An insightful and balanced article about Steve Ballmer. But the author goes seriously awry in the last paragraph:
"Ballmer did exactly what our capitalist system dictate he do: he maximized profits to the benefit of Microsoft’s shareholders. The implications of suggesting he was a failure are far more profound than most of his many critics likely realize."
Actually not at all. The best way to serve shareholders is to not focus on profits more than you absolutely must, and instead to focus on doing things insanely great.
And there is a personal lesson as well. I like money as much as the next guy, maybe more. But I know from experience that my best work is when I don't think about money at all, when I think about pleasing clients, and creating great stuff, and changing the world.
"Ballmer did exactly what our capitalist system dictate he do: he maximized profits to the benefit of Microsoft’s shareholders. The implications of suggesting he was a failure are far more profound than most of his many critics likely realize."
Actually not at all. The best way to serve shareholders is to not focus on profits more than you absolutely must, and instead to focus on doing things insanely great.
And there is a personal lesson as well. I like money as much as the next guy, maybe more. But I know from experience that my best work is when I don't think about money at all, when I think about pleasing clients, and creating great stuff, and changing the world.