welcome to the funcave

what’s wrong with this picture?

ever feel like you’re the subject of one of those what’s wrong with this picture? pictures?

i’ll bet stevie b. does after this little gem.

the new york times has a photo series titled keeping track of steve ballmer posted & boy is it a doozy!

2 pictures in particular caught my eye.

it’s amazing what you can tell about a person from their surroundings, especially when they have some control over it.

obviously, no one else other than him ever goes in there.

seriously…there’s no barrier to the desk from the door. no extra chairs that you can see, nor any room for extra chairs. and he obviously has no fear of placing his back to the door. most executives would only do this if they were absolutely sure they would never be surprised.

the office is generally asture, from the perspective of overall decoration. there’s no fancy coordination of textures, fabrics & furniture.

but judging from what is in there, it’s obviously a very personal place. lots of pictures. an entire bulletin board filled with kids’ drawings.

that speaks volumes, right there.

let’s go on to the next picture…

wow…where to begin on this one.

working lunch, at the desk. broccoli largely untouched. so he knows he should eat better…prolly hears it from the wife & his doctor all the time…but is a meat & potatoes guy at heart.

definitely can tell that the view is important to him. 2 out of 4 walls are glass…but he prolly wishes he could get that to 3 out of 4.

but the really telling thing? just look at the tech on display here…

• corded ms keyboard, circa 1994.
• corded optical mouse, circa 1998. no mousepad, save for a printed page from an outlook calendar, presumably his. of course, the caption for the first pic mentions he tracks his calendar using excel. so maybe not his, after all.
• single lcd display, circa 2002.
• super-thin ibm thinkpad with docking station. no way that thing would run vista.

and a phone, of course.

but, like the other view of that office…

fairly asture. nothing fancy. utilitarian, at best. seriously. that office could be the office of your average high school guidance counselor or assistant principal right there.

so all of you who are always running out, beside yourself to always have the latest whizzbang & greatest whatsit…

look at how stevie b. is rolling right there, like he was on little house on the prairie or something.

in the immortal words of mr. spock…

fascinating.

how much cheese do you think ms generates in a year? now how much do you generate?

remember…

the best drug dealers never touch their own product.

stay frosty kiddos.

|| posted by chris under business, epiphany, mothership, opinion || || ||