“Microsoft employees allegedly left ‘in droves’ during Steve Ballmer’s recent speech at the recent annual Microsoft Company Meeting,” Tom Warren reports for WinRumors.
“The claims were made in comments at mini-Microsoft, a site authored by a a secret Microsoft employee who regularly blogs about internal changes at the software giant,” Warren reports. “The comments section of mini-microsoft’s latest blog post has provided some interesting insight into the closely guarded Microsoft company meeting over the years.”
• What a sad spectacle. While SteveB was yacking away, people were leaving in droves. Back in the good old days when BillG spoke, EVERYONE listened.
• Steve, you’ve lost the support of your employees – when will you realize that you’re holding this once great company back? Oh and BTW, you can take LB (HR chief Lisa Brummel) and KT (COO Kevin Turner) with you too. They like the taste of your Kool Aid…
• Yep, pretty sad to see all the seats empty out while SteveB was talking…hopefully he gets the hint and bows out in the Win8 timeframe.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Steve Ballmer is perhaps the greatest CEO the world has ever seen. It’s well known that not only do we respect him, but we like his strategy. We like it a lot. Microsoft BoD and shareholders, please disregard the ramblings of a few bad, er… apples and continue to bask in the wondrous splendor that is Steve Ballmer’s Microsoft! May Steve Ballmer remain CEO of Microsoft forever!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan Uff” for the heads up.]
WOW! How little respect do your employees have to have for you to get up and leave during a company meeting that you are hosting?
I doubt seriously that it’s true. It’s from a “secret blog”? Not that they shouldn’t walk out mind you, but most people are too polite and scared to walk out while the CEO is speaking. Think for a minute. You think there isn’t someone noting who leaves? Balmer is a goof but nobody is stupid enough to jeopardize their job (well paid jobs) anytime certainly not in this economy. Fantasy.
You don’t know techies. Many of these guys spend days and nights laboring over projects. There’s a lot of love and care they put into their projects, a lot of ownership. Lot’s of these folks are leaders, project leaders. So, when they hear somebody rambling on making little sense, they have a deep seated need to find a way to express their dissatisfaction. These folks need and respond to leadership, real leadership, not the polite / scared environment most CEO’s today rule over today.
Well, then, apparently they haven’t learned common courtesy. No matter your feelings, and I’m certainly no Ballmer fan, but you don’t get up and leave during an exec’s speech. If you really think it’s that bad there, you have choices: get another job somewhere else, or have these employees express their dissatisfaction in a letter or email.
Getting up and leaving – if it did happen – is only so someone can say they got up and left and post it on their blog.
Just like common sense, common courtesy is no longer common. (E.g., most political posts on MDN.)
When every one of them realizes they have the skill set to make far more money developing iApps and dispense with being forced to listen to the ramblings of a bloated horses ass. It’s called a tipping point. I’d bet more than one left to clean out his desk and move on to greener pastures.
The desperation in the economy is not among the highly skilled technical workers, it’s all the former factory workers whose jobs are gone and the public employees whose jobs cannot be funded due to lack of tax revenue from the factory workers.
The American economy was like a giant game of Jenga, the blocks being aspects of the economy that supported each other, like paying a decent wage, having everyone employed, moving forward rather than conserving the status quo. Then the robber elites decided all of the blocks belonged to them. Now the 99% are starting to catch on.
OUCH! Monkey Boy must have served some rotten bananas fo sho! Man the lifeboats, cuz monkeys can’t swim!
The fatal flaw in MDN’s “as long as it takes” mantra is that a competitive Microsoft means an even better Apple.
Not really… 🙂 Apple does its best work, such as create the first Mac, iMac, iPod, iTunes, iTunes Store, iPhone, App Store, iPad, iCloud (maybe), etc… regardless of “competition.” In fact, Apple (before Steve Jobs left and after be returned) usually intentionally avoided doing what the competition is doing. iPhone was one of many “smart” mobile phone products when it was released, but it was so radically different and desirable that it redefined what a smartphone should be from that point onward. So at its core, Apple is not driven by competition.
That competition only comes into play when they start to copy one of Apple’s creations. The work that Apple does to continuously improve an existing product is necessary but secondary; it’s just “maintenance.” The real genius of Apple is creating the new “must-have” product to begin with (and competition usually plays no part in that creative process or motivation).
+1
Disagree. In fact, when you have “competition” like android, stealing apple’s work and selling counterfeits, it causes Apple to divert time and energy to defending itself, rather than innovating.
Since nobody (apparently) is capable or interested in competing with Apple by, you know, coming up with innovative new products, its best if these companies focus on other areas.
J Appleseed is right. When Jobs rejoined after the next acquisition (1996), aapl was in desperate shape and had to crawl back to survive. iconic of this was the $150MM MS investment in aapl, the MS agreement to continue to write office for the mac AND Explorer as the default browser. aapl was pretty focussed by the fact that they stood at the edge of the cliff – and sj certainly did not want to fail again after getting pushed out and largely failing at next.
Not this old disproven lie again!
I’ll take care of this.
Here’s what actually happened:
1) Microsoft were caught red-handed stealing Apple QuickTime code from one of Apple’s paid developers.
2) Microsoft admitted the robbery and REFUSED to return the code.
3) Steve Jobs, having Microsoft literally by the balls, invited Gates to his house for a ‘chat’.
4) Steve Jobs stopped legal proceedings against Microsoft in exchange for the following gifts from Microsoft:
– A) An undisclosed payment of damages to Apple. I have never seen a reliable guestimate of this payment.
– B) Investment of Microsoft of $150 Million in non-voting Apple stock for a period of at least 5 years. At that time Microsoft could then sell its Apple stock (and it did).
– C) Five years of development and sale of Microsoft Office for the Mac. (Previous to this promise, Microsoft had been threatening to discontinue Office for Mac).
– D) Five years of cross-patent sharing between MS and Apple. Apple gained here because it allowed them to successfully write QuickTime and Safari for Windows. Previous to this time Microsoft had refused to share their proprietary APIs with Apple.
– E) Microsoft’s continued development of Internet Explorer for Mac. It actually WAS the best web browser at that time. AND Microsoft had perpetrated their own HTML and JavaScript code that became popular on the web via their FrontPage web dev application, all of which only ran successfully in IE. (Soon thereafter the ECMAScript project was created and integrated all variations of JavaScript into one code base, at which point Microsoft killed IE for Mac).
– F) Cooperation with Apple to unify Java code and virtual machines between Mac OS and Windows. (At the time, Microsoft were perpetrating their own illegal variation of Java they called J++. Apple wanted access. Eventually MS lost a lawsuit with Sun Microsystems which entirely removed J++ from existence).
CONCLUSION: Apple got everything they wanted from Microsoft, including damages from having their QuickTime code stolen. Microsoft made money on the deal most specifically from the profits they made from selling Office for Mac (which his consistently been a large part of their yearly income) as well as the eventual sale of their Apple stock.
MEANWHILE: Apple continued to hold nearly $4 Billion in liquid assets. Apple never remotely came close to bankruptcy. Apple was never on any edge of some precipice. Where Apple HAD failed:
1) The Mac OS Copland and Gershwin projects failed. This forced Apple to buy Steve Jobs’ NeXT company, which allowed the creation of Mac OS X.
2) Apple management, starting with Steve Sculley, was crap. In 1996 the Marketing division did their best to tank the company by over-ordering $1 Billion in market rejected Mac Performas, which gathered dust in the warehouse. This lead directly to $1 Billion in losses for Apple in 1997 as well as the return of Steve Jobs to the CEO position.
And that’s the facts Jack! 😀
Competition is oversold as a motivator to accomplish great things.
Coöperation is the vital ingredient. (See the writings of Alfie Kohn.)
Competition itself is not a motivator … but bankruptcy is the penalty for those who can’t compete, and the desire to avoid bankruptcy IS a motivator.
Cooperation is great, but even those who work in teams have to compete against other teams.
Every iPhone is the product of teamwork, and so is every Android phone. But the competition between them means that both companies will produce better phones (than otherwise).
“but bankruptcy is the penalty for those who can’t compete”
… Unless you’re part of the Corporate Oligarchy and can dictate to the paid off government that your ‘too big to fail’ crap business is going to be bailed out. 😛
And yes, ‘too big to fail’ is ludicrous and consists of CORPORATE SOCIALISM. (Note how BOTH US parties perpetrated the bailouts. They are OWNED).
An example of the “competitive fallacy”.
“Competition breeds success” only works if you only want to improve an existing widget.
Why not create something truly revolutionary. ….. This is what Apple does. They don’t improve on existing rubbish. They simply ignore what everyone else does. They have their own path. We see this time and again.
It’s a well known fact that apples cause flatulence.
Leave that man alone! Do we HAVE to go through this every time?
MS is raking $$ in hand over fist! What’s the problem? They created the tablet market 10+ years ago and gave it away? So WHAT! They completely missed the mobile devices/post-PC phenomenon over the last few years? Man, you don’t fire the CEO of MS over that! Vista was a chrome-plated turd? AND??
I’m just sayin’.
Peace.
😉
Hey! My Vista laptop does a fine job as a trailer chock. Keeps the thing from rolling downhill.
Just as the company finally has a strategy for modernizing Windows, people start walking out? Wow.
Yeah, the same way they always are about to make windows not suck. “Just wait for the next version, it will be great.” That’s the MS mantra.
Funny enough it’s almost exactly the same at Apple but with a pay off. Apple delivers complete products that do what they’re supposed to, doesn’t ask you to wait for the update to make it better (at least 90% of the time that is) then releases updates that make it better anyway.
MS blows their wad every quarter in billions for stupid crap like BING. Stop wasting and give it to your employees. They’ll be smiling the next time Ballsmer has to make a lame speech again.
OH GOD!! NOT THE TONGUE PHOTOS! EEWWWW!! Worse than Capital Punishment! I’m feeling unclean just looking at those… my eyes hurt and a creepyness has come over me.
Uncle Fester!
MDN,
If you want Ballmer to stay CEO, then you’ll have to publish more flattering photos of him.
Those WERE the more flattering photos.
So that would be photos taken with ISO100 film in a pitch black room with no flash?
…with the lens cap left on 🙂
=:~)
Ah, how could I forget that! Thanks! =D
hmm
guess his screaming was getting old
The.. “tongue photos?”
Man, that dude sure has a lot of seizures. Is that why they all ran out of the room?…
Leave Steveny alone! I MEAN IT!!!!
By the time Balmer gets the ship pointed the right way he’ll have lost the war.
Its almost like he has the enthusiasm that Hitler showed going into the end of WWII. This manic happiness fed by the intoxicating illusion that he is going to win while the battlefield loses mount.
Wonder how long before he is locked up in his bunker, talking to himself and commanding entire development groups that no longer exist to crank out one more rev of windows as the market forces close in for the kill.
Man it’s bad when the rats starts deserting the sinking ship MS Titanic. It’s a warning shot across the bow while Ballmer throws deck chairs. With Windows H8 they’s shootin’ blanks.
Ballmer is such an unremarkable thinker, no more innovative than my Aunt Petunia. No style, no class. There was nothing ever in this guy that marked him for greatness the way it so obviously was for Steve Jobs who positively radiated it.
Sso what? People probably walk out of Steve Jobs’ keynote presentations all the time. Right?
Almost never. If some one leaves a Steve note it’s probably cause their bladder is about to explode or because of some serious medical condition.
What a sap! LOL!!! He needs to leave. The longer he stays, the more toxic that place gets.
I have four words for you. “i LOVE THIS COMPANY!!!! YEAHHH!!!!”
Hilarious 🙂
3rd grade products .. absolutely no taste!
Fascinating Video!
A Toast to Mr. Balmer as Microsoft CEO! Here Here!
And to the longtime shareholders, “There! There!”
Leave Mr. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, alone !! He has done such a great job that both die-hard Microsoft supporters and Apple supporters love him. 🙂
That’s right! There could be a very simple reason why people were walking out…
Harry Callahan: “May I make a statement, McKay?”
Capt McKay: “Go ahead!”
Harry Callahan: “Your mouthwash ain’t makin’ it.”
Wish I had the alien technology from the movie They Live so I could imbed subliminal messages. I’d fill the MS board’s homes with messages saying “sleep” “Balmer is the best CEO ever, his ways are mysterious” “Balmer is actually a sexy genius, not a hidious buffoon”.
But then we’d run out of bubble gum…
Thanks @praus, I needed a laugh!
This will probably be repeated at the next Shareholders meeting.
steve ballmer is the most despicable fat bastard human monkey spas biz man ever, so pathetically, unappetizing, he takes American loud mouth Capitalism & big time B.S. to the extreme – appearing like a total biggot colonizer – embarrassing us Americans as he symbolizes everything the world hates about us. He so much the opposite of refinement, class, elegance, grace and intelligence!
let him rot or better yet: let him take down Microdough so we don’t have to hear one more time about how great it is or how much crap it invented on ho much it never improved our lives.
not that Billy Gates of Hell was any better. he was just smarter enough to shut up, unlike Ball-mer the monster spas.
I honestly can’t think of a better man for the job. He’s beyond perfect.
I was worried there for a minute, that people were waking up, er, mistakenly believing that Ballmer is not a good CEO. But then I read the comments section to this story, and I’m relieved to see that Ballmer is being soundly supported, and the blog, Mini Microsoft, being criticized.
Whew!
For as long as it takes!
It’s MicroLeaks (wikileaks) in action at Microsoft.
Sticking out the tongue was once a common form of formal Tibetan greeting which has not yet completely disappeared:
“In 1727, when Tibet was invaded by Dzungars, the practice of Bon was again prohibited. Many Bon Lamas were executed at this time, and the Nyingmapas were persecuted as well. When meeting, the Dzungars would force the Tibetans to show their tongues. They thought that if the tongue was a light color, it proved that the person was neither a Bonpo nor a Nyingmapa. It was believed that the tongues of these peoples had turned black or brown due to numerous recitations of mantras.”
You’ve got to take this blog post with a grain of salt. After all, the mystery author did use the phrase “this once great company”. When was Microsoft ever ‘great’? Beats me. 😆