Working at Microsoft 05/15/06
Background
After finishing my philosophy degree in 1996, I took an interest in
Microsoft's MCSE curriculum as a way to crash the IT party. This strategy worked
out nicely. I never realized during my college years the range of technical
opportunities available to people without computer science degrees. The “Systems
Engineer” or “Sales Engineer” role never showed up in my research at the career
libraries. The greater surprise would be that I should one day work at
Microsoft, itself.
My first day at Microsoft in 1998 was one of the best of my life. I was thrilled
just to be issued a badge, having been a temp in my previous job. The future
offered none but the brightest promises for a successful career & a happy life.
How the Problems Started
The first indication of trouble came in the second year. The idea of a "Sun competition team" never
fully aligned with the overall mission of Telesales. In 1999, our team of four
was abandoned by its manager. Because of uncertainty about our team's future, we
were told to stop "making commitments" to customers. Strictly speaking, this
meant that we could no longer offer assistance to companies who wanted to start
new UNIX-to-Windows migrations, but since that was the primary task of our team,
the practical outcome was that we no longer had any work to do.
Months went by in which--for the first time in my career--I had to invent
something for myself to do during the day. (It was by no means the last time.)
Usually, I read the Harvard Business Review. Morale was losing altitude. I came
in later & later in the morning.
After seeing two of my three teammates move on to other positions at Microsoft,
I began my side-career as an "internal candidate" for hire, a role I would play
through the rest of my time at Microsoft. I managed to find a job as a “Program
Manager” in the Windows division, a new start, to be sure. In Telesales, we all
believed that the title of Program Manager represented the highest prestige at
Microsoft, and that any PM was a valued and respected contributor with
responsibilities of some substance.
We failed to realize three things. First, although the product groups were
indeed soaring above Telesales in the company hierarchy, the Windows
division had its own hierarchy. Developers, not Program Managers, enjoyed the
most prestige. Second, PMs were a diverse pack, from people working on challenging design
problems all the way down to the most menial administrators of beta programs or
hardware pools. Third, a kind of manager existed in the product groups that we
never saw, or dreamed about, in the sales organization, namely, the
iron-handed bastard.
Managers
The primary experience I had in the Windows division was one of shock. I
couldn't believe that a company regarded on the outside as innovative and
forward-looking had adopted management practices dating from the 1950s. Life was
characterized by rigid structures of authority, established ways of getting
things done, and--above all--a total lack of concern about, or respect for,
newcomers. That Microsoft placed someone as tactless and overbearing
as my new boss in a management position was not merely bad business: it was
irresponsible. I took it as a personal insult. I was hardly alone,
however, in working for someone who was habitually argumentative.
The product teams' addiction to conflict was institutionalized in the
name chosen for meetings where bugs were prioritized--"War meetings." I
remember thinking that Lou Gerstner's
book about all the cultural problems inside IBM could have been written,
with very few changes, about Microsoft.
Having learned not to rely on the company for choosing good leaders, I developed
that skill, myself. Exercising much greater care when questioning my next
bosses, I ended my career at Microsoft working for someone I liked. He had a
Ph.D. in music & probably held little in common with whatever management mold
the organization made available. Changing divisions may also have helped. I was
in MSN when they fired me.
Compensation
I try to remember the good times with the bad, but the besieged feeling of
holding out at all costs until my stock options were mature is the overriding
memory. Employees called their options the "golden handcuffs." I was lucky that
mine were worth anything when I left: many others were less fortunate. So I
never became a Microsoft millionaire. I became a person who could return fire at a
boss, when necessary, and someone who could make a good decision when money and
quality of life were at odds.
On the good days, I look at my numbers & feel good about my accomplishments. On
the bad days, I dream about going back in time to December, 1999 and telling
myself to exercise any vested stock option. Had I only known what lay in store
for that stock! Perhaps the larger point is that,
being young, I couldn't detach myself from paper profits the way an experienced
investor could.
Work/Life Balance
“Work/Life Balance” was a phrase Microsoft HR used to use. On the home front, 1998, 1999,
and 2000 were the loneliest years of my life. I had never spent so much time,
nor had I ever been so concerned about being, alone. I don't know whether this
soul-deadening isolation was a result of my own choices, or that of some
unwelcoming contour in the Seattle social scene. I have only San Diego and
Berkeley with which to compare my Seattle experience.
Getting to a good place in my Seattle personal life took until 2001. I sustained
that success through 2002, 2003, and 2004. It certainly did not happen on its
own.
When I think of the Washington years, I try to remember 2002 and forget about
1999.
Remember the Good Times
Without question, working at Microsoft had its moments. I remember the thrill of
taking my first business trip in 1998. I booked a nice hotel room in San
Francisco’s Chinatown & felt I had truly arrived.
I remember the experience in 1999 of seeing Bill Gates & Steve Ballmer at work
in an actual business meeting—not a speech. How many can claim that privilege?
I worked with high-profile customers, from AT&T to Intel, as a salesperson. And,
whatever else we faced during a sales cycle, we never had to sell Microsoft as a
vendor. That had already been done.
I learned how the largest software engineering project in the world (Windows)
works from the inside. Last but not least, I learned enough SQL & C# to move on
to some challenging software projects of my own.
Whatever else the Microsoft years may have been, they were growing-up years &
the last in which I would sacrifice my freedom of movement for a
future that was supposed to be richer & happier.
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