Since my last post a couple of things have happened to illuminate and educate some of us in IT, at least me. Staff members have been sharing some hard data from the recent layoffs. What I assumed was a close to a 10% cut across the board was not. One group took a huge cut to their program and project managers, which is one of the areas wrote about in my last post. Some groups had a far lower percentage of reductions. Cuts were more targeted, and they did go after some specific areas. I didn't give IT staff enough credit for making targeted cuts, and they did a better job than I assumed. In the future I'll try to keep my trap shut until I have better data.
A senior IT staff member also started blogging a couple of weeks ago. I think this is the first blog from an IT staffer. He talked about hard decisions that had been made, perhaps got a little defensive about the work they have been doing, and acknowledged there are gaps and work TBD from a leadership perspective. Huge kudos here for stepping up and blogging, more kudos for calling out that there are some gaps. Only recommendation is step back on the defensiveness. I know you want to brag about the good stuff you've done and how hard you guys have worked to get it right, but timing is everything.
Other internal blogs are very active, and people are feisty. Our most infamous internal blogger, Jeff M., has not been blogging much and is apparently tapering off his activity. He has escaped the grip of IT for another group at Intel, which apparently won't leave much time for writing. My first thought is: it's about time the guy got a real job and retires as the Intel blogger-laureate. Despite being funny, often insightful, provocative, and could be cathartic for IT (and other) employees, he was sucking all the air out of the blogosphere.
For a year now I've had to battle not trying to copy or follow him with every post. About half the time I want to write about a topic, Jeff beat me to the punch. Commenting on quarterly update or all-hands meetings? Jeff was already there. Viiv? Jeff. Redeployment? Jeff. The new CAO. Jeff. And once he's written on a topic, I don't dare go near it for fear of looking like an unfunny copycat blogger. How would you like to be the kid in class who had to read his short story right after Hemingway. No thanks. Trust me, bloggers across Intel are breathing a sigh of relief that this guy is letting his pen cool off.
But even worse was having to put up with his intolerable celebrity inside the company. I'm out here toiling away in anonymity while Jeff has groupies following him around like he's a rock star. He'd show up at a local pub and Intel people surround the guy asking if they can buy him drinks. We're subjected to melodic calls of "Hi Jeff" or "Great blog today, Jeff" across the cafe or down the halls. You'd think having a bunch of nerdy computer guys yelling compliments at you would be embarrassing, he just takes it all in stride. It's like being in high school and watching the cheerleaders flock around the football captain. The guy is a comedian, folk hero, essayist, and IT geek all rolled into one.
Best of luck, Jeff. Let me know next time you're heading to the local pub so I can buy you a beer.
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- I'm an IT guy at Intel. I've been there a while, and have also worked in sales and marketing, eBusiness, and a couple of other groups that no longer exist.
43 comments:
Jeff at least uses his name so people know who's talking.Hiding behind anonymous blog ID's isn't a good way to build you fanbase. :(
lolz @ this blog post, what a hate-fest, reminds me of the AMD fanbois on /. acting like intel steals all their ideas and beats them to market unfairly.
jeff has brought more wind to the blogosphere than anyone else, not the contrary. he has opened up that domain to the point where we have a lot more open and direct posting of ideas and opinions, which is (last time i looked) still a corporate value.
if jeff is the high school quarterback in this situation then you must be the a/v aide/dungeon master who wants to be like him but can't figure out how.
your blogs over the past year have been insightful and poignant but this one just made me laugh with your obvious jealousy of jeff.
i have odds at 4:1 that this comment never sees the light of day on your page.
Would you mind to share a link to Jeff M's blog?
Well, there you go - writing an Intel blog about Jeff M. is sure to not copy one of Jeff M's blogs. Jeff M. is one of those frequent Circuit bloggers which Intel folks are entertained by, EXCEPT if you are a manager or colleague within his group. Regardless of how he may say reading and writing blogs actually helps his productivity, most of us would honestly say that a certain amount of dedication and effort is applied to his posts. So, nobody can truthfully say that this does not take away from his day job responsibilities. Perhaps the IT redeployments considered blogging skills during its "skills" assessments.
Isn't it funny how the most respected Intel IT person is a guy who "earned" it by posting humorous blogs instead of somebody who made a real contribution to Intel? I have read most of Jeff M's blogs on Circuit - very few of his topics relates to Intel IT or is something that would help the average Intel employee in his job - just mostly entertainment items. No wonder Intel IT is so messed-up.
I agree, those who posts anonymously are A-holes.
Not to pile on Jeff M...er, yeah, I guess I am piling on...Not only does he post a couple of Circuit blogs a week, but he also seems to comment on everybody else's blogs. I would say that his blogs and comments account for a few hours a day for him, probably on company time.
To clarify: my post about Jeff was tongue-in-cheek. My comment about him getting a "real job" was made in jest. My jealously is faux. I'm clearly not skilled enough to have pulled it off. I thought my post was hysterical. It obviously was not.
Go take a look at how people blog today inside Intel vs. what was happening a year ago. They feel free to write openly about what's happening at the company and challenge their leadership. Web 2.0 has hit the corporate blogs. This didn't happen by accident, and Jeff was the guy who got us there internally. He has been the poster child for Risk Taking and Great Place to Work corporate values.
Alek, I can't give you a link to Jeff's blog as it's visible only on Intel's intranet.
Thanks for the nod, IT Guy! You and I may have different approaches, but I enjoy reading what you post.
One of the things I like about Intel is that you're ranked & rated based on how much you contribute during the year, not where you spend your hours each day. I hope it is something that continues to allow blogging to grow for those people who find value in it.
Cheers!
Jeff M is the ambassador of blogging at Intel. That is if you believe that BLOG is an acronym for bloviated garbage. He's clearly someone who is not adding to the bottom line. Jeff's not the only very bad blogger at Intel, he's the most visible abuser of "blogging". There is an old saying which Jeff never learned, "Silence is Golden".
Hmm, how do we know that Intel IT Guy and Jeff M aren't actually the same guy?
is Malcolm H. that ultra smart IT staffer? What a truly great guy. The teamwork he builds as he belittles his staff is amazing. Apparently they didn't teach common sense in his MBA program. Can't imagine HE would be defensive!
@IT Guy != Jeff Moriarty
I've been asked that a bunch, and I know how silly it is to even try to prove a Negative. Still, while some of our ideas might be the similar I think the difference in styles and approach are the best I can offer.
Look at it this way - to anyone who has read my internal postings, do you really think I'd get shy NOW? The only blogging I've done externally about Intel is at IT@Intel and Open Port.
Number two poster. Maybe a little too subtle or ironic for the Intel gaze, but certainly tongue in cheek.
As for remaining anon. I am fine with that. Makes me feel like we're doing something wrong, anti-establishment.
Smoking behind the bike shed for sad old bastard IT employees like me.
As for Jeff M, fame has it's ups and downs for the Britney Spears of Intel IT blogs. Fans and detractors alike.
"One of the things I like about Intel is that you're ranked & rated based on how much you contribute during the year, not where you spend your hours each day."
Even if you are still able to contribute and management does not penalize you, it doesn't mean you should be comfortable doing non-work related activities during company time (eg blogging, day-trading stocks, playing PC games). It just doesn't look good.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/11/30/intel-otellini-nabs-22m
zzzzzzz...what a lame topic...Jeff M....zzzzz
"stick to circuit"
Otellini is having a special Open Forum with IT--very smart move--I'll be interested to listen to this. I wonder how it got initiated.
Intel redeployed folks should all feel better that Otellini has made $22.3 million from his part-time job being on the Google board. I'm sure that Intel does not pay its execs very well, so this is much needed extra income for him.
15 new VPs plus 5 exec VPs/corporate officers announced on Circuit today...Seems excessive and inappropriate considering the recent job cuts. Doesn't Intel PR folks realize this?
Of the 15+ new Intel VPs announced this week, there were NO Asian (non-Indian) folks within this group! Two females were promoted to VPs, and there were many employee comments about this in Circuit, but nobody even mentioned the lack of Asians. It is more egregious in that Asians make up a majority of the Intel engineering headcount. What's the deal?
Of the 15+ new Intel VPs announced this week, there were NO Asian (non-Indian) folks within this group! Two females were promoted to VPs, and there were many employee comments about this in Circuit, but nobody even mentioned the lack of Asians. It is more egregious in that Asians make up a majority of the Intel engineering headcount. What's the deal?
Nonsense. Prove that non-indian Asians make up a majority of the Intel engineering headcount. And make sure you understand what it means to be in engineering.
People should be promoted on merit and ability to do the work in their roles and not on EEOC or other quotas.
Where do you get your numbers to say you are the majority? Intel is a diverse company, everyone is at the proverbial table. Why must you be the majority? I would be thankful I still had a job not whining about supposedly not being "represented" in the VP's list of the moment.
"Of the 15+ new Intel VPs announced this week, there were NO Asian (non-Indian) .... What's the deal?"
I have no clue what you are getting at here. Are you advocating affirmative action for VP positions? What kind of Asian's do you want to become VP's if Indians aren't the right ones in your mind? Stop behaving like a victim and talk some sense.
Yeah, Mr O. certainly has his bets hedged. When Google have us all buying commodity chips because all apps are implemented on the web I guess he'll be rosy. Seriously though, isn't there a conflict of interest at various levels here?
The comment about the lack of Asians (eg Chinese) to newly appointed Intel VP positions have some merit. If you follow pro and college football, you will see some parallel with the issue of black football head coaches. A big percentage of football players are black, yet there is an under-representation of black head coaches. Many defend this situation with "promotions are based on merit" and "we don't want an affirmative action program" and "there are no qualified black candidates", etc. We all know that there is a tone of racism with these remarks. The truth is that there is a "old white boys" network who hire those they are comfortable with. The NFL actually had to implement a new policy of forcing owners to at least interview black candidates for all coaching openings in order to level this playing field to some exent. Intel can learn a lot from this model when hiring managers and execs.
I'm appalled there are not more Asian quarterbacks in the NFL; what gives. I'm also not seeing any Indian opera singers, and the world wrestling federation is absent a lot of nationalities, so obviously the whole world still has a long way to go to become politically correct (PC). Oh by the way, how many chiefs, or senior, or mid-level managers are there of non-Japanese heritage over in companies in Japan? If the odds look bad at your table, go bet elsewhere.
The VP announcements are proof that meritocracy is alive and well at the upper levels of Intel.
However, down below with the recent redeployments, and upcoming March focal sessions in IT you will once again reaffirm your contemplation over why they let "HER" go, and why "HE" is still even here. Therein, meritocracy is ailing.
Lots of Circuit comments (~250+) on the new "glyphs" marketing creation announced this week. Pretty lame and a big waste of time and marketing hype. Big waste of time with mostly negative employee comments as well.
"Is is Memorex or is it____?" You know, what better way to have people believe two bloggers are not one in the same, but to comment about, or engage in dialogue about each other on the blogs. HI JEFF, cat's out of the bag dude. It was fun while it lasted, huh.
There has been a lot of comments recently on Circuit about how Intel employees are underpaid in relation to other companies. From an Intel management perspective, I would not change the status quo with the following reasoning - people with who's been with Intel 10+ years would have already quit if compensation was such a big issue. So, there is no point in adjusting their salary, even if it's far below market value.
For those who have read the Circuit employee comments regarding the article from Intel Chairman Barrett, "U.S. should adopt the Blue Card plan" (temporary work visas for foreign engineers), it's a good indicator of the number of racist bastards who work for Intel.
It's funny to see issues discuss externally but i am gladly join the folk here at the 'hide-out' invisible bar :P
blue card program sux, period. Intel is globalize so why u need to bring engineers in while you can hire them and station in Asia?
Redeployment and Meritocracy will continue be the focus of most IT employee in 2008... I hope there will be no more redeployments but hell who knows.
Meritocracy is b/s when you get the worst grade does not mean you are fire and worst, for IT, many g10s are redeployed/retired/left, backfill are at G9... how many Asian in IT staff or staff-1, dang... not even a handful.. of few thousands employee with half of it in Asia... diversity? Who wants to do the math?
Sudden departure of Bill Sayles spooked me. He was Mr. IT. In-charge of SET and Replatform.
Any comments@
Where have you gone, VP William Sayles
IT had turned its lonely eyes to you (Woo, woo, woo)
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Joltin' Bill has left and gone away
(Hey, hey, hey --- hey, hey, heyyy)
Only time will likely reveal what a mistake it was to let him depart.
As many of you know, it is time for 360 Focal feedback from our Intel peers. What should one do when feedback is requested from somebody one does not think that highly about? We are instructed to state (to our peer's manager) some positives as well as areas for improvements, but what if one does not have anything positive to say? Even though the feedback is supposed to be kept confidential, there are indicators for the recipient to know who said what.
what DID happen to Bill? it seemed like a big surprise from the tone of the email...
Many negative employee Circuit comments regarding Intel again not making the list of "100 best companies to work for", most of which centered around lack of compensation. What a bunch of fools these folks are who think they are the most talented yet underpaid! It makes me wish that the SET actions would have targeted these people. They are a big cancer towards the Intel culture and are the main reason why Intel is not on the list!
I agree with the previous post - If you feel that you are talented but underpaid, you are just plain stupid for staying at Intel. Worse yet, your negative attitude is disruptive to the rest of us happy employees who are proud to work for a great company.
Agree. Few rounds of SMA are not going make Intel a GPTW. On the contrary, I would argue that for the skills we have in IT, Intel is paying pretty well. 2.6% revenue for only enterprise is big.
Despite SET, dead wood still manages to hang on. What can they do? Intel spoiled them over years and there are no comparable alternatives.
So what is considered "deadwood" at Intel? Is it an employee with a certain level of years of employment? And where in anything at Intel is it listed that anyone at a certain point is listed as "deadwood"? Give an age, specifics, please? Are they "deadwood" because they have more experience than you? More benefits than you? More respect than you?
To get respect, you have to give it, have you thought about that?
If you have to ask if you are "deadwood", you probably are one. Many Intelites equate longevity to being a valuable employee. My observation is, more often than not, the opposite is true...And it's often these same people who complain about being underpaid.
When you consider that many salaried Intel employees put in 10-14 hour days, plus plenty of time over the weekend, plus time spent slogging across the globe at the back end of crowded planes on 22-hour flights to India, I think it's okay if they spend an hour or two or five blogging.
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