cool.. I liked points 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12.. the author looks like he has taken a silly example for point 7. No doubt these guys have been the best.. but google is kicking there butt in this virtual world.. and there policies are almost different..
Hmm, a book on Microsoft. I haven't read it but I work here and hence have first hand knowledge of how much of this is true and how much is myth. Of course, don't expect me to discuss this on a public forum :-)
Parth, I understand, the same applies for my company as well, but like you can't speak publicly about it. Infact the very reason I wrote about MS is because I somewhere feel the same in my environment.
Vaibhav, I like reading all kind of books, infact I could not read Harry Potter beyond 35-40 pages, so somewhere its a personal choice.
Perform, perform, perform and not rating people based on success rate seem quite contradictory to each other. Valuing performance without valuing success reminds me of factories!
The question that whether the company is important or the people is interesting. I guess different things are important to different people. If I were an MS exec, what is most important to me is how much money and intangible benefits I take away and what I can do to maaximise my takeaway! If that means forcing my subordinates to travel economy class that's fine. If that means, pampering my subordinates with Moet and Chandon Champagne every weekend, that's fine too! The same applies to my own perks. but yes, I'm a fierce individualist. If you ask me I'm always gonna say the individual is the most important thing. But I might be biased.
And no. I don't have problem with Bill running the show. Either I run it or someone else does. As long as it is me I don't care. And as long as it is not me, I dont care. I may try to make friends with whoever runs the show. Even then, I don't care who it is.
I did read this book a couple of years back. Its a light coffee table read. Some basic principles govern all successful companies and Microsoft has its own principles. I do admire MS for the way they capitalized on an opportunity presented to them aeons ago and have gone on to dominate.
:) This is another nice post from you. Like Parth, I too can associate closely since i work for MS and i think i know - what you are saying although i may not necessarily agree to all these points. What i can say is that it has become a good business for some people - just to comment on something BIG and get noticed overnight. many things have been written on Microsoft. Notably,
cool.. I liked points 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12.. the author looks like he has taken a silly example for point 7. No doubt these guys have been the best.. but google is kicking there butt in this virtual world.. and there policies are almost different..
ReplyDeleteHmm, a book on Microsoft. I haven't read it but I work here and hence have first hand knowledge of how much of this is true and how much is myth. Of course, don't expect me to discuss this on a public forum :-)
ReplyDeleteHow do you guys read these ridiculous books?
ReplyDeleteRead Harry Potter instead.
Or
Read my kissay@
http://kissay.rediffblogs.com
Santosh, good to hear you after a long time...
ReplyDeleteParth, I understand, the same applies for my company as well, but like you can't speak publicly about it. Infact the very reason I wrote about MS is because I somewhere feel the same in my environment.
Vaibhav, I like reading all kind of books, infact I could not read Harry Potter beyond 35-40 pages, so somewhere its a personal choice.
-Anu
Perform, perform, perform and not rating people based on success rate seem quite contradictory to each other. Valuing performance without valuing success reminds me of factories!
ReplyDeleteThe question that whether the company is important or the people is interesting. I guess different things are important to different people. If I were an MS exec, what is most important to me is how much money and intangible benefits I take away and what I can do to maaximise my takeaway! If that means forcing my subordinates to travel economy class that's fine. If that means, pampering my subordinates with Moet and Chandon Champagne every weekend, that's fine too! The same applies to my own perks. but yes, I'm a fierce individualist. If you ask me I'm always gonna say the individual is the most important thing. But I might be biased.
And no. I don't have problem with Bill running the show. Either I run it or someone else does. As long as it is me I don't care. And as long as it is not me, I dont care. I may try to make friends with whoever runs the show. Even then, I don't care who it is.
I did read this book a couple of years back. Its a light coffee table read. Some basic principles govern all successful companies and Microsoft has its own principles. I do admire MS for the way they capitalized on an opportunity presented to them aeons ago and have gone on to dominate.
ReplyDelete:) This is another nice post from you. Like Parth, I too can associate closely since i work for MS and i think i know - what you are saying although i may not necessarily agree to all these points. What i can say is that it has become a good business for some people - just to comment on something BIG and get noticed overnight. many things have been written on Microsoft. Notably,
ReplyDeleteRead:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1591840392/102-2766735-6318514?v=glance
and
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684855313/102-2766735-6318514?v=glance