On the surface, it looked like another routine personnel move with a new corporate suit moving into the executive suite, but Microsoft's decision this week to hire former Clinton political operative Mark Penn as a vice president in charge of "strategic and special projects" -- whatever that means -- may turn out to be one of the more profound decisions the company takes this year.
Will get to why in a moment. First, the context.
Mark Penn
(Credit: Burston-Marsteller) Penn's hiring doesn't come out of the blue. He's joining a company at a critical point in its evolution (Dare I say transformation?). For some time now, Microsoft, a company with historical roots in the enterprise, has tried assiduously to keep pace with the accelerating shift in computing toward more mobile -- and consumer-facing -- technologies. This began a few years ago when Redmond finally understood that Apple had the right idea and it needed to follow Steve Jobs' lead (naturally, without admitting anything of the sort). Microsoft being Microsoft, the transition has been anything but smooth.
When it comes to engineering chops, Microsoft is on a par with its peers. Signing up smart talent has rarely been an issue. Which inevitably raises the eternal barroom conversation-starter: Why can't this company consistently create prod... [Read more]
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