Company: Microsoft
Date: 2013-12-06
Overall rating: 3/5
Employment status: current
Experience level: Junior

The Death of Stack Ranking May Mean Collaboration Thrives
Pros: Ample resources, global reach, cutting edge technology, motivated company willing to try anything to thrive in today's much more competitive environment.  I consider my Microsoft experience to be my grad school degree in marketing and digital advertising providing me with a massive level of truly impactful experience that I will be leveraging throughout the remainder of my career.
Cons: The biggest con was the enforced "go it alone" culture created by stack ranking.  Truly employees are valued for not collaborating and working to solve problems and take credit entirely on their own.  My own personal style has always been collaborative centered around brainstorming and giving credit where credit is due freely.  Each employee has their own office in many of the buildings and as a result many people would IM each other rather than speak face to face even while sitting in adjoining offices.  I'm a people-centered manage by walkaround person and as a result the team I led beat its goals and went home happy every night.  But I was a manager of one and none of that success made its way through the stack ranking process.  Hopefully these new changes help move the culture further forward and make the company more competitive in the marketplace.