By Mike Hoban
The recent launch of Windows 7 by Microsoft has generated a lot of buzz about its functionality, its acceptance in the marketplace, its impact on the fortunes of Microsoft, etc. There seems to be a story that sparks interest for just about everyone, techie or not. The story that caught the eye of this Talent Management Blogger was in The Wall Street Journal on October 20 which describes not so much the product but what went on at the company to develop the product.
Call it the story behind the story about how Microsoft took a different approach to harnessing its considerable talent to create a high stakes product aimed at resuscitating a reputation sullied by its last Operating System effort, the much maligned “Vista.”
It’s a story that seems to be as much about common sense as it is about bits and bytes. The bold new development approach, according to the Microsoft project leaders quoted in the article? Collaboration and communication. Eliminating “silos.” Talking to customers and hardware partners. Things they apparently did not do enough of when developing Vista, which resulted in many delays and initial defects.
With the Windows 7 development effort, the company was very intentional about ensuring that different development teams shared their plans with each other. Maybe common sense, but apparently not common practice. CEO Steve Ballmer also directed that they collaborate more closely with their technology partners, which led to some “brutally honest” conversations about Vista with engineers at H-P and their customers. An H-P executive said Microsoft developers listened and were “much more humble.”
Communication. Collaboration. Customer focus. Many companies beside Microsoft have sub-optimized the efforts of very bright and talented people by putting insufficient focus on those fundamentals. Some would even suggest that project silos in software development is more the rule than the exception. Talent in every organization needs to be set up for success with the right systems, processes and strategies. That’s why sometimes an athletic team with the most raw talent is not the team that prevails in victory.
So it’s not even enough to attract, develop and retain the best talent. It’s also about getting the “organizational arrangements” right so that those talents can be realized.Mike Hoban is a senior consultant for Development Dimensions International (DDI).
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