Rui Carmo
This dragged me all the way back to last year, and just as last year, it gave me pause.
The impact of what happened last year took many months to shake off, and even though the scenario is different (this feels as much about slimming management layers as it is about rethinking rapid growth), the human impact is even bigger–1,985 people from Redmond alone, today.
One of the challenges outsiders have regarding this kind of situation is internalizing that even a company that just posted strong quarterly results (among the best ever) can still take drastic steps–reminding us that numbers on paper rarely capture the whole story.
And to that topic, Scott Hanselman said “This is a day with a lot of tears,” which I think speaks volumes about the internal (and human) cost of change.
Although I was not privy to any inside baseball and the orgs affected are (so far) quite distant from my endeavors, the article rings true where it points to post-pandemic growth spurts and long overdue org chart calibration as key drivers–although I’m positive there will be the usual misinterpretations about AI “replacing” people and other such idiocy.
As before, the key to “the after” is rediscovering purpose, and I hope the people impacted will quickly be able to do so.