Blast off for Mini-Microsoft!

Why another weblog about Microsoft? This is a weblog written by someone working for change at Microsoft. I’m working for change from the inside (you don’t get to see that, most likely). And I’m working for change from the outside (yes, this right here). I intend to use this area to post one Microsoftie’s view of what is going on with this company and what opportunities exist to shine again.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you’ll return in the future. Please subscribe to the feed! You’re not only obviously incredibly good looking but also exceptionally smart. Please share with me your input about what I say here plus any insight you might have.

What kind of things do I intend to post about? Oh, let’s see:

• Microsoft needs to reduce employee size. It’s too big. It doesn’t need a quicky Atkins-equivalent. No, it needs to get itself on a corporate exercise program that will shed itself of unwanted groups and employees. And stay on that.


• Microsoft needs to stop hiring. It’s hard enough finding the scarcest of treasured corporate resources: the talented individual suitable for working at Microsoft. Stop hiring, trim down, and rebalance those precious scare employees inside to where they can be more productive and make products that delight our customers.


• Re-interviewing: all employees below a certain life-time review average need to re-interview. Those that don’t make the cut the second time around get to look for new opportunities elsewhere.


• Unleash employee driven innovation with a Microsoft Labs community area.


• Less research, more application.


• Continue the community effort and make it so if you’re not leading cool innovation, your butt is dedicated to some time per week helping out in the community, sharing all that wonderful knowledge between your ears. Reward that!


• Back to Basics. Win32 and C++. Bread and butter. Not everything can run in the freaking CLR.


• Re-energize the home market. The home market is pretty tepid with-respect-to Microsoft-branded software. It can’t take that much effort to invigorate Microsoft for the home user and make it cool.


• Start working vigorously on Internet Explorer again. Winning the browser wars, dusting off our hands, and running away screaming from IE to the Next Cool Thing represents the very worst in less-than-competitive behavior.

I LOVE THIS COMPANY!

Mini-Microsoft, Mini-Microsoft, lean-and-mean!