Thank you so much for sharing, Steven! I joined MS in 2022, so I am not familiar with those legendary times. Actually, you are my legend, as I used to read your blog when I lived in Brazil and was a big fan of Windows Vista and 7.
Dropping ship-it awards after Ballmer left was a bad idea. Getting that little piece of metal glued on the slate made me feel special; the collection of ship-its was a great memorabilia and a conversation piece.
My manager an I paid out of pocket to get these for our team not once but twice after the award went away.
I know this argument, my career is in services. However, we were shipping huge efforts which cut through the entire company and did have both start and end point. The shipit was a very nice way of reminding about it and a great morale booster.
Thanks for this. Mike was indeed a calming and rational influence on what could sometimes be a chaotic and irrational environment. I'm so grateful to have grown up professionally under him and his many protégés. This footage of Mike and Steve Ballmer's back and forth leading up to jumping into Lake Bill is characteristic of these differing dynamics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MfSYcDELyg
Mike gave a memorable talk once about making decisions at the right level, and encouraging lower-level people to make decisions, that stuck with me. Something along the lines of: "At the individual contributor level, you know the most about the problem and the possible solutions, but perhaps are the least willing to make a decision which direction to take. As you go up the management chain, people know less about the details of the problem but are more willing to make a decision. When it gets to me (Mike), I know nothing about the problem, but I guarantee you I will make a decision."
I spent 2 years in Menlo Park after MS acquired Forethought. Have such fond memories of Mike. What an extraordinary leader and all around the nicest person. 💔
"I was overcome with emotion when the first slide went up — my name next to Mike’s on a slide"
"I owe everything in my professional life to Mike, most literally everything"
This was informative and because of your expression of his impact on you. And surprisingly moving.
I never worked directly with him but met him a few times in 1991-1994 on campus and at COMDEX. He didn't match the company's personality at the time, which I found intriguing.
I had the pleasure of knowing Mike in Austin, and recruited him to help revitalize the Austin Software Council. He was great mentor, and a friend....steve vandegrift
I was very early in my career at IBM when I had the opportunity to meet Mike. At the time, it was a brief meeting, where he was presenting some new strategies and initiatives. A few years later, I had the privilege of working on a few projects with him. I learned so much from him, and continued to watch, though at a distance, in the subsequent years. He was a remarkable person.
This was well-written and moving, Steven. You really captured the Mike Maples that I knew and had enormous respect for.
Thank you Jeanne. 🙏
Thank you so much for sharing, Steven! I joined MS in 2022, so I am not familiar with those legendary times. Actually, you are my legend, as I used to read your blog when I lived in Brazil and was a big fan of Windows Vista and 7.
Dropping ship-it awards after Ballmer left was a bad idea. Getting that little piece of metal glued on the slate made me feel special; the collection of ship-its was a great memorabilia and a conversation piece.
My manager an I paid out of pocket to get these for our team not once but twice after the award went away.
Shipping was a different thing when it became easy to push anything out and fix it later.
I know this argument, my career is in services. However, we were shipping huge efforts which cut through the entire company and did have both start and end point. The shipit was a very nice way of reminding about it and a great morale booster.
Thanks for this. Mike was indeed a calming and rational influence on what could sometimes be a chaotic and irrational environment. I'm so grateful to have grown up professionally under him and his many protégés. This footage of Mike and Steve Ballmer's back and forth leading up to jumping into Lake Bill is characteristic of these differing dynamics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MfSYcDELyg
Thanks for sharing this Steven. As always, incredibly thoughtfully written.
Mike gave a memorable talk once about making decisions at the right level, and encouraging lower-level people to make decisions, that stuck with me. Something along the lines of: "At the individual contributor level, you know the most about the problem and the possible solutions, but perhaps are the least willing to make a decision which direction to take. As you go up the management chain, people know less about the details of the problem but are more willing to make a decision. When it gets to me (Mike), I know nothing about the problem, but I guarantee you I will make a decision."
I spent 2 years in Menlo Park after MS acquired Forethought. Have such fond memories of Mike. What an extraordinary leader and all around the nicest person. 💔
"I was overcome with emotion when the first slide went up — my name next to Mike’s on a slide"
"I owe everything in my professional life to Mike, most literally everything"
This was informative and because of your expression of his impact on you. And surprisingly moving.
I never worked directly with him but met him a few times in 1991-1994 on campus and at COMDEX. He didn't match the company's personality at the time, which I found intriguing.
You're lucky to have spent time on Earth with him
I had the pleasure of knowing Mike in Austin, and recruited him to help revitalize the Austin Software Council. He was great mentor, and a friend....steve vandegrift
I was very early in my career at IBM when I had the opportunity to meet Mike. At the time, it was a brief meeting, where he was presenting some new strategies and initiatives. A few years later, I had the privilege of working on a few projects with him. I learned so much from him, and continued to watch, though at a distance, in the subsequent years. He was a remarkable person.
Thanks for this Steven. Brought back lots of great memories of time spent with Mike.