Microsoft Group Program Manager, Technology reviews

A terrible bureaucracy at times. Too many layers of direct and matrixed management. An enormous DISCONNECT at the middle management level between executive strategy and what's actually happening on the ground. Runs primary in the levels Sr. Director and General Managers, but occasionally hits CVP and Directors. Too much managing up, and not enough care given to support teams. Too much empire building and not enough doing what's right for One Microsoft. The irony is that even at the CEO level, the executives get it. It's that middle management layer that is keeping Microsoft from being the nimble company it needs to be to stay competitive in the longer term.

Many employees have been there so long that they may have lost some context about the real world. In Office, for example, they were unwilling to incorporate mobile devices as a 1st experience until way too late - despite multiple voices calling for it. And you can see a similar delay with Office apps for IOS. This self-centeredness also extends to management. When someone is doing well, that person is golden. When someone isn't doing well, there's no safety net. It's extremely Ayn Randian. I was there nearly 20 years - I started as an individual contributor contractor, and worked my way up to group manager (managing managers). I believed in the review system and the company for at least 15 of those years - complainers just couldn't hack it, I thought. But I honestly realize now that there is a blind spot with regard to human performance. People can still be great performers and contributors even after they've failed to deliver in a particular circumstance. Perhaps Satya will impact that for the better.