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How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

inc.com

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Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#21

Post by bgutierrez »

edw519 wrote: post #14

So this is supposed to be an example of good management? Looks more like an example of why Microsoft succeeded in spite of its management. I guess when you're milking a monopolistic cash cow with crappy products, you really don't need good management. Think about it. The CEO comes into a meeting with 6 levels of management and proceeds to treat his people like children by acting like a child himself and "teaching the…

It's an example of management that knows their business and takes knowing it seriously. In Joel's mind, this is good.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#22

Post by hernan7 »

mynameishere wrote: post #16
midnightmonster wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original is better--the order of the story and the emotion both work better. Probably has to do with trying to dumb down, sound more professional, and remove the swearing for Inc readers. Joel's Inc Magazine columns compared to his blog writing have pretty much convinced me not to subscribe to Inc..

Joel's Inc Magazine columns compared to his blog writing Most of his articles have been inferior re-writes, to the point that I'm not sure why nobody at Inc. has caught on. Maybe they don't care, but I'd be pissed.

Maybe they think Inc and Joel On Software have mostly non-overlapping readerships?

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#23

Post by hernan7 »

chrisl99 wrote: post #17
edw519 wrote: post #14

So this is supposed to be an example of good management? Looks more like an example of why Microsoft succeeded in spite of its management. I guess when you're milking a monopolistic cash cow with crappy products, you really don't need good management. Think about it. The CEO comes into a meeting with 6 levels of management and proceeds to treat his people like children by acting like a child himself and "teaching the…

I have a copy of the first edition of The Road Ahead. Here is the index entry for Internet: Internet, 3-4, 91-100, 91 activities on, 93-97 addresses on, 94 cost of use of, 97-99, 125 e-mail on, 96-97, 124-25 expectations for, 125 foundation of, 97 growth and evolution of, 91, 95-96 and information highway, 3-4, 89, 95, 100, 230, 246 and publication, 95, 123-25 real-time content on, 99 regulation of, 161-63, 204 reven…

Maybe you could submit that to Snopes. I was another believer in the "no Internet in The Road Ahead" urban legend.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#24

Post by huhtenberg »

dreish wrote: post #19
jgrahamc wrote: post #6

Actually this isn't about what it's like to work for Bill Gates, it's about Joel Spolsky and reflected glory.

Yes, but it has one great takeaway quote that isn't self-serving: > Watching nonprogrammers trying to run software companies is like watching someone who doesn't know how to surf trying to surf. Even if he has great advisers standing on the shore telling him what to do, he still falls off the board again and again. The cult of the M.B.A. likes to believe that you can run organizations that do things that you don't un…

This is true for any industry and it's a basic common sense for anyone but a recent MBA graduate without any real-world experience. There's nothing particularly great or insightful about this quote.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#25

Post by gruseom »

noonespecial wrote: post #9
sanj wrote: post #7

"When i graduated from college, in 1991" Where's copyediting gone to?

“You ended that sentence with a preposition…Bastard!” -Richard Dean Anderson (as Jack O'Niell)

I was going to quote one of my favorite lines by Churchill: This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.

But I figured why not check the Google first, just in case. First thing I see is an old post from the inestimable Language Log arguing that the quote isn't Churchill's at all: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001715.h...

Basically, if you're famous, all the best jokes get attributed to you.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#26

Post by akd »

edw519 wrote: post #14

So this is supposed to be an example of good management? Looks more like an example of why Microsoft succeeded in spite of its management. I guess when you're milking a monopolistic cash cow with crappy products, you really don't need good management. Think about it. The CEO comes into a meeting with 6 levels of management and proceeds to treat his people like children by acting like a child himself and "teaching the…

Steve Jobs is notorious for inspecting product prototypes and sending products back to the drawing board because a certain gap is half a millimeter too big. This is pretty much the same behavior as Gates exhibits in the story. This is bad management?

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#27

Post by ConradHex »

jgrahamc wrote: post #6

Actually this isn't about what it's like to work for Bill Gates, it's about Joel Spolsky and reflected glory.

I find that Joel's essays are always a lot of fun to read. But complaints about his writing, not so much.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#28

Post by jcl »

mynameishere wrote: post #16
midnightmonster wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original is better--the order of the story and the emotion both work better. Probably has to do with trying to dumb down, sound more professional, and remove the swearing for Inc readers. Joel's Inc Magazine columns compared to his blog writing have pretty much convinced me not to subscribe to Inc..

Joel's Inc Magazine columns compared to his blog writing Most of his articles have been inferior re-writes, to the point that I'm not sure why nobody at Inc. has caught on. Maybe they don't care, but I'd be pissed.

I thought it was funny that they merged the closing "Still." paragraph into the preceding one, changing the meaning -- from hesitant ("Still, I wonder if he could have been talking about me.") to bitter ("He's still talking about those other Excel devs!").

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#29

Post by lolb »

ConradHex wrote: post #27
jgrahamc wrote: post #6

Actually this isn't about what it's like to work for Bill Gates, it's about Joel Spolsky and reflected glory.

I find that Joel's essays are always a lot of fun to read. But complaints about his writing, not so much.

I find telling you to SHUT THE FUCK UP a lot of fun.

Re: How Hard Could it Be? Joel Spolsky recalls what it was like to work for Bill Gates

#30

Post by zapanig »

ConradHex wrote: post #27
jgrahamc wrote: post #6

Actually this isn't about what it's like to work for Bill Gates, it's about Joel Spolsky and reflected glory.

I find that Joel's essays are always a lot of fun to read. But complaints about his writing, not so much.

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