The Twelve Simple Secrets Of Microsoft Management

The 12 Simple Secrets of Microsoft Management, by David Thielen. ISBN 0-07-134248-6

"How to Think and Act Like a Microsoft Manager and Take Your Company to the Top."

Quite readable. And I like the motivational aspect:

"If you don't do these things, Microsoft, or a company managed like Microsoft, is going to come in and put you out of business. Once they've started, if you haven't changed already, it's too late."
-- JeffGrigg

If part of this book doesn't make you angry, you aren't paying attention. Kind of extreme, but very thought-provoking. I'm going to read it again this weekend and if I still like it, get lots of copies to hand to some people I know. -- RonJeffries

Anybody count to twelve?

Heh, I thought this was a joke. I was expecting something like...

I think it goes like this:

  1. Do not depend on any foreign technology. Compilers and OperatingSystems are ours.
  2. Make others depend on our software to be able to crush them (make them incompatible).
  3. Create products for the office market: Big companies can pay. Our products must be cheaper, and run on the smaller hardware.
  4. Imitate successful products. Either sell bunch of products or give them away for free. Get the market first. Less than 50% means you lose.
  5. Avoid Linux and OpenSource. We can't buy them, but we must destroy them ... somehow.

Really, the secret of Microsoft is simpler and less evil than all that: it's "Own DOS." Microsoft has made plenty of mistakes of exactly the sort that sank lots of other software companies - WinWord? 1.0, Bob, LanMan? 2.0, Windows 1.0 and 2.0, etc. However, the steady revenue stream from DOS meant that none of these failures could send the corporation into bankruptcy. They even managed to screw up DOS itself once, in 4.00 (EuropeanMsDosFour), and continuing sales of 3.31 to OEMs let them sail right on through.

There's a strong temptation to look for some complicated Reason For It. You want it to be their management style, or the field they're in, or their people must be the best in the world, or something. You want there to be some Secret, something that you can learn and use for yourself. However, there's just nothing like that happening at Microsoft. Microsoft is a trust-fund baby.

-- MichaelGates

Well put, the trust fund baby aspect also touches on the fact that billg's dada gave him money (2million USD IIRC) to start a company, no questions asked. Very few start ups have that luxury. your comment also touches on CargoCultManagement?--pjl

Microsoft's owners did OneAmazingThing?. They negotiated a contract with IBM that didn't destroy Microsoft. The non-exclusive license of MS-DOS is the key to the whole thing, ensuring the cash cow that made almost unlimited mistakes possible. The closest analogy that comes to mind is the General Motors in the period 1945-1970. Their market share and margins where such that they could survive any mistake and remain profitable.

"Hide important parts of the framework or API behind incomplete or confusing documentation"

Blankety-blank Microsoft's DirectShow, a component of DirectX, had documentation that for nearly a decade was marked as "Preliminary." Then, one magical day -- several months into a nasty video capture project -- I checked back to find that all this documentation was now marked, "Obsolete."

Nuke Redmond off the map and I will shed not one tear.

See: SunTseBingFa, MicrosoftCorporation

CategoryMicrosoft, CategoryBook

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