What does it really take to lead organizations?

by | Oct 27, 2012 | Individual.Elements.Commons.Arenas.Workplace, Organizational.Elements.Execution, Organizational.Elements.Strategy, Organizational.Functions.People

Via Business Insider:

Steven Sinofsky is known for delivering exactly what he promises, and always on time.

He’s also an extremely polarizing figure. Stubborn. Secretive. Dictatorial.

Several people we spoke with for this article claim Sinofsky’s influence and personality drove them out of the company. Another former employee called him a “cancer.” Others used much ruder words than that.


But even his biggest detractors admit he’s brilliant when it comes to shipping complicated, high-quality software on a regular, predictable schedule. This has earned him the trust and respect of both Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky – Business Insider

Points:

  • “Bill Gates chose him to be one of his technical assistants.”
  • “Sinofsky’s email [about Cornell University’s campus network] kicked off a chain of events that eventually led Bill Gates to write his famous “Internet Tidal Wave” memo in 1995.”
  • “…when Sinofsky took over the Office group, his ability to get product releases out on time made him indispensable.”
  • “Sinofsky values quality releases and timing over adding features.”
  • “He’s a champion of large-scale data projects.”
  • “Sinofsky has been clear about his distaste for too much middle management.”
  • “[Unlike Agile] A product leader sets the product vision early on, then large teams set off on a well-defined course to reach that vision.”
  • “Sinofsky also believes in work-life balance, and thinks the 24/7 life of startups and some competitors (Amazon is often named) is a huge mistake.”
  • “Expect a Sinofsky-led Microsoft to be totally locked down.”
  • “A former exec says Sinofsky has to be a dictator because the old way was not working, as the problems with Windows Vista showed. “Because of the scale, he needed to be more military-style and more top down. Needed. Others can and did try other approaches, but it just doesn’t work.”

Ponder:

  • Regarding personality, I read similar things about Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos. I also saw I video clip of Bill Gates berating a development team. I’m reading a biography of Walter Bedell Smith, Dwight Eisenhower’s chief of staff in World War II and also a director of the CIA. He took a similar approach to getting things done.
  • Is this what it takes to make large organizations do what they need to do?

Here’s a book he co-authored:

One Strategy: Organization, Planning, and Decision Making by Steven Sinofsky and Marco Iansiti

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