Microsoft runs democracy
Microsoft is a strongly hierarchized company. Different groups are spread all around the Campus in different buildings where they work in different products (Office, Windows, Live, etc). Each building (or at least the majority of them) has its own cafeteria, parking spaces and several services too.
Each one of these groups has a hierarchy denoted by an incomprehensible alphanumeric code. It sounds to me as “look, that guy is just an A12. If he were a good sucker upper he could get a B43″ or so. Since a while ago the board is trying to flatten that hierarchized structure to encourage team play. But they are not getting satisfactory results yet maybe because what people like is to widely show off their positions, especially if you are pretty high in the hierarchy and got in that position not that long ago.
One of the identifiers of the hierarchy used to be the parking permit color. This device is a small card which is hung on the front rear mirror. It shows the parking permit number authorization and it gives you the right to park anywhere on Campus.
Well, this color differentiation for parking permit is not working anymore. Now the parking permit card shows the same color for everyone, in this case, it’s yellow. One step beyond to flatten the hierarchy. However, there is no reason to panic yet. The color differentiation still remains for the personal badges so those whose enjoy being clairly identified will not be (mistakenly) taken for any of their “orange badged colleagues“
(Photo: homemade, composed with some googleing)
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Since the word “democracy” exists in the title, I’ve often pondered in seeing business strucutres as microcosms of governmental forms of the world in action…
So I am curious: How do people perceive these forms of “democracy” in their workplace? From their background experiences with these government forms, or otherwise?
Remember- it has been said (I’m not sure by whom) that democracy is when 51% of the people get to do what the other 49% do not want to do.
Dear Polo-Go,
I firmly believe that people sometimes think that a company is like a democratic country: a lot of rights, not too many duties and also the right to change the rules. Democratically changed, of course :-)