18 November 2005

If You Can't Fire Them, Promote Them

I may get in trouble for this post but here goes. I once gave my wife some advice. She owns her own business and her mother works with her. Her mother went through a period of high personal stress that affected her ability to concentrate and it was really hurting her work performance and the business. Since you really shouldn't fire your mother, I suggested she promote her. It's a great excuse to take away day to day tasks and free up time to resolve whatever other issues are going on. (You don't need to be doing that bank balancing, that below your skills. We need you to work on the strategic direction for next year.)

Well, it looks like Microsoft Business Solutions may be doing the same thing with Doug Burgum. Doug is a great guy in person but parts of his communication style leave a lot to be desired. If you've ever heard him speak, you may still be wondering what the point is. He's also a Steve Balmer buddy and for a long time, the face of Great Plains and now MBS. Via Mary Jo Foley, MBS is moving Doug into a Chairman role, responsible for evangelism and long term planning. They are looking for a new VP to head the MBS unit. It's no secret that MBS has been struggling to hit the goals Microsoft has set for them, but dumping Doug would be expensive from a marketing and competative strategy position. It would let competitors pound FUD on MBS. So Doug moves into the grandfatherly chairman role and someone, hopefully with a fresh perspective, gets to take this to the next level.

This also continues the de-Fargoing of MBS. Burgum will continue to be based in Fargo but new role will be based in Redmond.