The geek in question: Steve Clayton
The job title: Software plus Services Lead

Let’s start with the easy stuff – what are you working on right now?
I’m working on Software plus Services strategy in a part of the company called Microsoft International.

You were also involved in that whole Blue Monster thing a year or two back, right? How is the Blue Monster aging?
Hugh McLeod did the cartoon, and he was just asking me, “What should we do now?”

I said, “We don’t do anything. We created this thing that’s out there — it splits opinion and inspires dialog. It’s got a life of its own.” I don’t push it, but I still get mail from people about it.

There’s also the Blue Monster wine – do you feel like as the wine ages into a fine vintage, so too does the Blue Monster?

I would like to think it would have a nice smooth long-lasting finish. I don’t really know where it will go. It started as a vehicle to express that, as a company, sometimes we are not not as good as we should be about expressing what great stuff this company does.

I noticed that you tweeted recently about some new “dream gig.” What’s that about?

It was a bit of a red herring — it’s not a new job. What I love about this place, you get the opportunities to do stuff you just couldn’t do anywhere else. When I tweeted that, I’d just gotten an email from a guy in Italy saying he needed some help with a software+services briefing, and would I mind coming down to the Ferrari factory to do it? That’s pretty much my dream gig: go down, spend a day in the Ferrari factory, doing a bunch of presentations, get a little tour around the factory.

Maybe a test drive? Fondle some hardware?

That would be so cool. The Enzo, please.

What are the biggest cultural evolutions you’ve seen at Microsoft in the 10 years you’ve been here?

In the wake of the DOJ thing, I think the company pulled back and became almost quite shy. When I joined the company, I used to be like “WOO! I work for Microsoft.” I was happy to tell everybody, and proud of it.

Then we went through an era of being attacked from all sides, and when people would ask me where I worked, I would just say, “I work for a software company.”

Then I’d talk about making products that help people connect to their families and communicate across the world. And people would say, “Huh. That’s cool – who is it?” And when I tell them Microsoft, they’d be surprised. I’ve found myself changing how I talk about the company because people have these preconceptions.

Do you feel like that was a corporate correction that needed to happen? Like the company had gotten a little arrogant, and now it’s swinging back?

I think that’s probably right. We could have been accused of being arrogant at different times. And now the company is coming back the other way — I don’t know whether that was organic or manufactured. It feels like we’re starting to swing back … not toward the arrogance, but toward just talking about who we are and what we do.

It sounds trite, but working here feels like you’re a part of history. There’s some big stuff happening with the company and with the industry. It’s a really interesting time to watch the company.

So here’s to another 10 years then?

Definitely. The day I started working here, I came home and got a call from my parents asking me “What do you think?” And I said, “I can’t see myself working anywhere else.” And 10 years on, it’s no different.

Links, please!

• Steve’s blog
• Steve on Twitter
• Blue Monster
• Software + Services