Ok, Vista sucks. That little fact spawned a cottage industry and helped juice many a blog’s traffic stats along the way (Please note: if you’re some random Vista-hating surfer, this article is not about Vista). I became a user when I confiscated secured my wife’s laptop when I made the move to go solo. Except for the infuriatingly long time it takes the system to boot up, my current laptop actually runs much faster than the laptop I had at my last job. But that’s a hardware issue, which is another thing this article is not about.
In January of 2007, “Mister Softee” launched Vista. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that this was “the biggest product launch in Microsoft’s history” and planned to spend hundreds of millions of dollars marketing the product in 2007. “Today will go down in computing history as the last big operating system launch for Microsoft,” said Gary Beach, publisher of CIO Magazine, a publication for professional technology managers. One market-sizing firm estimated that for every $1 of revenue that Microsoft earned from Vista, an additional $18 would be earned by other companies (primarily computer and chip-makers). Wow!
The picture that accompanies this article shows Kevin B. Rollins of Dell, Sean Maloney of Intel, Ballmer, Hisatsugu Nonaka of Toshiba, Hector Ruiz of Advanced Micro Devices and Todd Bradley of Hewlett-Packard sitting on the main stage at the official Vista Launch in Manhattan. Behind them sits a huge screen that ironically proclaims that “The ‘Wow’ starts now.” Ironic because of what we now know about the launch. Ironic because the face of each of these industry titans sends a decidedly different message. In no particular order, I see an amalgamation of tired, bored, confused, lost, annoyed, bitter, and perturbed in the faces on the stage (Pssst – somebody, wake up Sean!). This ‘Wow’s’ engine is flooded and needs a jump start, now!
Yesterday, I described the thought process that one CPO uses when he brings one of his lieutenants to his bi-weekly operations review with the companies COO. Today, I flip the situation. I think there are many opportunities where sending a lieutenant can have the same effect.
A CPO is often pulled into meetings and projects and onto teams and committees that detract from more important matters. The CPO often attends because of political reasons or managerial pressure. Sometimes the CPO attends because he/she is polite. “Well, I was invited after all, I should go.” Sometimes the CPO goes because it is time-consuming or difficult to get someone to cover for them and bring that person up-to-speed. While it may take time and may not be easy, I think many projects and teams will benefit from this action since enthusiasm is a powerful elixir and completely rare in those “death by committee” office environments. Done correctly, the CPO benefits from the newly found time and the CPO’s replacement also stands to gain. The lieutenant that is allowed to participate in a project that is several “pay grades” above his/her current level may not always thrive at the start, but the young stars in your department are going to do their best to grow into the role and they are going to appreciate the opportunity and gain valuable experience as a result. A comment to yesterday’s article astutely notes “when it comes to retention, salary usually ranks 4th or 5th in the list of needs.” Budget constraints? Perhaps. Meeting/committee request ‘constraints?’ I doubt it.
Generals, consider when you can send a lieutenant (send a ‘lieu,’ in lieu if you will… and if you can). Lieutenants, consider when you can send a sergeant. Make that WOW START NOW!
