Mixed Emotions

Almost every time somebody changes groups at Microsoft, there's some sort of "send-off" email. 98% of the time, these emails contain the phrase "It is with mixed emotions that ..." Mixed emotions? The only thing I want mixed are my drinks!

I've mentioned a few times on this blog (and more often internally), that sometime in the next year I would be ready to try something new at Microsoft. I had always assumed I would go back to a product group, but sometimes things go a little differently than planned. A new position managed to find me quicker than I found it. So, it is with exactly one emotion (complete and utter fear) that I've decided to take on the role of director of test excellence (my former boss's job). I shared with my former peers, now direct reports, that this was either a good thing, or possibly the stupidest thing I ever did - time will tell.

I had a few strange requests for my new boss (my former boss's boss) that didn't meet any resistance. The first is that I keep my Test Architect title. I was one of the first TA's at Microsoft, and still plan to return to that role when I leave engineering excellence. The second was that I could continue to sit in the team room, rather than my old boss's office, as long as we had room for me - there's more light in there, and there are several other advantages.

I'm celebrating the move by being out of the office for all but 7 days between now and 2008, but I'm sure it will be exciting anyway.

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