water, work 90 weeks, heal the sick, and still you'll be shown the door.
You need to complete those tasks AND do something new and fancy that your team will all notice. So, really, ride it out to unemployment unless you can do something that will wow your entire team. Some new tool, new process, etc. At this point - I'd look for another job now outside of MS or be prepared to enjoy some unemployment right around the holidays.
Best of luck.
what has happened to Bill Veghte? His new role was supposed to be announced by September...
Here's what the problem is with MSFT, plain and simple.
http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=MSFT,GOOG,AAPL,AMZN
The problem, simply, is TOO MANY EMPLOYEES. Period. MSFT needs to get rid of 2/3 or 3/4 of the employees.
Yeah, thats the problem. Everyone is a genius who immediately knows exactly what's wrong and it turns out its always just some single arbitrary thing. Convenient.
Why not include IBM in your little thesis? Oh right, b/c they are more successful than MSFT and have a TON *more* employees.
It has nothing to do with # of employees. Thats simpleton thinking. The fact it is so popular here on the blog, and the fact that the blog is mainly MSFT commenters, is a great example of what IS wrong.
There is no singular vision at MSFT. It is run by folks who grew up on monopoly money and dont really understand the industry. They pretend to accept that the reliance on Win/Office is a cancer, but yet do nothing to attempt to break it.
They diversify, but never at the jeopardy of the "core business" and they never break the stranglehold of moronic licensing terms that only a monopoly could impose.
Meanwhile, the idiots that post here (typical of MSFT drones) feel the problem is "not enough focus on the basics - Win+Office" even as the world blazes forward without MSFT proving that OS = commodity and fat client = aging dinosaur.
You could fill VOLUMES on what is going wrong at MSFT. "# of employees" is nowhere on the list, sorry to rain on your parade (and on the blog in general) but thats the truth.
MSFT has a unique chance to actually *revolutionize* and lead the way in defining the next generation computing paradigm - actually delivering on the notion of a dynamic "on demand" model - and is squandering it b/c of utter incompetence and addiction to the monopoly money within the SLT.
Anyone who understands this either leaves or is pushed out. Ray would have been gone already, Im sure, if he thought that any of the competitors were more capable of delivering. That wont last forever though. Give it another 5 years or so with jerkoffs like KT at the top and MSFT will start to show genuine decline as the idiots in Redmond stay laser focused on a dying model of draconian licensed client OS and big fat office client and customers simply stop buying. KT will keep firing the entire field over and over while he rides the ship into the grave.
Win 7 will be a "hit" sure enough. When do you think customers will buy Win 8? LOL... MSFT has lost all tough with reality - IT, consumer, economic AND technology industry. The days it could write and impose rules ended about 5 years ago - the morons just havent figured it out yet.
To the PIP commenter - consider this your 60-day warning. Getting out of PIP is practically impossible. I know quite a few people who have been put on PIP. Not a single one got out.
"I have now got 2 consecutive A/10 reviews and have formally been put on Performance Improvement Plan(PIP)- I have now been given N number of tasks to be completed in 60 days, failing to complete them will result in my termination at the end of PIP."
I was in same boat as you are. But, I was clear scapegoat for Microsoft review process. One good thing is, I found a job outside and tried hard to get out of PIP. But I learned that, program is designed to cover Microsoft legal ass rather than helping you out.
Anyway, I got a better job during PIP and landed in bigger, better company with 20% rise.
Now I am standing outside and laughing at bunch of jokers, who pushed me to PIP.
I have now got 2 consecutive A/10 reviews and have formally been put on Performance Improvement Plan(PIP)
What discipline and level are you at in the company and did you change roles in between or prior to the aforementioned reviews?
How long have you been with the company?
What is the reason for internal hiring only at MS E&D Mobile division? Anybody have any insight - budget cuts ????
My 2 cents here, some good and bad people got let go. I was part of this process, during this time, I did all i could to domino people from other teams whom i felt were hampering my team from being successful.
SLT is really not helping lead the company through the pain of the recession.
Where as my chain is going to do well, this was no direct correlation to our SLT team.
"He may be a terrific technocrat and a super salesman, but it's safe to leave him off the list."
The best IT vendor CEO of the decade is..."
So, it would appear based on that article, that if Ballmer were getting a performance review versus all of his peers, he would get a U/10.
I wonder someone is managing him out as should be the case? Or even maybe just a Performance Improvement Plan?
you have legal right to access your files...."
Can someone Please clarify, if this right is applicable only for Microsoft employees based in the US. Or is the right applicable to all employees of Microsoft, even to those working in Asia or Middle East ?
no this was for "Washington state" employees and that law was from the washington state government.
Please consult your country, state, province laws regarding employee rights.
Can someone suggest attorneys who specialize in employment laws and represent employees and are not afraid of taking on MSFT?
I live on the east side but I am willing to consider attorneys in Seattle.
Thanks much for your help.
I've known several people that have been PIPd.
Several shared their plans with me. They were all reasonable plans. Their managers made sure that all distractions were removed and they only had to deal with the tasks on the PIP. Yet once they got the news, they too assumed that they were done. So none of them completed their plans (and they knew that), and they did get fired.
You still have a chance, even if you are on a PIP.
Dear Mini,
Over the last several months, we have had numerous conversations about your performance. Unfortunately, it's not measuring up to other bloggers out there.
If we do not see sustained improvements in your performance over the next 60 days, your job is in jeopardy.
Performance plan:
1) At least one new blog post per week for the next 2 months.
2) Rapid removal of posts from obvious trolls.
3) Generate a rallying cry that MS shareholders can get behind to try to push for change at Microsoft. This needs to be completed by the time of the annual meeting on 11/19/09.
Thanks,
Maxi (your boss)
What is the reason for internal hiring only at MS E&D Mobile division? Anybody have any insight - budget cuts ????
I'm really shocked to see they're still hiring at all. It's too late in their cycle for a new hire to come in and make any kind of difference.
Several shared their plans with me. They were all reasonable plans. Their managers made sure that all distractions were removed and they only had to deal with the tasks on the PIP. Yet once they got the news, they too assumed that they were done. So none of them completed their plans (and they knew that), and they did get fired.
You still have a chance, even if you are on a PIP.
this is lovely, your the voice of concious for everyone PIP'd.
the program was officially removed but occurs on discretion.
My friend was really given a JAR message and up through the point prior to that time he asked "am i on PIP" .. their mgmt chain denied it up and over until that message was delivered.
He rocked house and delivered .
Then when he was given the clear indication he was on solid ground, he asked about trend ... and his manager again skirted around this for months. When the employee started to document 1:1s and other "indicators" he was receiving the manager turned on him since the employee was documenting succeess...
After 4 months of delaying he finally said "your barely A10" and blind sided him with U10 this last review period. The manager (who clearly created an artificial environment for this employee) should be fired for negligance and wrongful termination.
The employee was not given a chance to succeed so this was not a matter of "didnt get it and achive" .. this is the case where the manager wanted him gone and no matter what this was going to happen. All the work this guy did was negated and overlooked and enflamed as a "non-fit" for the group vs. the reality.
I have just posted an article on my experiences as a Microsoft Program Manager.
[b]Microsoft Program Management for Dummies[/b]
http://bit.ly/dHttu
Don't expect any more layoffs in the near future...
Really... The information I have, from sources I trust, indicate your assertion is incorrect.
Having the highest R&D spending makes one thing clear: our efficiency is the worst in the industry.
I'll just mention that Apple also had a phase of ego-driven, blue-sky, gold-plated R&D boondoggles for about a decade in which not much happened to improve the products, and then they had a near-death experience and cut that shit out.
Ever since SJ returned, R&D at Apple has been very much product-focused, and the results are plain to see. As long as Ballmer and his sycophants believe that the dollar figure spend on R&D is what they should be bragging about, he'll continue to piss away shareholders' money with nothing to show for it.
-jcr
BALMER NEEDS TO BE FIRED NOW
As an AAPL shareholder, I hope that never happens. I'm sure that GOOG and ORCL shareholders would concur.
-jcr
Meanwhile, the idiots that post here (typical of MSFT drones) feel the problem is "not enough focus on the basics - Win+Office" even as the world blazes forward without MSFT proving that OS = commodity and fat client = aging dinosaur.
Actually what YOU'RE saying is typical Microsoft drone mentality. Sometime around 1999-2000, when the dot-com bubble was in full swing and Ballmer was taking over, all the company messaging shifted over to "boxed software is the way of the dinosaurs" and "the browser is the operating system" and cloud computing this, and services that, etc., etc., blah, blah.
Guess what, it's 10 years later and none of this bulls*** actually happened. People are buying netbooks with WINDOWS instead of Linux. People are still buying Office. Look at the companies that Microsoft covets--Apple and Google primarily. Apple is reaping the rewards of a well-designed operating system (supposedly Microsoft's forte) that runs well on a phone. And they're making a fortune selling hardware, which any business jagoff will tell you is too low-margin to even bother with. They don't have s*** for cloud presence. Look at Google. Yeah, they have some cloud stuff, and it's profitable, but primarily they're making a fortune selling search ads. That has nothing to do with a cloud, or cloud computing, it's just internet search.
Basically you're stuck a decade in the past, parroting the dot-com nonsense Ballmer was spouting back then. If our business strategy hadn't been lifted from Forbes Magazine, maybe we wouldn't have had to go through all this Hailstorm, .NET, Sharepoint, Windows Live, Bing, etc. nonsense and we'd be making good products instead.
Since we don't have a Win7 release-fest blog entry yet, thought you'd enjoy this:
An update is available to improve the stability and reliability of Windows 7 and ...
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/974431/
And here you all go a whingin' about WinMo, damn Win7 is not even released yet and already we have an update for "reliability and stability"
yes your done, get out ..another team internally you are eligible.
Not true in at least one large division of the company. They can prohibit you from transfer out of spite, even if you have never received a bad review, to ensure that you fail out of the company. Been there, had that done to me. No challenge of it was successful, and I tried many.
You still have a chance, even if you are on a PIP.
That is true IFF the PIP has reasonable goals. There are some occasions where managers are pulling for someone that their skip-level is targeting, for example, in which that is the case. That isn't what is going on, though, if the goals look too ambitious.
One of my teammates was PIPped. Much to the skip's annoyance and his manager's, and his own, relief he hit every goal and stayed. He left 6 months later when other opportunities presented themselves outside the company.
Here's some advice if the goals look too ambitious. Does anyone else on your team have a similar role? If they were evaluated against the objectives given you, how would they fare? Don't bother to bring this up with management if they seem hostile to you, and if they're not politically out of favor. Do keep records of as much proof of this as you can, for use at severance negotiation time.
From personal experience, the information you present at severance time might be completely new to HR and higher-level managers, who might then be willing to be somewhat more flexible on the terms of your departure. HR is good at recognizing potential legal issues for the company. It's what they're there for. You can offer them a polite escape that works for you.
A principle from sales classes in a prior life: watch and listen very closely, and use whatever the customer gives you as leverage to close the sale. If they give you a promise to can you if you're not delivering 3 times as much as the middle performer on your team, your hand has some good cards to play.
Re: Can someone suggest attorneys who specialize in employment laws, represent employees, and are not afraid of taking on MS?
Cable, Langenbach, Kinerk & Bauer, LLP
206-292-8800
www.cablelang.com
You can also search the Lawyer Directory at the Washington State Bar Association, www.wsba.org. Search by Area of Practice (“Employment”) and City. Only consider attorneys that are in private practice – their profile will indicate this.
His new manager's manager was the SDET in our team 2 years ago. What an amazing promotion speed he got..I don't like WinMo phone but I like the team there. They are hiring/promoting crazily, and wasting our money crazily.
Reality is some of the highest managers in WinMo's test org wouldn't pass a basic SDET interview if they were put up against one. Is it any wonder the org is stinking up Microsoft's reputation? Meanwhile "Robbie" is busy selling his stock...
"The real point of our brunch conversation was, How the hell did this happen to the Borg? How did all these billions of dollars slip through Ballmer's fingers? How did Microsoft find itself a leader in nothing and playing catchup on every front -- in MP3 players, on the cloud, in search. How did Amazon roll out S3 and not Microsoft? How did Google control the search market? How did Apple take over online music retailing and MP3 hardware? How did Microsoft let that market for smartphones get away from them? How is it that everything about Microsoft's business is backward looking? This is the real problem they have now. They're fighting wars that are already over. They're investing huge energy into defending things they already control, like Windows. As they do this, as they put so much effort into lost causes like search (Bing v. Google) they keep missing out on new things. So their problems just keep getting bigger and bigger, like a snowball rolling down a hill."
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thesecretdiaryofstevejobs
Anyone notice earnings this friday are before the market open? The last time this happened was before the big round of layoff announcements.. Hmm...
To the PIP commenter - consider this your 60-day warning. Getting out of PIP is practically impossible. I know quite a few people who have been put on PIP. Not a single one got out.
I can back that up. I was a manager and put a couple people on PIPs. The PIP process is entirely about building the case to fire someone and protecting MSFT legally. The vast majority of people on PIPs find another job at another company, either before the PIP is up or because the PIP led to termination.
I only know of one person who turned things around, and even then for the rest of their time in that group the threat of returning to a PIP was never far away. They managed to improve their performance just enough to be able to move to another group, which is what all involved wanted in the first place. And it was unpleasant for the entire team, the entire time.
Even though (as another poster cited) it's a self-fulfilling prophecy to ignore the PIP in favor of looking for other work, thereby guarenteeing you don't meet the PIP: look around now. You will save yourself time and frustration, and possibly luck out and find another position while still fully employed so you don't have a gap in money and benefits.
Good luck.
By contrast, a company like Apple has efficient communication and workflow channels established and regulated between its various departments and divisions.
Well, that's not entirely true. There certainly have been cases of duplicated effort that I saw personally, and it can be difficult at times to get some groups there to share with other groups.
That being said, you don't get separate divisions competing with each other at Apple.
-jcr
I have now got 2 consecutive A/10 reviews and have formally been put on Performance Improvement Plan(PIP)
The key here is that you got A/10s, not U/10. You were achieving at your level, but your management doesn't think you have potential to grow beyond your current role. You management chain doesn't have a problem with how you're doing your current job, it's your future potential that has them wanted to dump you. It's highly unlikely that a PiP would include anything to change their mind about your potential - you've been Kimmed. If you were on a PiP after getting a U/10, there'd be more hope, but your management chain has had two years to decide you are "Limited." A few weeks on PiP isn't going to change their mind about that.
You could fill VOLUMES on what is going wrong at MSFT. "# of employees" is nowhere on the list, sorry to rain on your parade (and on the blog in general) but thats the truth.
Well, yes and no. The root of all MSFT problems really is lack of execution, lack of operational competence. The company is usually not able to competently carry out strategic plans because it lacks capable leaders in operational leadership positions. GMs, Jr. VPs, GPMs, the people in these positions don't know how to do their jobs.
Because they don't know how to do their jobs, none of the other stuff matters. The best strategy in the world for getting off the depence on Office/Windows (and old versions at that) would fail because the GMs in charge of carrying it out would bungle the job.
This is the case across the company because the company's promo/reward philosophy has rewarded the wrong things for years, and the corporate culture selected poor leaders for leadership positions.
Fixing things will require replacing 80-90% of the current leadership with people competent to do their jobs, but you can't hire or train that type of person all that fast, so there's no way for MSFT to competently manage more than maybe half it's current headcount in the immediate future.
The company has too many people because it doesn't have adequate leadership for them.
Balmer "its the economy, stupid" Really?!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/IPhone-helps-Apple-profit-apf-1313822746.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
And he is CEO...WHY?
I am relatively new to Microsoft (less than 3 years). I was surprised at the large layoff this past year. But nothing prepared me for the past 2 months as I watched some very high performing (and I assume highly paid) colleagues from our larger team get the ax via the U10 route. The most incredible example was an SDET who identified more than 50% of the bugs on his team of 6. He was well respected on the team by his colleagues but apparently his management had it in for him. I have carefully checked with others that are in the trenches like me and to a person, everyone of us cannot believe this guy was shown the door. Literally, he was the go to guy who knew the platform. He was productive to a fault, nice, did his job, etc. In fact, other team members from related groups were shocked to hear he was forced out. We all were.
So....I've got my resume gussied up and am getting ready to muster out.
"Reality is some of the highest managers in WinMo's test org wouldn't pass a basic SDET interview if they were put up against one."
They know how to manage up, that's the only qualification needed in WinMo.
The employee was not given a chance to succeed so this was not a matter of "didnt get it and achive" .. this is the case where the manager wanted him gone and no matter what this was going to happen. All the work this guy did was negated and overlooked and enflamed as a "non-fit" for the group vs. the reality.
=-------------
Which group, role was this?
For people mentioning WinMo (or WinPho nowdays :)), here is first-hand story about a guy:
Summer 2008 he was Senior Test Lead, then got promoted to Senior Dev Manager (brought to manage existing team), then, after year in tenure while team didn't ship much, he got pushed out in reorg, but moves to WinMo.
I look him up recently and he is now Principal Dev Lead over there. Things like that makes one to lose faith in this company...
Mini, it's time for a new post. Something about the reorgs in various devisions would be a great topic and would trigger a lot of discussion, which we all love!
I find it very suspicious that the earnings report for Q3 is coming out pre-market on Friday at 7:30AM.
This is not normal. We always release on the 3rd Thursday of the month, after the market close.
I think the rumours about another round of layoffs on October could be legit.
I'm confussed. Maybe someone can clarify?
There are many posts here about asking for legal guidance, and documenting this and that, and taking action ... etc, but I thought WA state was "at will".
Can't MSFT just fire us without warning or reason? (In just the same way we can pack up the next day without giving notice?)
Does MSFT need to cover its ass? Can't it just fire anyone it likes for any reason? (protected classes aside)
And here you all go a whingin' about WinMo, damn Win7 is not even released yet and already we have an update for "reliability and stability"
You have no idea how many fixes were made to WM 6.5 between the time of RTM and the time it ended up on a shamefully small number of phones. No idea.
I can back that up. I was a manager and put a couple people on PIPs. The PIP process is entirely about building the case to fire someone and protecting MSFT legally. The vast majority of people on PIPs find another job at another company, either before the PIP is up or because the PIP led to termination.
People on PIPs are not supposed to be allowed to interview for other positions within the company. They're supposed to meet the minimum bar for the PIP and then they might be allowed to interview.
So....I've got my resume gussied up and am getting ready to muster out.
Good luck. I was one of the 1400 with a similar story to the guy you wrote about, and it took me months to find my next opportunity.
After 8 months of lowball offers to do low level work, mostly from bottomfeeder vendor agencies, a good opportunity finally came through last month. It's still a salary cut, but the responsibilities are a better match for my career level than they were at Microsoft(too low there). And I'm making some high-quality connections outside of the usual Microsoft channels that will stand me in good stead in the future.
This is not the outcome I would have chosen, had it been completely my choice. I would have stayed at Microsoft, but on another team as mine was a dead end for everyone on it. Seeing as that wasn't an option, I've got myself a nice gig that offers an interesting, challenging work day, evaluation that so far seems based on merit rather than politics, plus both educational bennies and the time to use them. Not such a bad outcome. I'll almost consider myself one of the lucky ones. Almost, but not quite, because I was forced to give up great career potential there.
"Reality is some of the highest managers in WinMo's test org wouldn't pass a basic SDET interview if they were put up against one."
Being able to test is not their job, so they don't need to pass a basic SDET interview. Their job is to make sure the test org runs smoothly and ships the product with quality and on schedule.
Ex-softie here...and I do enjoy reading the blog...seems things are getting even worse than it was 9 months ago. But thought I'd share my journey in the event it helps some others.
After more than a decade with the co - good reviews, impactful work, enthusiastic employee, etc - I got landed with a manager through a re-org. Absolute bloody hell, and regardless of what I did the goalposts kept shifting and efforts undermined rather than supported, that PIP was coming irrespective. I figure I have to live with myself, and there is no way I am worth a PIP, so I gave it the finger. Stick the handover and transition up yer dark place!
It has taken a few months but now I work less, earn more, have a much better work environment and colleagues who value me. None of this B/S that has become Microsoft - some folks are just so farkin up themselves.
And happy to let y'all know I contributed gladly to APPL record profit this quarter. In fact I only have two - hardly ever used - Windows XP laptops left now. When I get some ready cash they will be replaced with two Macbooks.
I have tried to engage MSFT in my work environment - too bloody hard, too bloody expensive, too full of the smelly brown stuff. Not only has the company I once loved become a follower, it still has no concept of customer service.
So SteveB can gladly jump all over the iPhone, there are plenty of them to go around. So damn sad actually.
"I'm really shocked to see they're still hiring at all. It's too late in their cycle for a new hire to come in and make any kind of difference."
Then you don't understand corporate politics. This is so that if, or more likely when, mobile fails, Bach can say "I did everything I could". You don't last nine years delivering a negative net profit without succesfully anticipating and neutralizing potential career enders.
"Danger is an acuqisition and is not part of Microsoft's main structure nor is it supported in the same way as Microsoft's mainline business groups."
Clue in. Anything that MS acquires becomes MS to customers, the media, and investors. And its operations, including technology infrastructure, should have gone through the same DD that was applied (hopefully) to the initial business case for buying. Clearly, that wasn't the case.
Gap in market cap between AAPL and MSFT is now just $40bill ... is the Chief Executive Bozo listening? Or just fiddling while Rome burns?
"damn Win7 is not even released yet and already we have an update for "reliability and stability""
LOL. The trolls are really feeling threatened by W7.
Balmer "its the economy, stupid" Really?!
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/IPhone-helps-Apple-profit-apf-1313822746.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
And he is CEO...WHY?
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as with everything in this space, we are broad and cheap. we think 99$ apps are key to success
The business model is something steve doesn't get because he is a dinasour and doesn't trust the few people in this company who understand how to compete in this fast twitch app space.
I have nothing to say, but am hoping to be post #500.
But since I'm here, If you are in a PIP or going to be and have a manager who may be in the same boat - look for a strong mentor preferably a Principal level who has credibility.
Managers hate to look bad to other groups, having a mentor will help ensure that there is some element of fairness. It might also help you break out of PIP by improving the impression folks have of your performance and potential.
I hate to repeat a mantra, but it is all about perception.
heads up (and material for a new post)... the next layoff is coming on November 4. this time it's going to be on the sly - no big announcements or exec emails. in fact, that's the m.o. going forward -- quarterly layoff rhythm, part of the new way of doing business
But since I'm here, If you are in a PIP or going to be and have a manager who may be in the same boat - look for a strong mentor preferably a Principal level who has credibility.
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Did that, but to no avail... guys still rang me out. my mentor was "surprised" as i was when we both thought we got through the start of the runout. he was very helpful in the process but still.
> heads up (and material for a new post)... the next layoff is coming on November 4.
It's true...a friend of mine disclosed this to me last week.
So, please stop whining, get your fat asses off your chairs and fscking start working.
"The beatings will continue until morale improves."
Don't forget that this Company pays your salary, health insurance and all other benefits like not so many other companies.
"As a company, and as individuals, we value integrity, honesty, openness, personal excellence, constructive self-criticism, continual self-improvement, and mutual respect."
Businesses in which MS has a strong interest are well maintained. Businesses which are seen as unimportant, declining, or legacy businesses can have their engineering and operations staff shaved down to a skeleton crew and keep running on a wing and a prayer. [...] Danger is an acuqisition and is not part of Microsoft's main structure nor is it supported in the same way as Microsoft's mainline business groups.
"We take on big challenges, and pride ourselves on seeing them through. We hold ourselves accountable to our customers, shareholders, partners, and employees by honoring our commitments, providing results, and striving for the highest quality."
Your Potential. Our Passion.
> heads up (and material for a new post)... the next layoff is coming on November 4.
It's true...a friend of mine disclosed this to me last week.
+3... tried posting this a week or so ago but it never showed up. Either went to the CRF or just never got through blogger to Mini. Could be on the list myself. Whatever; I'm growing tired of the BS. They can cut me a large check and I will be on my way.
microsoft for the last 10 years relative to customer demand
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLI7MLZYPBg&feature=related
""Reality is some of the highest managers in WinMo's test org wouldn't pass a basic SDET interview if they were put up against one."
This is true for senior managers everywhere -- the skills you need to get hired out of college are not the skills you need to run a business.
Take a Dev Manager with a team of 30 people and see if that person can still code at a competitive level with their talented junior devs...
Scheduled quarterly layoffs.
As someone who went through that at a previous employer: What a miserable thing to have hanging over the heads of people who are among the best and brightest in the industry. Fear doesn't help an engineer do their best work. You think keeping to ambitious schedules and troubleshooting broken code written by others in order to get yours to work properly isn't enough stress?
In pre-dotcom years, I worked for a company that had overreached, and instituted quarterly layoffs to reduce staffing footprint. When it all started they were at around 100 employees. When I left, during the last round, there were about 10.
The company has managed to hang on by its fingernails due to installed base, but hasn't done anything significant in years.
Most of the top talent left, either as part of the layoffs or when they saw the writing on the wall and decided that they'd rather control the timing of their departure.
This strategy is the mark of a company that's in trouble and flailing, and doesn't understand that cutting payroll expenses carelessly isn't necessarily helping them.
My past employer did one thing that appears smarter than the Microsoft approach, though. Early rounds caught a lot of big cheeses with fancy titles and salaries to match, in addition to some guys in the trenches. If you're going to do panic HR cost-cutting, go for the low-hanging fruit: the guys that make 3, 4 or more times than line IC's.
Being able to test is not their job, so they don't need to pass a basic SDET interview. Their job is to make sure the test org runs smoothly and ships the product with quality and on schedule.
Yes, you don't need to understand the work to make sure that it's being done right. [rolleyes]
> +3... tried posting this a week or so ago but it never showed up. Either went to the CRF or just never got through blogger to Mini. Could be on the list myself. Whatever; I'm growing tired of the BS. They can cut me a large check and I will be on my way.
Get ahead of the curve and start looking now. That's what I did before I was laid off on 1/23.
heads up (and material for a new post)... the next layoff is coming on November 4.
It's true...a friend of mine disclosed this to me last week.
I call bullshit. There was all kinds of layoff rumbling around review time and nothing came to pass.
Name groups, name numbers, identify sources.
Mini, one-line "there's gonna be layoffs on X date" posts should just go to the CRF.
This is true for senior managers everywhere -- the skills you need to get hired out of college are not the skills you need to run a business.
If you're passionate about coding, you won't stop doing it or forget how.
Managers and executives who don't keep up should be fired. If they don't have the passion to keep up with the technology, then what ARE they passionate about? Managing up? Expanding their fiefdoms?
This is true for senior managers everywhere -- the skills you need to get hired out of college are not the skills you need to run a business
The sad part of this is that even the first line of test and dev leads seem to follow this routine. In our team we have 6 dev and test leads managing ICs. None of them do any active coding, testing. Neither know the product and keep pinging the ICs for minute details. Just plain embarassing
The sad part of this is that even the first line of test and dev leads seem to follow this routine. In our team we have 6 dev and test leads managing ICs. None of them do any active coding, testing. Neither know the product and keep pinging the ICs for minute details. Just plain embarassing
This was my experience in WinMo. The first level of "leads" were basically just paper-pushers that would constantly (and I mean constantly) pester their workers for status reports and time estimates and conduct meetings that appeared more about them meeting their review goals ("Conduct weekly team meeting.") than about accomplishing anything useful.
I believe Microsoft suffers from a problem of too many chiefs. Those chiefs have to appear be to doing something for the sake of their review/career and you wind up with a lot of unnecessary churn as layers of management desperately try to justify their existence. THAT is surely one of the things wrong with Microsoft today.
This is why Microsoft is FAILING in this area and others. Arrogance like this. You are telling me, the customer, that my opinions about your product are wrong. Get a grip.
If you are a "pure" customer. I'll just say "thank you for your feedback". But you are an MS employee trying to tell us why MS is failing, then I should let you know you're wrong. We should NOT improve by following your suggesions, otherwise we'll just fail again (in a different way).
This was my experience in WinMo. The first level of "leads" were basically just paper-pushers that would constantly (and I mean constantly) pester their workers for status reports and time estimates and conduct meetings that appeared more about them meeting their review goals ("Conduct weekly team meeting.") than about accomplishing anything useful.
The problem's in Windows Server, too, although not with all leads. The worst are 2nd level managers whose reports include team leads as well as a Principal or Senior here and there, particularly when there's also a gender issue to add to the feeling of resentment.
When I was an IC at MSFT, I was stuck for over a year with one of these underqualified, obsessed micromanagers who was apparently terrified that if I didn't complete 30 hours of paperwork for them a week that THEY wouldn't meet THEIR commitments and they'd be "found out" as incompetent and lose their sweet, well-paying gig. And I mean, on-demand, immediately, whenever they asked for it, up to 6-10 times a day, no matter what I was in the middle of. To hell with meeting my commitments of course. It was a miserable experience that cut my productivity by at least 30-40% and didn't contribute to meeting Microsoft's product goals. I felt like I was being paid to babysit the guy so that he didn't cause MORE trouble by bothering even more people and lowering their productivity as well.
I don't know why he didn't just ask the managers that reported to him for hints on how to manage, if he wasn't secure about his knowledge of how to do his job. Even the ones who were brand new to management, and those managers who'd only been in the computing industry for a total of 3-4 years, did a better job than he did, and wasted less of their reports' time on paper-pushing.
The employee was not given a chance to succeed so this was not a matter of "didnt get it and achive" .. this is the case where the manager wanted him gone and no matter what this was going to happen.
sounds too familiar, happened to three people I know in MSD on sco live.
When will this company stop copying other tech firms and come up with some real innovation.Favoritism, nepotism, stealing credit of someone else’s work and passing on the buck seems to be the norm here. Makes me feel sick. This company is digging a hole for itself faster than it can get buried, internally and externally, both. A shameful place to work. Sack it!! I am so gonna get outta here
When will this company stop copying other tech firms and come up with some real innovation.Favoritism, nepotism, stealing credit of someone else’s work and passing on the buck seems to be the norm here. Makes me feel sick. This company is digging a hole for itself faster than it can get buried, internally and externally, both. A shameful place to work. Sack it!! I am so gonna get outta here
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FIX it lisa while there is a chance.
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