John E. Phillips

First... Read the article... Best Buy smashes the clock - BusinessWeek Online - MSNBC.com 

What a great article... for a company looking to connect with the GenX and Millennials this will be a hit... because those generations are more are more about feeling free yet connected.  They find satisfaction working in Pajama's and flip flops... This move is great for those folks... but does that tell the true story of what happens to Boomers that try to take this approach... And does it work in non metric work environments??? I'm not sure... but I will share my opinion :)

I grew up with a Father that worked in the sales and pharmaceuticals for P&G... he worked from home and on the road with his reps... Pretty normal... Watching his dedication (Now 37years) to his company and profession taught me so much about how to approach work, providing for a family, loyalty to a company (lost on the newer generations) and in an indirect way how to make sure I make the "Time" trade off.   You see I am in a business that will ALWAYS have more work to do... it is a never ending cycle to meet business demand. My ultimate accountability is going home to spend time with my wife... to unplug and go home.  Yes I get on mail from home, yes I work some on the weekends, but I have down time and am unplugged.  Maybe I am just good at it... or maybe I learned from my dad...   You see revert back to the fact that he is a Boomer... Dedicated, Loyal (sometimes to a fault), ridiculously hard work ethic and competitive nature to be successful in a REALLY tough industry in a giant company.  My Point... He works from home and dose not unplug... he has taken the same steps that are in this article and has worked slave hours for years... and Yes he has been successful, raised a wonderful family, been involved in his children’s lives, participated in Church... but he is glued to his office to make sure he is successful and probably more importantly like any good manager cares so deeply about making his people successful... So you may be asking at this point "ok and???"  Well... It goes totally unappreciated... reorg after reorg, new manager after new manager(without the understanding of anything but metrics) they don't see the hours, dedication, and sacrifices that he makes... in any other industry he would have retired by now because he would have been recognized and rewarded more consistently for his efforts and performance.  I can look at his wall and see National awards for his performance dating back to 1977... But when a new manager comes in... they don't have the luxury of taking pass at who is successful from the first impression... if he worked in an office building and a new manager walked in and saw what tremendous success looks like over 30 years...  they would sit down and say... tell me what it takes.... tell me how to sustain success like yours.  Instead he works from home... has a "Flex" schedule and continually has to prove himself to every new manager that manages with a metrics from the distance...  Frankly that sucks... but makes me grateful that I work for a company that rewards promotes highly successful managers appropriately. 

My point is not to say that Flex arraignments are not good... on the contrary I believe almost everything that the article says... but I think that it is a very tough thing for a boomer generation to embrace without going overboard and feeling rewarded and validated... I think that what you have to be very careful of is the fact that the genX is about being constantly validates and stroked and that the millennials are about connection and relationships... yes you can connect with Myspace, msnspaces and phones... heck even the web cam meeting that I can do with my team... but you can't only manage through a metrics and create a connection... Do I think this is the way things will be in 15 years? YES!  But in 15 years we won’t have many boomers managing X's and Millennials... boomers are not be able to pull off connections without face to face interaction.... Good luck Best buy... I think the effort is Nobile... but at the hands of beaurocracy (P&G, GE ETC..)It will fall on its face...

BTW... thanks dad... I think you taught me more that you know... and I am grateful!

Best Buy smashes the clock - BusinessWeek Online - MSNBC.com

Imagine this... you are hard a work... focused, deliberate, challenged with an incredible amount of work to do... looking for motivation... and that’s when it happens.... in the background you think... wow someone’s stereo is really loud... but you listen a little longer... then you realize that is not a radio but a band playing in the atrium of your building... Wow I Love working for a start up!!! anything can happen... and is does... you can get a product out in 9 months, come to work and feel like you have the opportunity to invent, make the culture anything you want... have the ability to get set a new standard in your industry... work in an open environment where everyone comes together to get the common mission done without the corporate beaurocracy? Now you may be questioning where do you work?  well the answer may surprising to you...  I work at Microsoft... and Yes I do drink the corporate cool aid... but what I am apart of is greater that a collective 70,000 person corporation... it's keeping that 70,000 person Corporation agile, quick, inventive, and on the bleeding edge of entertainment.  But I will come back to that.  

Now back to that music in my head.. you know the one that I said was playing... that wasn't a hallucination, It wasn't even a very well though out launch party planned by an event coordinator... it was a impromptu concert by Simon Dawes http://www.simondawes.com/ .  You see I don't only work for Microsoft. I work for the Entertainment Division at Microsoft and right now I am focused on Zune.  It is an amazing place to work, be inspired and motivated on a daily basis...   It's really not what people expect when they think Microsoft... they think PC from the Mac Vs. PC commercials... which I think are funny but are extremely far from what is true here in the E&D division... You have an extremely diverse community that loves music, gaming and entertainment and puts those passions toward products that the consumer can use.  Need More inspiration?  Then lets take a look at our leaders?  Ever heard of J Allard?  if you follow Microsoft, Gaming, Apple, etc.. you probably would have...  ask the Sony play station team if they know who he is? watch how red their faces get... my point?  when a leader is more than a figure head but more of a competitor, fighter, visionary and has the business sense to get it done in a big company... what do you call that?   I'm lost on the appropriate adjective but feel free to let me know your thoughts... check our this recent article... http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_49/b4012001.htm?chan=search  Ok enough of the Zune stuff... we move on.

I said earlier that my job is to keep the 70,000+ person corporation agile, quick, Inventive etc... well let me come back to that now. I am the Recruiting Manager over the Xbox, Zune, and Entertainment businesses at Microsoft.  which now makes sense on why I drink the cool aid... heck I pretty much manage the stand that we sell the cool aid from... ok ok enough with the analogies... Point being that I come to work every day inspired and have the unique opportunity to build a corporate culture and tackle some of the biggest corporate struggles every day... you see I manage a team the is really the front line on what Microsoft will be tomorrow... unlike company’s like GE and P&G... this company is unique... because the biggest asset to this company is not a product inventory or capital assets... it is the People... with very few exceptions this company operates in People and IP(intellectual properties)... those are our assets... you hear about this in speeches by Steve, Bill,  you see it by the actions of Lisa Brummell(Sr. VP or HR)  and you see it everyday you walk in the door.  As an HR or Recruiting professional at Microsoft you get to influence every day the strategy of how we attract, develop, and retain our biggest Asset… Ok I wont go down that road again...  back to my Job... I love it... I think I may have the best recruiting manager job in America... cool product... great team... the power and ability to make huge change and make the inventors dreams come true by assembling teams that flat out just get it done... that is what we do... that is why I go to work... that is what inspires me…

This is my first Blog so feel free to give me suggestions of topics, comments, opinions or just apply for a job J