Microsoft Secrets

"Bill Gates of Microsoft may be the shrewdest entrepreneur and the most underrated manager in American industry today."

"There's a certain sharpness, an ability to absorb new facts. To walk into a situation, have something explained to you and immediately say, 'Well, what about this?'"

"Gates has been quoted as looking for four essential qualities in new hires: ambition, IQ, technical expertise, and business judgment, with IQ most important."

"Rather than investing heavily in training programs, formal rules and procedures, or even detailed product documentation, Microsoft tries to hire people who can learn on their own on the job."

"The underlying strategy is simple: If computers are easy to use and if software is easy enough to obtain, then there will be billions of potential new customers."

"Divide large projects into multiple milestone cycles with buffers and no separate product maintenance."

"Activity-based planning appears to have spread among groups because it helps project personnel think about the product in a more holistic way."

"Microsoft people communicate well because projects use a common set of tools to help manage and develop products."

"The notion of continual testing done concurrently with development distinguishes Microsoft."

"Many companies have found that a key element in managing as well as improving activities such as product development is to create quantitative metrics and benchmarks."

"Microsoft has made extraordinary efforts to learn from external sources: its tens of millions of customers."

"To do as well in the future as it has in the past will not be easy."