Technology is easy but people are hard. In particular, communications are hard. They’re the physics of human interaction—the $F=ma$ of how we get things done—and when the forces don’t align, things get high-stakes fast. I learned this the hard way when Perry Clark almost fired me.
Continue readingI had a few encounters with Microsoft lawyers that were, in a word, scary. But in a good way. Every time I worked with them, they were hardcore on following the law, and I greatly appreciated and respected that.
Continue readingA Microsoft engineer (the awesome .Net Perf architect, inventor of the phrase “Pit of Success”, and now Distinguished Engineer Rico Mariani) recently told me he used Copilot to script a way out of a laggy system. He was delighted. The story triggered a memory from the early days of PowerShell when my diplomacy was clearly … pre-operational.
Continue readingWhen I put together the core concepts of PowerShell, I was committed to solving the boof-a-rama that is Windows CLI syntax. Prior to PowerShell, any developer that got at least a ‘D’ in a course on parsing was allowed to inflict their damage on the user community. This incoherence caused a great deal of confusion as users struggled to navigate at least four distinct syntax groupings:
Continue readingI have a lot of conversations where teams toss around the concept of Product Market Fit (PMF) like it’s a vibe. We all pretend to get the gestalt of it, but usually, we’re just guessing. Here are explanations my teams have used over the years:
Is your Hair on Fire?You have PMF when the customers are buying the product as fast as you can make it—or usage is growing as fast as you can add more servers.
How would you feel if you could no longer use this product?If at least 40% of them answer “very disappointed,” you have reached the threshold. Anything less means you are building a toy, not a necessity.
Since I got involved in angel investing, I learned the cold truth from my fellow investors: PMF is MATH!
Continue readingIn response to my blog Welcome to the Room, Davor Vukovic asked the question:
I might be mistaken, but don’t the required resources result from defining a theory of success (i.e., the solution)? My understanding is that you first define a plausible theory of success and then evaluate it against the available resources, not the other way around; then adjust.
A lesson in leadership by Satya Nadella
When I was Promoted to Technical Fellow, I was “invited to the room”, joining Microsoft’s other Senior Executives. It was really something. Achieving the Senior Executive status is often mistaken for a comfortable reward, a final destination with enhanced perks and support. A more fitting analogy is reaching the NFL Super Bowl. You are now part of an elite team where nothing less than peak performance is acceptable. As the Navy SEALs put it, “The only easy day was yesterday”. You can feel that energy when you walk in the room.
I didn’t know what to expect but what I got changed my worldview and my life.
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