Bill Gates' Management Style 362
replicant108 wrote in to give us Tom Evslin's fascinating account of working for Microsoft in the early 90s. "So you're in there presenting your product plan to billg, steveb, and mikemap. Billg typically has his eyes closed and he's rocking back and forth. He could be asleep; he could be thinking about something else; he could be listening intently to everything you're saying. The trouble is all are possible and you don't know which. Obviously, you have to present as if he were listening intently even though you know he isn't looking at the PowerPoint slides you spent so much time on.
At some point in your presentation billg will say "that's the dumbest fucking idea I've heard since I've been at Microsoft." He looks like he means it. However, since you knew he was going to say this, you can't really let it faze you. Moreover, you can't afford to look fazed; remember: he's a bully."
Re:It's all about presentation. (Score:2, Informative)
Don't let me get in the way... (Score:5, Informative)
"I'm always right. This time I'm just even more right than usual." Torvalds, Linus (2005-07-14). Message to linux-kernel mailing list. Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
"If you still don't like it, that's ok: that's why I'm boss. I simply know better than you do." Torvalds, Linus (1996-07-22). Post to comp.os.linux.advocacy newsgroup. Retrieved on 2006-08-28.
That's all, return to your ranting.
If you're interested, also read Joel Spolsky (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Champoined Needed - Sounds Good To Me (Score:5, Informative)
I worked for Evslin - he's not all that (Score:1, Informative)
Luckily for Microsoft, Brian Valentine was able to recover from that & push Exchange out. Say what you like about Microsoft, but Exchange Server did more to make email a reality for corporates than any other product.
Re:Untouchable crap (Score:5, Informative)
Dude, did you even read the comment you were responding to?! It said that Gates ALLOWED THE FIX!! I mean, I don't think Bill Gates is some kind of role model or anything, but having someone come into your office to unwittingly call your own code "crap" to your face, and then going along with what that person says, is NOT a "personal defect" of any kind.
Re:Champoined Needed - Sounds Good To Me (Score:2, Informative)
Physical violence is often the best solution to a problem, within a very specific framework of ends being met.
The best course of action with a bully depends entirely on a classification:
1) Loner, possibly demented sociopathic bully:
a) Find bully's weak spot and firstly attempt to leverage this (alcoholic parents, history of abuse etc) in an attempt at a display of an understanding friendship
b) Wait until bully is alone, hit bully in the back of the head with a brick. This for of bully ultimately splits everyone into 2 camps; predators and prey. Become the predator, but dont add the pressure of humiliation as this might cause a violent retaliation in order to save face.
2) Bully leader, usually with a group of sycophants in tow:
a) Weak spot finding would be less useful unless you can use this to publicly humiliate the bully. A small amount of released information to the group of hangers-on might easily cow the bully into leaving you alone, as the fear of losing face in front of them might be a deciding factor.
b) A small, swift and painful physical attack may be called for, but this must be done publicly, in front of more than the bully's group of friends (In case of accusations later). It should be humiliating (If the bully is a boy, and the bullied is a girl, even better). The best course of action would be to insult the bully into threatening one first, and then a swift cafeteria tray in the teeth, or a head-butt on the nose should suffice. Remember, quickly done, quickly over, but make the bully less in the eyes of his peers. The cost / benefit ratio of attacking you then just becomes too high...
Handling bullies 101...
The Sproggg