This week is shaping up to be a bit much... Started today at least an hour behind. This week I have 20 hours of architecture meetings, a 75 minute presentation to 300 MS field people, a 5 minute demo in someone else's presentation, 60 minutes with our VP to talk about application models, and now the house to go try and make an offer on.

Actually, this is going to be fun!

Oh, and given my early starts for meetings I have to move my schedule up by an hour to get my coffee in... wahoo!

10:11:55 PM    comment []

Jerry (no blog) has been telling us all about a process they use for consensus [link from Michael] building in some standards meetings... apparently the Quaker vote is done by everyone voting on each item as one of:

a) Prefer
b) Can live with
c) Can't live with

The idea being that reasonable people will more quickly come to a decision with they understand what people are willing to tolerate and not. Seems interesting.

Several of us in my group are going off to do some architecture planning and I think we will have lots of challenges around consensus - we may have to put this to the test.

10:00:43 PM    comment []

I have always wanted to move to Japan. More specifically I have always wanted to live in a foreign country for long enough that I'm not just a tourist. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a fair amount. I have been able to see Japan, Spain, USSR (while it still existed), etc. I find travel to be one of the most exciting and invigorating things you can do.

So the other day when an old friend called from Japan and said he had some open positions... To cut to the chase, I'm not moving to Japan.  What is worth writing about?

[Note to other 'Softies - don't expect me to be moving anytime in the near future, i've got product to ship! <G>]

Good managers.

Before I had decided, I walked into my manager's office and started the conversation with "So, I've always wanted to move to Japan". He responded by asking about my motivations for considering this. I told him about how I had been thinking about this idea for a long time, it has been kind of a life goal. I told him that I was really happy where I was and that the only reason that I was considering this was that the opportunity had presented itself, and it was something I had always told myself that I would do at some point.

He told me that (of course) now would be a tough time for me to leave - however that if this was something that I really wanted to do that it was something we could talk about in the future. He described some other employees that had spent time in other countries.

I share this story to offer a counter to Emby's horror story. My manager didn't freak out, or anything else (or hid it well <G>) - rather he took the time to understand my reasoning and tried to offer potential solutions. Not only has my current manager done great things like this, but my past managers have also done things like this.

Management is about more that just ordering people to do things. Management is about having your success being measured by those that work for you. It is about spending time working for their career. It is by their achievements that you can accomplish great things.

I am always amazed at people that equate management and large organization with more power and control. As you get more employees you have to give up control. A good manager cannot dictate decisions. Your influence as a manager is done through investing in good employees. Good managers don't dictate - they lead. Management and leadership are very different skills.

Microsoft has really recognized the need for high quality managers. I've actually been participating in a new education program that they run internally that helps employees understand the pros and cons about becoming a manager. I am providing the perspective of someone that used to manage and now work as an individual contributor. Companies have to offer advancement paths inside and outside of management - happily Microsoft has done that.

9:02:44 PM    comment []