Friday, September 29, 2006

Talk Talk

I came across this in http://video.google.com/. Very creative use of people there. I wish it starts a whole new thing and so that I can see more of it

Switching teams, the Google Way

Steve yegge an employee at Google writes that developers can switch teams and/or projects any time they want, no questions asked; just say the word and the movers will show up the next day to put you in your new office with your new team.

I know he is a bit exaggerating. But I love and encourage it. MS definitely needs to make it easier for folks to move. What is the point of holding someone who wants to move?

I speak from my personal experience. I decided to pursue other opportunities at Microsoft after having spent 6 years in the current team. My manager wouldn't give me permission. He suggested that I stay until product ships and also was exaplaining how important my contributions are blah blah blah. Even worse, dev manager was also trying to convince me by explaining why the grass looks greener on the other side. Does it make any sense to any of you? I have decided to try a few things and folks are saying that is a bad idea and asking me to stay? I am not a dumbo and I know how to make my career decisions well.

One good thing is that Microsoft seems to be eliminating the need to get manager's approval and instead notify the manager instead. This is really a good step in the right direction.

I don't know about competing with Google on the products arena. But I love the fact the it is forcing Microsoft to rethink from a HR perspective a lot. I see the Google effect in many aspects of Microsoft.