> I get it, Microsoft sucks, we should all be fired, rah rah rah. Unironically, yes, UNLESS... - You're willing to take a serious look in the mirror (and unde

> I get it, Microsoft sucks, we should all be fired, rah rah rah. Unironically, yes, UNLESS... - You're willing to take a serious look in the mirror (and understand that the way you reacted to the situation was defensive, passive aggressive and inflammatory rather than direct, constructive and conciliatory) - You assign credit where credit is due - You do a good faith post-mortem and come up with some way to make sure this won't happen in the future Now, if that happens, then obviously you should not be fired; if anything, you should be rewarded as handling difficult situations like this correctly tends to be the true test of one's capabilities as a professional. Unfortunately, it's high stakes, high rewards -- which also means high risks and consequences. It's not easy to say "We made a mistake. Not only that, but there's no easy 1-shot fix to undo what went wrong. Let's sit down together and discuss, and we'll listen. Then, we'll go and think about that for a while and come back to you with where we align, where we differ; and so far as where we agree, where we think we can improve. What do you say?" It may not be easy, but it's worth it. Relationships are built in the muck.