Mini-Microsoft
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''Mini-Microsoft'' is a
blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...
that was maintained by an anonymous author who appeared to be a
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
employee. The site credited its sole author as "Who da'Punk", but many readers referred to him as "Mini" or "Mini-Microsoft". The nominal goal of the blog was to shrink Microsoft down to a smaller, more efficient company, but the blog also served as a forum where Microsoft employees and others engaged in discussion about the company and about its
corporate culture Historically there have been differences among investigators regarding the definition of organizational culture. Edgar Schein, a leading researcher in this field, defined "organizational culture" as comprising a number of features, including a s ...
. It was last updated in 2014.


History

''Mini-Microsoft'' began on July 6, 2004 with a post entitled "Blast off for Mini-Microsoft". Throughout 2005, the site began to gather attention. The blog’s author was interviewed for an article in the September 26, 2005 issue of ''
Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'', part of a cover package about trouble at Microsoft. In April 2006,
Robert Scoble Robert Scoble (born January 18, 1965) is an American blogger, technical evangelist, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog, ''Scobleizer'', which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist at Microsoft. He later worked ...
, who was then a Microsoft employee, wrote on his personal blog that ''Mini-Microsoft'' was "doing a lot of good for the company" and that Scoble would "quit on the spot" if the anonymous author were fired. After a May 27, 2006 article by Danny Westneat in ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington (s ...
'', in which the blog's author admitted that his secret identity was wearing on him, he announced on his blog that he was taking a break and switched to posting very terse posts with links to other sites. He returned to his previous article format a few months later. The author announced another hiatus in February 2009, saying that he was considering leaving the company; in response, the local ''TechFlash'' blog suggested, "He should just reveal his identity, and see what happens." The publication pace of ''Mini-Microsoft'' slowed from 2006 to 2012. Since July 2012, only three posts have appeared: one in November 2012 commenting on the departure of then-Windows head
Steven Sinofsky Steven Jay Sinofsky (born 1965) is a former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft from July 2009 until his resignation on November 13, 2012. He was responsible for the development and marketing of Windows, Internet Explorer, and online s ...
, another in August 2013 commenting on the announcement of
Steve Ballmer Steven Anthony Ballmer (; March 24, 1956) is an American business magnate and investor who served as the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Associ ...
's retirement, and one in July 2014 commenting on a Microsoft announcement of upcoming job cuts.


Issues discussed

The anonymous author was particularly critical of Microsoft's
performance review A performance appraisal, also referred to as a performance review, performance evaluation,Muchinsky, P. M. (2012). ''Psychology Applied to Work'' (10th ed.). Summerfield, NC: Hypergraphic Press. (career) development discussion, or employee appr ...
system, writing in 2006, "I'd love our review and compensation system to be so straightforward and fair that it just fades into the background of everyday worklife." In May 2006, Microsoft announced myMicrosoft, a series of changes including a new performance review system, improved compensation, and new perks, to improve employee morale and retention.
Lisa Brummel Lisa E. Brummel (born 1959/1960) is an American businesswoman who served as Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Microsoft until her retirement on December 31, 2014. She previously served as corporate vice president of the company's H ...
, Microsoft's head of human resources, told the ''Seattle Times'' in October 2006 that she planned to start an internal blog called ''InsideMS'' where employees can discuss issues with each other, anonymously if they so preferred. Brummel said that she intended to contribute to discussions on ''InsideMS'' herself, and that she read ''Mini-Microsoft'' but did not engage in discussion there, because she did not know whether external blogs' contributors were currently Microsoft employees. Robert Scoble credited the ''Mini-Microsoft'' blog's author with inspiring myMicrosoft. In March 2007, a post on ''Mini-Microsoft'' said that "this blog and its conversation changed pretty dramatically when InsideMS came on the internal Microsoftie scene". The anonymous author suggested that Microsoft should replace ''InsideMS'', whose anonymous commenting features were reportedly removed, with an internal blog written by senior leaders at the company. The ''
Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
'' described ''Mini-Microsoft'' in 2007 as having "become a soap box for employee discontent over the past three years." The ''FT'' described the site as being a resource for details of managerial pay packages, employee bonuses, and stock grants. At the time, similarly-named sites existed for the company's Indian and French offices.


Impact

''Mini-Microsoft'' was one of the first successful examples of an unofficial blog that was written by a major tech company employee and that was open to the general public. Previously, corporate confidentiality and communications policies, along with the lack of attention paid to social media, limited such blogs' reach. The ''Financial Times'' in 2009 noted that Microsoft's attitude to employee-run blogs was "relaxed" compared with most companies. A member of the company's business strategy division estimated that 5,000 to 6,000 Microsoft employees wrote blogs. The anonymous blogger, nicknamed "Microsoft's Deep Throat" by ''Business Week'', became popular among reporters as a source for leads on news stories about the company.
Rob Enderle Rob Enderle (born July 27, 1954 in Corona, California) is an American technology analyst. Enderle has worked at several technology companies including EMS Development Company, ROLM Systems and IBM, before becoming a technology analyst. He bega ...
wrote in 2007 that he considered ''Mini-Microsoft'' a "
guilty pleasure A guilty pleasure is something, such as a film, a television program, or a piece of music, that one enjoys despite understanding that it is not generally held in high regard, or is seen as unusual or weird. For example, a person may secretly like ...
" and praised the blogger for mixing thoughtful criticism and actionable recommendations. Individual posts on the blog were cited as sources in news reporting.
Steven Sinofsky Steven Jay Sinofsky (born 1965) is a former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft from July 2009 until his resignation on November 13, 2012. He was responsible for the development and marketing of Windows, Internet Explorer, and online s ...
wrote in 2022 about the blogger, whose identity he did not know, "… they were a fixture over everything that was going on at Microsoft, even if I chose to ignore them the rest of the Windows team and the company followed every word (and so did the press)." Sinofsky wrote that he was challenged to respond to the blog's critiques, and that it was difficult to do so, because "Mini he bloggerdid not always have the complete context." Alex Shin, head of operations at TeamBlind, ran a branding campaign in 2016 for the Blind social media app by referring to it as "Mini-Microsoft 2.0". Shin credited this campaign with the increase in Microsoft employees' presence on Blind, an anonymous social media app for discussion of employee concerns, from 1,000 employees to over 10,000.


Notes


References


External links

* *{{Twitter, whodapunk, Who da'Punk American bloggers Microsoft criticisms and controversies Microsoft culture Microsoft employees Works about Microsoft 21st-century pseudonymous writers