3 ms·
Ballmer is clearly very busy running Microsoft. It would be unsurprising to learn that he is too busy to have the time to play around with rival technology plat
by cstross 15y ago
Ballmer is clearly very busy running Microsoft. It would be unsurprising to learn that he is too busy to have the time to play around with rival technology platforms and evaluate them himself. Consequently he gets to base his opinions on what his senior execs and VPs tell him about the competition. Which in turn is coloured by their perceptions of their position within Microsoft.
You do not get to grab additional resources within an organization by talking up the competition, especially when the competition is in a market-dominating position relative to your own division. You get resources by trash-talking them and promising to topple them with just one more push.
So my gut feeling is that Ballmer is not delusional; he's just being fed an unrealistic line by his subordinates, and doesn't have either the time to second guess them himself or the sense of urgency necessary to set up an independent business intelligent unit to give him the necessary no-bullshit sanity check (to learn if his generals are reporting their victories on the battlefield accurately ... or not).
In other words: he's more likely being actively misled by others than personally delusional.
- suivix 15y agoIt makes me think of what Hitler's top generals must have told him, which led him to making bad decisions in the war.
- TomOfTTB 15y agoIt's funny because I agreed with the top comment until you posted this. Now that you mention it though believing the positive pronouncements of your top generals at a time when you're clearly losing is delusional. Especially when it leads you to make decisions like moving Windows to Metro (therefore betting the whole company on an interface that has yet to succeed with consumers).
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- fleitz 15y agoReally? Perhaps you should reread the following parts of history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk#Halt_order http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dunkirk#Halt_order http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad#Case_Blue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad#Case_Blue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain#Raids_on_British_cities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain#Raids_on_Brit...
- raganwald 15y agoI agree that his VPs might be blowing sunshine up his arse, but that is no excuse. It’s his JOB to be such a great leader of managers that he knows how to get them to tell him the truth. It’s his job to read tons of positive press and reports and pick out the warning signs and the possible problems. It’s his job to be able to pick up one of those “cheap phones” and remember how Microsoft and cheap PCs beat Apple within an inch of death. And if nothing else, he ought to remember how well things turned out the last time he laughed at something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYcxvEfUikg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYcxvEfUikg