Lived through this as an ex MSFT manager myself. The reality was having to throw direct reports under the bus and explaining to them the outcome was "relative t

Lived through this as an ex MSFT manager myself. The reality was having to throw direct reports under the bus and explaining to them the outcome was "relative to their peers". Then they'd look at a smaller team and see people with much less impact getting good or great reviews (less competition in those teams). Its an aweful system and firmly believe it factors into MSFTs stagnant innovation. Lifetime average, peer reviewing and open transfers are what's needed.