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Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

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Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#2
I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it.

Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters?

I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#3

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

I'm surprised that's what you took away from it. I thought they were good anecdotes about corporate culture and life at microsoft, as well as what we should aspire to, from someone who has seen a lot of people come and go. Each paragraph (and sometimes sentence?) stands fairly well on its own...

Still, even if he's stuck on himself, it is _his_ farewell letter after all

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#4

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

I read the whole thing, and thought it was valuable. For example, little snippets like: "Turns out that there’s a strong correlation between a student’s grade and their assessment of the professor’s abilities." were new ideas to me. I guess some of this comes from the management and leadership books he's read.

I didn't think he talks particularly much about himself or how quirky he is either.

Also interesting that this is the second person at Microsoft I've read about this week complaining about benefits being reduced. Michael Kaplan (interesting blog on internationalization issues at Microsoft besides) says "Microsoft, multi-billion dollar company that it may be, has no spine whatsoever to speak of.":

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2010/10/09/10073622....

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#5

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

[deleted]

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#6

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

I must have read a different article then, since very little of what I read was actually about the author himself.

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#7

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

He lost me at the bit about it being impossible not to get promoted just by doing good work. Doesn't work that that in any organization, because to be a manager you have to want to be a manager, and you have to want it more than you want to be "just" a programmer, and you have to think being a manager is better than being a programmer.

Getting a promotion is a full-time job in itself. No time left for coding...

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#9
This was the best thing I've read all week, full of nuggets of wisdom. Who cares whether he calls himself fun or quirky or whatever else? You could get about 80% of what you need to know about life and work from that one collection of paragraphs, which mean's it's pretty worthwhile read as far as I'm concerned.

Re: Resignation letter from Microsoft Employee

#10
post #6

I didn't read the whole thing... After I realized how stuck on himself he was, I just skimmed it. Do quirky people really brag about how quirky they are? Do they write essays and call them farewell letters? I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are.

I've never yet met a fun person who goes around telling people how much fun they are. I must have read a different article then, since very little of what I read was actually about the author himself.

No, I think it's just that you read past the introduction.
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