I'd like to point out that I mentioned the open source thing already with Nadella era Microsoft and gave 2 examples (VSC and them joining the OIN). While I am extremely skeptical of the business culture actually changing that much and I hope you'll forgive me for that considering I've seen problems with Microsoft for nearly as long as I can remember at this point, I still notice these things and I definitely do respect when I see good decisions being made which wouldn't be made under Ballmer. I am sure some things do get green lit under him which wouldn't have been green lit before and didn't intend to make it seem like absolutely nothing ever changes and it's just some dude used as a scapegoat and that's it.
That being said - I hope we can both agree that when you have one person acting as the public face of the company or subdivision, the public put all the responsibility onto that person. There are places where I think this is exploited very deliberately, but I was probably wrong to generalize it.
I'll take the rest of the things you said on board, as someone who obviously hasn't had first hand experience with him it's good to know these things. My ranting has obviously set you off and I apologize for that. However, in the nicest way possible, I don't think the snide remarks at the start were really necessary.
I should also probably stop posting since I seem to be ranting more often than usual today.
Oh I was being sarcastic with how right on you were. Often companies and countries have figure heads so it's assumed that they are "running" things. Of course as you get older you realize it's not so cut and dry.
There are also variables that most of us just won't ever know which decisions are based on daily in business.
I remember when the team who made Kinect adventures shipped on the premise we would be working on a next gen new ip. I mean we had a rockstar team, vets from film (Disney,Sony ) and gaming (Mass effect , god of war, etc) , no way you stack a team this talented for just Kinect.
Fast forward and we not only had to do more Kinect but went outside gaming to interactive tv then hololens. Morale sucked.
But from a leader POV, you have two options pivot your team (100+) where funding is or cause them to lose their jobs. You can't share this at the time of course but decisions at that level can be tough. Lay offs don't just affect the people and their families directly impacted but everyone who is left too.
Business is really just a bunch of shifting priorities and most of the time there is good reason behind why things are not as valued. Leaders struggle with the right transparency balance. It's also rarely one person at fault and yes fall people are set up all the time even just to boost morale internally.
Microsoft's latest thing is
"Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more."
This is the company goal so you can see why gaming is not a huge priority.
I've been on teams that had reviews with Gates,Ballmer.
Gates: straight shooter , knows his stuff , be prepared to answer technical questions. With hololens he wanted to know about text clarity because how will office translate? What's the app product pipeline and tech stack?
Ballmer: no idea how he would react just be prepared for a reaction. Could swing either way, less technical than Gates.
Satya: from what I hear , much more personable but knows his stuff and will question just not nearly as intense. However his decisions are swift and impactful. Impress and he will remember but I also have a feeling he may remember disappointments too lol.
From my interactions with Phil. He's legit just a nice guy. Maybe too nice to be honest. It can be difficult to get things done when nice in corporate environments. I always got the sense he's loyal and one to wait for the right opportunity to push vs other leader types who will run over whoever is blocking their agenda for that week.
Phil is tough to judge because a lot of his role is public facing these days which is why Matt was elevated. Public facing roles representing big companies is no joke and you need to say what is required at times.
Reminds me of upselling rewards when I worked at blockbuster back in the day lol.
Also feel free to post! I only share my experiences just to add a different view.