Text 11675, 99 rader
Skriven 2006-06-18 00:21:10 av Rich Gauszka (1:379/45)
Ärende: What's wrong with the Empire at MS
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From: "Rich Gauszka" <gauszka@hotmail.com>

Interesting read

http://blogs.msdn.com/philipsu/archive/2006/06/14/631438.aspx

I managed developer teams in Windows for five years, and have only begun to
reflect on the experience now that I have recently switched teams.  Through a
series of conversations with other leaders that have similarly left The
Collective, several root causes have emerged as lasting characterizations of
what's really wrong in The Empire.



Cultured to Slip



Deep in the bowels of Windows, there remains the whiff of a bygone culture of
belittlement and aggression.  Windows can be a scary place to tell the truth.



When a vice president in Windows asks you whether your team will ship on time,
they might well have asked you whether they look fat in their new Armani suit. 
The answer to the question is deeply meaningful to them.  It's certainly true
in some sense that they genuinely want to know.  But in a very important other
sense, in a sense that you'll come to regret night after night if you get it
wrong, there's really only one answer you can give.



After months of hearing of how a certain influential team in Windows was going
to cause the Vista release to slip, I, full of abstract self-righteous
misgivings as a stockholder, had at last the chance to speak with two of the
team's key managers, asking them how they could be so, please-excuse-the-term,
I-don't-mean-its-value-laden-connotation, ignorant as to proper estimation of
software schedules.  Turns out they're actually great project managers.  They
knew months in advance that the schedule would never work.  So they told their
VP.  And he, possibly influenced by one too many instances where engineering
re-routes power to the warp core, thus completing the heretofore impossible
six-hour task in a mere three, summarily sent the managers back to "figure out
how to make it work."�  The managers re-estimated, nipped and tucked,
liposuctioned, did everything short of a lobotomy -- and still did not have a
schedule that fit.  The VP was not pleased.  "You're smart people.  Find a
way!"  This went back and forth for weeks, whereupon the intrepid managers
finally understood how to get past the dilemma.  They simply stopped telling
the truth.  "Sure, everything fits.  We cut and cut, and here we are.  Vista by
August or bust. You got it, boss."



Every once in a while, Truth still pipes up in meetings.  When this happens,
more often than not, Truth is simply bent over an authoritative knee and
soundly spanked into silence.



The Joy of Cooking



Bundled with a tendency towards truth-intolerance, Windows also sometimes
struggles with poor organizational decision-making.  Good news is that the
senior leaders already know this and have been taking active steps to change
the situation.



There are too many cooks in the kitchen.  Too many vice presidents, in
reporting structures too narrow.  When I was in Windows, I reported to Alec,
who reported to Peter, to Bill, Rick, Will, Jim, Steve, and Bill.  Remember
that there were two layers of people under me as well, making a total path
depth of 11 people from Bill Gates down to any developer on my team.



This isn't necessarily bad, except sometimes the cooks flash-mob one corner of
the kitchen.  I once sat in a schedule review meeting with at least six VPs and
ten general managers.  When that many people have a say, things get confusing. 
Not to mention, since so many bosses are in the room, there are often
negotiations between project managers prior to such meetings to make sure that
no one ends up looking bad.  "Bob, I'm giving you a heads-up that I'm going to
say that your team's component, which we depend on, was late."� "That's fine,
Sandy, but please be clear that the unforeseen delays were caused by a third
party, not my team."



Micromanagement, though not pervasive, is nevertheless evident.  Senior vice
presidents sometimes review UI designs of individual features, a nod to Steve
Jobs that would in better days have betokened a true honor but for its
randomizing effects.  Give me a cathedral, give me a bazaar -- really, either
would be great.  Just not this middle world in which some decisions are made
freely while others are made by edict, with no apparent logic separating each
from the other but the seeming curiosity of someone in charge.

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