Dem ol' Cotton Fields Back Home

Mini-Microsoft is back from a minor hiatus and folks are posting their review and compensation items in the comments. http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2008/09/tap-tap-tap-is-this-thing-on.html

There are a lot of things that I miss since I ceased working at the Redmond Ranch; Review Season is not one of them. I did not work well in a cut throat mosh pit of a work environment. Some folks do. Some dont. And I think MSFT is worse off for fostering an environment where the folks who are the most ruthless get the most reward. it creates an environment of "FYIGM"*. And that directly affects the products. It leads to people so focused on fighting for their own advantage that the products only get attention from those people so long as it serves their review goal purposes. This means products arrive in the customer's hands half-finished at best and slapped together at worst. No craftsmanship. No pride. Just "Gimme a 4.0, or the dog gets it".

Whether or not the amount of cash that goes in my pocket combined with the benefits I get from my employer match or exceeds what I had a MSFT is immaterial. Sure you can argue all you like. But in the end, I have some huge benefits that I didnt have at MSFT - my pride - in my work and in the product I help create. My family - my hours just work out better for them. My sanity - I dont spend half the year dealing with a performance review. I do what I think is right and my employer rewards my extra effort. If we disagree as to what that reward should be, then I go find another employer who does. simple as that.