Is It Worth It?

One of the benefits and curses of my previous life as an entrepreneur (remember SilentFrog.com?) is that I tend to think like an owner.

I debate spending more money than I have to on travel, for example, and I get irritated when things aren't perfect.

In a small company, that can make or break you.

In a large company, with 80,000 people, it's easy to feel divorced from that sense of ownership. Yes, it's your money (as a shareholder), but it doesn't feel that way always....and when you see something broken, you can easily say, "it's not my problem" or "I can't fix everything so I just have to let it go."

But, something inside of me can't allow that.

There are many great things about working at Microsoft, but there's one element of our Human Resources process that really irritates me. As an owner, I feel the need to raise the awareness of the person responsible for it and share some of my frustration. I have a sense of ownership that I want it to be better.

On the other hand, is it worth it?

The VP to whom I write may say, "who the hell is this guy sending me a note?" or worse, I suppose.

I see it in the macro sense...if we don't fix this, it's another potential weakness.

But, in a situation where the risk outweighs the reward (risk of a handslap yes, but risk of non-response and opportunity cost of the time and reward of 'hey thanks, we're on it), is it worth it?