Mini-Microsoft

Mini-Microsoft



This "Mini-Microsoft" blog is a strange blog. If I were younger I would agree with everything he says. But since I am older and wiser I don't.



I agree that the Microsoft review system is bad.



I don't agree that executives at Microsoft shouldn't get paid a million dollars a year. I think they should.



I agree that Microsoft used to have a different culture. It was smaller.



As things get big, the abstractions that managers use to manage change radically. In fact, one might argue, the difference between a successful manager and an unsuccessful manager (besides people skills) is his or her ability to grab on to the right abstract representation of the business. Clearly, in a business like Microsoft, it is impossible for the execs to know all the details. It's just impossible!



What matters is that they understand the control points. And those control points might not be obvious to the underlings.



A really good manager will explain those control points in a way the troops can understand. But the number of managers that can do that is about five. And they aren't going to work at a really big company.



It's funny, because I'm more of a fan of Microsoft now than I was in the old days. I find the software less buggy and easier to use than it used to be. And the compatibility problems Microsoft faces are huge! And yet they create this eco-system for PC development that continues to thrive. That's amazing.