What was the question, Rory? And what was the answer?

Jay -

"What was the question, Rory? And what was the answer?"

I'm, as lame as this sounds, not allowed to say.

I'd love to share it and discuss the question/answer(s), but simply can't.

Sorry :|

It is my guess that it was some really insightful but potentially a hurtful comment that may have struck a nerve with the higher ups. Now with the rumors that the new IE looks remarkably similar to that of Firefox it could have been a crack about how Microsoft distains against the use of open source software but uses the ideas and potentially the source code in its products to further the bottom line. Of course this is just my guessing as I really have never met you nor did I attend the meeting and since you are mum about the subject I guess we will know when the timing is right.

Just guessing. And for the record I do not mean to use this as a flame post but just some guess as to what this was all about. Nothing more than that I assure everyone.

did it start with:

"Your momma..."?

When did you get an extra two friends ?

Well, I for one am glad that you bit the bullet and joined... in fact, I think I'm down right giddy!

Q: Did you really sleep with BillG to get where you are today, or is it the other way around.
A: Security, intruder in aisle 6.

Richard -

"Just guessing. And for the record I do not mean to use this as a flame post but just some guess as to what this was all about."

While I can't talk about particulars, I can tell you this:

1. It was an honest set of questions - I really wanted the answers

2. Whether I got answers or not, the questions concerned something that I consider to be core to the company, and I wanted the executives as well as the other 5,000 people in the room to think about it

3. Some people think I went too far and that my manner was questionable - The truth is that I *really* wanted to know, and I'm not the sort of person who's going to be satisfied with a non-answer

4. To his credit, Ballmer answered my question more candidly than I expected

Mostly, it seems the big to-do is about the *way* I asked the question rather than the content itself.

The fact is, I would have been much happier with five minutes behind closed doors getting to ask questions, but I'm never going to get that, so I took an opportunity and tried to get the most I could out of it.

Ballmer's a very smart guy, and it isn't often that I'm going to get the chance to pick his brain. Even though I've gotten a lot of shit from softies about the question (although the vast majority of comments have been positive), I feel that it was worth it. I would much rather have taken the chance and screwed up a little than not to have taken the chance at all, you konw?

Did the Google recruiters contact you already?

Rory,

Thanks for answering my question.

Thanks,

Richard

TechReady 2? If so, bummer. Would have been cool to meet up. You could have come up and barfed on our AzMan lab, while I droned on about roles-based authorization.

I was there, and that exchange was one of the coolest things I've ever seen at Microsoft. A very direct question (kind of repeated a few times:-) and a very candid reponse (kind of maybe clarified over repeated answerings). My hat's off to Rory for asking, and to SteveB for thought-provoking candor. This is a great company to work for, and that starts at the top.