[mcantor]

"... my communication style was flagged as inappropriate and antagonistic."

That's from the anecdote about the beginning of his tenure at Microsoft. Ironically, I think the excerpt from his "resignation" letter shows that his communication style is inappropriate and antagonistic. Sure, he was angry when he wrote the "last laugh" letter, so the emotions were likely quite different. But he did not express himself very effectively, instead focusing on his feelings and his certainty that he's correct. If he did that in his initial suggestion, no wonder no one listened.