Running a product unit at Microsoft
I just finished reading Joel’s article on Amnesia.
Much of it really hit home for me. We have the razor scooters. We even have a Segway that we use to get around campus (here good picture of Don on it). We do product reviews where I often say, “That is a really good idea.”…
The nice thing is that my team has already internalized Joel’s critical lesson:
If you work for me, you’re welcome to get my advice, but you have to make your own decision because chances are you’ve thought MUCH MORE about the issue than I have and in fact we probably hired you because you’re smarter than I am.
This is absolutely key to keeping an organization of top engineers and architects productive, happy and producing world-changing ideas/software.
Leaders can to do a lot for a team, but the most important thing a leader can often do is just get out of the way and let their people shine.
I often tell people that I only do four things:
- Determine the hill we are going to take
- Get the right people and equipment assembled
- Determine the plan of attack with the team
- Help execute in anyway I can while preparing to change the above if needed.
#4 is often me just getting out of the way, but I have been known to sweep the floor if needed.