[ChuckMcM]

Effectively yes. He did let me know that if it didn't work out that I would bear the consequences :-). By that time in my career I knew that you're only as good as your previous decision, good or bad.

It became NetApp's best selling product at the time. I don't deserve any credit for that of course, the folks to did the work to get it out the door and sell it get the credit. My job was to do what the Army engineers do, land on the beach and clear the obstacles between the beach and the objective so that the main force can do what they came for.

When I interview managers I ask them why they want to be a manager. It is not uncommon for them to say, "Because I want to be able to make the right decisions." And I ask them, "And if they are the wrong decisions, are you prepared to be told to leave?" It is a good litmus test.

[ahartmetz]

For all the times "nobody ever got fired..." is used when discussing technology, this might be the first time that I read about a manager directly warning you why you might get fired if you don't buy, errr, IBM :)

[jacquesm]

That's really great. The reason I asked is because I've seen that tactic used just to get people to let off steam and then the manager would push through their own vision regardless of whatever was said. So I'm really happy to see that he not only took input from you but was willing to commit to it as well over his own opinion.

Agreed on the management interviews, any kind of power should always come with accountability in case it is mis-applied.