The culture's been suffering malaise for years. Even back in 2005 all the executives acknowledged the problem (I had a great 1-1 with Ballmer about it) but it's very difficult to actually change anything. So a lot of talented and passionate people there are frustrated, burnt out, or looking elsewhere. Windows and Office have the power at the top (since after all they contribute the bulk of the revenue and profits) which creates huge inertia and makes the company as a whole very backward looking.
Of course, it's not to late to recover: they've got huge assets, and Windows and Office have a few more years to run. But so far the progress hasn't been anywhere near what's needed ...
Comments
The culture's been suffering malaise for years. Even back in 2005 all the executives acknowledged the problem (I had a great 1-1 with Ballmer about it) but it's very difficult to actually change anything. So a lot of talented and passionate people there are frustrated, burnt out, or looking elsewhere. Windows and Office have the power at the top (since after all they contribute the bulk of the revenue and profits) which creates huge inertia and makes the company as a whole very backward looking.
Of course, it's not to late to recover: they've got huge assets, and Windows and Office have a few more years to run. But so far the progress hasn't been anywhere near what's needed ...