Deepika was one of the first students to write in that she would love to have a blog post put on this blog that she has been following for half a semester now. Ofcourse when we agreed - we got a rather *ahem* short writeup. There were some edits made to her original writing to keep the operational details of RLE hidden, but for the most part her note is being published intact.
This Sunday, the 7th December 2008, was the end of a wonderful journey, or should I say the beginning of another? A quick recap…
I had said on November 5th that “Firenze is in the air” at Yale School of Management! And as the days passed by, the atmosphere got intense with research, strategies, competition, analysis, discussions, arguments (Yes! we did have some major brainstorming that brought the roof down!) to all culminate into a beautiful slide deck “Sharepoint – Roleplay Marketing”! Fingers crossed we waited for the results.
November 18th: Team Phoenix is into the finals!!! The moments of exhilaration then turned into frantic preparations. We had a day to go and 20th was our final presentation. Loads of preparation and practice finally gave us the confidence to give a good performance on our D-day.
After a day of nail-biting suspense, we were finally declared the winners! The reward was the “Redmond Leadership Experience”. “Microsoft Firenze” or “Expect Great Things” – use them interchangeably, both mean the same and I can vouch for it!
At that time, I felt like Calvin – “That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!” And euphoria is what I experienced at Bellevue.
I had a very pleasant, no hitches - journey from New Haven to Seattle. When I say pleasant, I mean in every way – not just the journey and the weather, but the people too – warm and nice!
The eve of the final day, we got a wonderful opportunity to meet our alum Paul, who treated us to a fabulous dinner while narrating his amazing journey with Microsoft! And he had only good things to sayJ
The final day – December 7th! The team was ready by 7:45 am and met Dusko at the Lobby of Lincoln Square, a very beautiful building in the lovely downtown of Bellevue. This was introduction time – as we met our fellow winners from three other schools. Did I say introduction time, no!!! It was the moment we actually sat in the roller coaster – believe me I did not know that then!!!
The ride began with a warm welcome, a delicious breakfast and the sharp Inversion #1! Another case and another team – living up to the claim of diversity – they mixed up schools and formed three teams. Here we were – Team Laura, Team Cheryl and Team Rick!!!
This was a taste of the real world – all of us with equal information, starting at the same point in the race and the clock ticking away. To make it even more real – we could hire consultants! There were the top Microsoft executives from the Services teams, willing to help us all out! Can it get better than this?
Yes it can! A General Manager and HR executive would be with our team all through the day gently guiding us to our destinations.
As we were progressing with our ideas, we had a lunch talk with the CTO of the Services unit – Norm Judah, whose encouraging words gave direction to our thoughts. But this did not prepare us for Inversion #2. Again, all became equal in this war and there was an imbalance in the team. How would we handle this?
Now you would say, this is easy- but with the time flying by, we were already at the tea break, which was the harbinger for Inversion #3- Align your service offering to Collaboration with IT /Customer/Operations. And we just had an hour to prepare a slide deck as well as a creative piece conveying our thoughts. It was a challenge to summarize all the wonderful ideas that the executives had stimulated in our minds and white boardsJ
Presentation time came by and we answered a volley of questions from the amazing judges, directing us at every step of this day. The competition was rounded off with an individual feedback on leadership styles from the GM and the HR of each team.
Anxiety and excitement were now was replaced with unlimited fun! The photo shoot on the skybridge, the award ceremony, the lovely trophies with revolving globes, the raffle (I won a Zune!), Ann’s stunning costumes and the icing on the cake – Xbox 360 Rockband2 party! The ride just got crazierJ
This event gave an opportunity to know Microsoft from the inside, through our interactions with the top executives and a chance to come up with innovative business solutions, think about the relationship with the customer, service offerings that are return for investments, collaboration, methodologies and a combination of technology and business strategies.
I would really like to take a moment and thank each and every one of the Microsoft executives – Norm, John, Laura, Cheryl, Rick, Allistair, Gary, Edytte, Dana, Lisa, Kathy, Jacqui who made our stay there very memorable and extremely enjoyable. Special mention to the organizers – Pradeep, Dusko and Mac, who made the whole event a huge success and my main motivation to write this blog! A big Thank you to all the judges and the executives who supported us all through the day (They were there on a Sunday!).
Now when I think of Microsoft – I say innovation, challenges, fun, friendly and all that I want in a place I want to work at or should I simply say - Dream destination! So call it end or call it beginning, it has been the most memorable experience I have had coming to Yale!
Deepika has also promised to get a little more personal in her next blog post where she reflects on what this really meant to her in terms of any personal transformations/ introspective moments she might have had. With this being exam-week those kinds of thoughts are not on top priority for any student. But we are looking forward to her next post. And thank you for all the kind words Deepika, we loved having you and your team here at Redmond and Bellevue.
