5 ms·
I spent the summer at MS on an internship and I think I can say with confidence that calling things as they are is just not something one does at Microsoft. Wil
by Danieru 13y ago
I spent the summer at MS on an internship and I think I can say with confidence that calling things as they are is just not something one does at Microsoft. Will it could be the intern cocoon I also observed non-intern targeted communications that showed the same behaviour.
Once I spent time with people they got more friendly and open. Yet if you do get a good conversation going you can expect the managers at the table to hang out of it. The managers always watch their words. Likewise if you talk to a random person in the cafeteria they will toe the party line.
In contrast one is safe to criticize Microsoft products provided they have been dropped or replaced. No love is shown for Windows Mobile or the Kin.
When you do criticize current practices/products in public there was an unwritten rule that one should always reference the competition. No one calls it out in words like "We can do better!", "This is user hostile!", "We're being to greedy by doing X!". Instead it is "We should focus on X because our competitor is going well on Y". Also "competitor" is always left non-specific, just like it is in your quote.
As such considering Ray Ozzie's former high org chart position I must congratulate him on saying as much as he did.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- asveikau 13y agoI was an FTE at MSFT for a few years. I disagree with this assessment. In many contexts Microsoft has a culture of tearing apart other people's ideas, I suspect rooted in the legendary BillG rants ("stupidest idea I've ever heard", etc.) and the overly internally-competitive culture. Additionally, rank and file routinely complain about Microsoft being bad at marketing, Microsoft being bad at consumer messaging, Microsoft building products for the Redmond bubble and not for humans, etc. etc., and the internal dogfood aliases are full of this stuff as are hallway and lunchtime discussions in many places. Not to mention all those people carrying iPhones who used to joke that it was "competitive research". That's not to say that there aren't koolaid drinkers and that it won't ever be politically unwise to directly criticize your colleagues... But it's a diverse place, and, in my experience, cynicism exists in a big way there.
- kevin_rubyhouse 13y agoI agree. I've been working in Windows Embedded for a couple years now, and I work with some people in management not afraid to speak their minds to others on the team. Sometimes the way they react or phrase things helps me think from their vantage points. Interns do seem to be treated differently though. Not many criticisms are voiced around them.
- seanmcdirmid 13y agoInterns don't have access to litebulb, I think.
- Danieru 13y agoMight be true. I had access to the internal social network but I did not try subscribing to mailing lists. Its good to hear not everyone got the same impression as me. On the other hand they may have been observing more private conversations than I am referring to. Still I cannot at all claim more experience than former full timers.
- kabdib 13y agoThe /good/ managers called things "problems" and knew how to manage people well. The /bad/ managers never wanted confrontation, were afraid to raise up problems, were autocratic to their reports and nebbishes to their own managers, and never tried to grow their people. There are managers I regret leaving behind, and managers who I was very happy to see the back of.