Don't travel with Goats

Hello World-

Goggle Man is preparing to take a little time off and will be traveling to the magical island known as Maui.  We are going on this adventure with two of our friends met for dinner to discuss our agenda for our trip.   During dinner, I was sharing the Goggle Man story.   My buddy instantly said, " I've got a story for you".  He is a local firefighter and always has interesting stories to share.  

My buddy, "Mr. Firefighter" responds to a call of a car accident on a major road in town.  As they are on their way, his crew is expecting the worse situation.  Will it require jaws of life, CPR, a fire to put out?  When he arrives he sees a smashed car with all of the windows broken out.  He sees two groups of  angry people on either side of the car.  There was also a goat running around on the side of the road. His crew quickly responded and gathered as much information about the situation so they could help.   This is what they found:

A mom and her son got into an argument. During the argument, the Mom proceeded to take the son's pride and joy- his car.  Not only did she want to take the car, but felt that it was her right to take her goat along.   Since she was mad at him, it seemed like a good idea to start driving it into a pole to make a stronger point of how angry she was.   While she was trying to wreak the car, her goat jumped in and tried to help her cause.  The goat started kicking all the windows out of the car.  By the end of this stunt all that was left was a yellow, smoking, and windowless Mustang GT.

Once the crowd was calmed down, the one police officer make a monumental comment that will stick with me for the rest of my life.   He said, "It seems goats don't travel well."   You have to like the simplicity and candor of this statement.  

This story made me think.  How many occupations require processing a ton of data that is required to make split second decision.  Many of these roles I would never think of...  

How are you processing data in your role?  Do you have an awesome BI suite, or does it require you to go "old school" and use your brain?  I will leave you with this.  When you feel that everything is on fire, remember there are others in the world that are also making difficult decisions- some even involve mad goats. 

As I prepare for my vacation, I think that I will leave my goat at home since they do not travel well.

More to come from the Islands-
Until next time!

Goggle Man Out!

 

Friday Song Challenge- Goose is alive!

Hello World-
I was having dinner this week with some friends and the song "Danger Zone" came on in the restaurant.  Instantly, we all started rocking out to the song.   It took all of us back to the iconic Top Gun movie.  It is amazing how a song that is combined with the right visuals can create such a powerful statement.   The song by itself is just a song.  The visuals of the F14 Tomcats flying are just fighter jets.  Put the two together and magic happens.  Now everyone wants to become fighter pilots.   We can become instant hero's who want to save the world. 

Bogie at 10 o'clock!

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=siwpn14IE7E

 

 

Within this same topic, my team had an offsite a few months ago.  We had a costume contest and Goose made a cameo appearance.   I was so excited that Goose is not dead.   He is alive and well and recruiting for Microsoft.  

 

 

 Hope you have a great weekend and this post brings inspiration.  Go have an adventure this weekend. 

 

-Goggle Man Out!

 

#PrimeDay- Did I miss something?

I was so excited for Amazon Prime Day to arrive.  I have been a prime member for a long time and think that it is a great service.  The two day shipping and no sales tax hooked me.   Hearing that Amazon was going to provide Christmas in July was exciting.  Even my Mom checked in with me to see what deals I was going to score.   I was ready and even informed UPS to start their trucks...




Prime Day was here, or was it?  I went on Amazon and looked around for the exciting deals.  Where were they?   There was a bunch of stuff that really was not interesting.   I cruised the site for 5-10 minutes looking for the hidden deal- it had to be here.   NOT!  This was a bust.  Why is their box guy mascot smiling.  Is he laughing at me because this is a joke?  I was glad that I was already a prime subscriber.  Think of all the people who joined for this promotion.

I went on Twitter and quickly learned that I was not alone.   PrimeDay was a bust across 99.999% of the worlds population.  PrimeDay was such a miss for Amazon that it started trending (in a bad way) on Twitter.   I started to think about how important it is to live up to the hype advertised events.  One miss and the entire world is your critic.   Social Media can make or break you in a matter of seconds. 

So what can we learn from PrimeDay?   I give Amazon credit for trying something new.  They forced their competition to react quickly to this event to try to keep up.  Walmart and other retailers were scrambling to compete.  Amazon was clearly trailblazing in unknown territories.   However, their miss might have been worse than not hosting PrimeDay.  Amazon has now lost a lot of people who would usually use their product if they found a great deal.  Now there are a lot of people with a $99.00 subscription to a service they do not believe in.

At Microsoft, we are not afraid to fail.  We all fail.  Amazon failed with PrimeDay. They will lick their wounds and try it again.  Microsoft had challenges when we tried something new with Windows 8.  We were trying to provide a desktop and tablet interface to an audience that was not really ready for it.  There were some quick fixes that needed to happen, but we were working on a better solution- Windows 10.   Windows 10 will be the version that will get all the glory. However, Window 10 needed the failure of Window 8 to make it better.

If we are not failing, then we are not trying. Test the boundaries.   Don't play it safe.  Learn from your mistakes and improve!


Go out and experience the world and don't be afraid to fail.  If Amazon can do it, so can you!. 

Until next time.  

-Goggle Man OUT!

All about perspective- Make it Epic

Hello World! 

Have you ever felt that things are so busy at work that you are only along for the ride? Have you experienced times at work that it feels like your hair is on fire?  Those days where you look down at you laptop and realize that it is 5 pm and it feels like nothing got accomplished?   It is one of those times for my team... 

It is a busy time at Microsoft for recruiters.   We just started our new fiscal year and hiring becomes a major focus.  However, this year is unique.  My team's workload has increased dramatically due to several new profiles that Microsoft has created to as part of our Mobile First, Cloud First focus.  We are simply very busy right now!

https://gopro.com/channel/favorites/summer-time-blob

The overwhelming panic feeling usually sets in when there is too much on a person's plate in life (or work).  It reminds me of a time when I was boogie boarding in S. California when I was 13.   I was enjoying the tide until I kicked something very large below me, which should have not been there.   I knew it was a shark.  Visions of JAWS flashed into my brain.   Panic quickly set in and I was off to the beach- so I thought.  I quickly realized that I was not going anywhere, simply going in circles in a frantic pattern. My mind was moving too fast and needed to process and focus on what was right in front of me.  Once I forgot about the shark trying to eat me and refocused, I made it to the beach.

In the video, the majority of the kids who are slowly inching out to the end of the blob were not truly embracing what was going to happen next.  They were not too sure of being launched 50 feet into the air.   Their brains are still in panic mode.   However, there was one kid who had a different perspective.  "This is going to be epic!"   That kid embraced the challenge and wanted to make the most of it.  He already had a vision of what was going to happen and met it with excitement.  

Goggle Man is challenging the world to be like that kid.   View challenges as "epic" vs. scary or too hard.  Charge into each adventure with an "EPIC" viewpoint.  

My team will be "EPIC".  We are going to change the face of Microsoft with the people we hire.   If you want to be part of this epic adventure, connect with us to discuss how you can help change the world!

Until next time- GO have an EPIC adventure

-Google Man Out!

Learn from Twiggy- Don't Give Up

I wanted to provide a quick post to help energize the world through the Goggle Man lenses.   Have you ever had times where things seem impossible?  Wanted to give up?   I have had those times and always hold onto stories that inspire me to give me hope that I can succeed.  I work at a company where everyday we are making the impossible, possible.  However, this is not easy.   


I wanted to provide some inspiration.  I don't know if anyone has tried to waterski or wakeboard.  It is not very easy to learn for many people.  It is not natural to be pulled by a boat standing on composite sticks.  

So I was cruising the YouTube channel and came across Twiggy.   How did a squirrel learn how to waterski.  Even bigger, who taught him?   Wait, who even has a pet squirrel?

https://gopro.com/channel/video-of-the-day/twiggy-the-waterskiing-squirrel


When life gets tough, think of Twiggy.  Round and round he goes in the pool.


Adventures are everywhere- even for squirrels. 

-Goggle Man Out!

A New Microsoft- "Reviews"

Hello World-
I hope you have had a great start to your week.  Life has been a bit crazy now that we have started our new fiscal year.  Our team has the largest amount of new roles opening as part of the transformation that is happening at Microsoft.  It is very exciting to see the organization you work for driving needed change that will make greater impact.  

Speaking of impact.    I want to write about the infamous "Microsoft Reviews".  Many of you might have heard about how Microsoft reviews their employees.  I have to be honest, it WAS a tough system.  When I joined Microsoft under the old review model, it was a scary time waiting for your review.   Since the review was on a scale system and was focused on only YOUR impact, it really came down to how your work stacked up against others.   This process produced an I-culture since everyone was out for themselves (self preservation).

With all the changes at Microsoft, I feel that the greatest change has been the new review model.   We now are rated on how we collaborate and leverage the work of others.  This simple change in the way that individuals are graded has transformed the company.   Our culture now seeks out others to collaborate and are rewarded for giving others credit vs. not sharing what you are working on in fear that someone will try to own it for themselves. 

Our culture reminds me of a solid rowing team.   The boat is on a perfect line on a glass lake.  Everyone is in sync.   The former Microsoft reminded me of my seven year old trying to row a boat for the first time, simply going in circles and fighting herself the entire time.  

I am excited about the future at Microsoft.   As one of many storytellers, we need to keep showcasing how exciting these changes are.   Microsoft is full of interesting and exciting people who love what they do.  We all want to change the world and do so in so many ways.  Microsoft supports us to do this by providing a new review system that makes us better people.  

Go have an adventure-

Until next time

-GoggleMan Out!

Day 10: Friday Song Challenge- Dont Worry...

Hello World-

Life is short and we all need to live life the fullest. We all know someone who is struggling with something right now.  It might be you personally or someone you know.  I wanted to encourage everyone today to enjoy each moment and live for today.  Since we spend the majority of time at work, I hope you have an environment like Microsoft that supports you like family!

 

Link is here:  https://youtu.be/EYi5aW1GdUU 

Here is a Goggle Man left turn.   I was up late last night entranced with the GoPro channel.   It is amazing what people create.    Here is something I found that I could not pass up.  

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2wenmy_gopro-twiggy-the-waterskiing-squirrel_travel

Take the Twiggy's lead and go have an adventure this weekend.  If a squirrel can waterski, you can try something new!

Until Next Time!

-Goggle Man Out!