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It actually makes a lot of sense. Technical people sometimes think that the higher up you go the bigger the decisions, but normally decision making peters off a
by bdamm 7y ago
It actually makes a lot of sense. Technical people sometimes think that the higher up you go the bigger the decisions, but normally decision making peters off around the Director level. Above that and it's really about how to keep the company going as a company, or in other words the business of maintaining a structure of people that continues to survive within the regulatory context that the company operates within. And for a large multinational company like Microsoft, that's an enormously big deal. You're generally lucky if the CEO has any technical capabilities at all.
- MichaelMoser123 7y agoThat's a interesting perspective. Can you give examples of regulatory decisions that make a difference to the bottom line on that sort of scale?
- hoorayimhelping 7y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Cor... is kind of the classic example of expensive regulatory decisions
- MichaelMoser123 7y agohow could they have influenced that one in practical terms?
- ta999999171 7y agoNot doing illegal shit and spitting in the faces of technically intelligent potential complainants. They're playing nice now so Windows 10 spyware gets accepted.
- MichaelMoser123 7y agoi don't think that was a wise decision: as a result of the spyware scourge the concept of native apps in windows is dead and you need a web based app for about anything.
- ta999999171 7y agoAgreed.
- wayoutthere 7y agoYes, very much this. As a VP my responsibilities largely revolve around budgeting, org structure and corporate politics. I take the advice of my directors on pretty much everything (and they mostly listen to their managers & engineers), because they and their direct reports are better informed than my responsibilities allow me to be. My involvement in technical decisions is largely limited to testing their decision-making process and the political issues that impact that decision. I do know how the stuff works in general, but my technical skills are probably a decade out of date because I've spent that time working up the management ladder and learning those skills instead. But management is more about being able to organize a group of people to do a task, not doing the task yourself.