12 ½ years ago I made a “keystone” decision in both my professional and personal life. I began my career at Honeywell in Redmond and after 13 years I knew I had to change companies if I was going to continue progressing in my career. I also knew that leaving the Seattle area was not an option-my daughter, Monica, was 5 at the time and lived with her mom. Leaving would mean I would be leaving her…simply not an option.
God has an amazing way of working things out. A former employee of mine at Honeywell worked in Microsoft Hardware and saw the potential for my skills in Six Sigma to improve the way Microsoft designed and produced hardware. Before I knew it I was working for Microsoft, my office move was less than a mile. While in building 109 I often times reflected of the softball games we played at Honeywell in the fields where building 109 now sat. Microsoft was bigger than life and I had been given an opportunity that most people dream of. My first day was January 6, 2003.
On July 8, 2015 I rode my bike to the Pro Club to run on the treadmill (a “brick day” in my triathlon training regime). As I read the news and the emails about the restructuring I was saddened, but knew it was imminent. Would I be affected I wondered? With absolute certainty I said no. 2 hours later I mentioned it to my wife on the phone and she asked if I’d be affected. With absolute certainty I said “no”. Less than 5 minutes later I was in my boss’s office with an HR representative and was informed that my position had been eliminated. I was in shock and called my wife-her response was the same response I’ve gotten from almost everyone I’ve told “you’re kidding, right?” I had to tell her 3 times that I wasn’t kidding, my last day at Microsoft would be Friday.
I have built a habit into my life of using reflection to energize personal growth. Every year I reflect on my previous years and document it, using my learnings to set goals for my future. I guess you can say the Deming cycle of “Plan, Do, Check, Act” is part of my personal DNA and I use it to continuously improve. This blog post is my first reflection. My hope and prayer is that the readers of this document will benefit from it as much as I will.
“Consider it joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you will be perfect and complete lacking in nothing” James 1:2-4
My strongest emotion since this new is gratitude and I want to express that gratitude in no uncertain terms. Microsoft is an incredible company to work for in virtually every aspect. On a personal note, Microsoft and my management have always done whatever they could to assist me when life’s trials came up. When my wife got cancer, Microsoft’s benefits paid for nearly all of her treatment and I was given whatever time I needed to be with her (she is now cancer free!) When my daughter was born I was given 4 weeks of paid paternity leave (one of the best experiences of my life). The same happened when my son was born. When my teenage daughter was struggling Microsoft benefits paid for 100% of her treatment (she is now doing incredibly well!). When I needed time to take care of my mom in the hospital I was told I could work remotely if necessary. When I was struggling with weight gain, Microsoft offered to pay for my membership at one of the nation’s best fitness clubs. Through this I discovered my love of exercise and began cycling to work. Microsoft once again reinforced this behavior and reimbursed me for supplies and tune-ups of my bike. I discovered the Microsoft Team for “Bike MS” and rode my first century at Deception Pass-Microsoft donated $17 per hour to the National MS Society for my bike riding time. When I decided to start coaching my son’s football team Microsoft paid the organization thousands of dollars for my donated time. When I was struggling with issues as a dad I discovered the “Microsoft Dads” alias and was introduced to thousands of dads with incredible advice. When I learned about the Dad’s leadership team my boss fully supported my time spent. These aliases are prevalent at Microsoft. When I shared that my wife had cancer the outpouring of love and encouragement was incredible. When I wanted to automate my home the insights were invaluable and the connections have opened a door to what could become my next profession.
Microsoft has invested tens of thousands of dollars in my own personal growth. Conferences, seminars, books, mentors, on the job learning, exposure to new ideas, and connections with the world’s brightest people. It is impossible to quantify the impact of this learning, but my life and future career will benefit immensely from it.
Thank you, Microsoft for the incredible pay and benefits. The stock options, stock, bonus pay and salary have allowed my wife to be at home to raise and homeschool our children. The financial stability allowed me to invest into what is arguably one of the finest vacation rental destinations on Lake Chelan, Marina’s Edge. The severance package I’ve received was incredibly generous . This benefit alone will certainly transform the second half of my life and give me time with my family that most people only dream of.
Thank you, Microsoft for the experiences and opportunities to live out my personal mission statement of “Adding value to people’s lives through serving others….” and accomplish more than I never dreamed possible. Here are a few of the accomplishments I’m most proud of:
- Introducing Microsoft Hardware to Six Sigma and Design for Six Sigma and building a lot of these principles into the e2e product development lifecycle, winning the team an engineering excellence award.
- Co-developing the “Customer Focused Design” methodology and applying it to hundreds of different projects
- Introducing the Xbox team to Six Sigma and the power of data through the dramatic improvements in manufacturing yield earning the team a “Gold Star” award
- Introducing Microsoft Hardware to statistical visual analysis and the power of Six Sigma through tools like JMP, ultimately isolating the root cause of the billion dollar quality problem on the original Xbox 360
- These improvements won me the opportunity to be a keynote speaker at a number of conferences
- Forming the initial Surface Quality team to drive improvements on original surface (remember, it was a very large table device J)
- Transforming the approach to Business Intelligence in Manufacturing and Supply Chain IT ultimately doubling our customer satisfaction score
- Being a part of the Operational Excellence Team that introduced Manufacturing and Supply Chain IT to the Scaled Agile Framework and ultimately influencing the direction of Microsoft IT
Finally, thank you Microsoft for the friendships. It was literally impossible for me to identify all of the people I’ve met and known at Microsoft to include on my goodbye email. It was very interesting to me as I was clearing out my computer files. 12.5 years of work, nearly 25,000 hours of my life poured into my work (PowerPoint, Word, Excel, OneNote, etc….). All of it deleted from my hard drive. It’s almost unfathomable. All of this work gone. The only thing that endures are the relationships. None of my accomplishments during my time at Microsoft would have happened without these relationships. None of my memories would be there without these relationships. Life and work are about relationships. I used to feel guilty taking time during lunch to develop relationships or time during a 1:1 to ask “how are you doing”. Developing relationships certainly wasn’t “real work”. But then one day I realized that building the relationships are the work. Most of my career at Microsoft was about driving cultural change. People don’t want to change and resist change-unless someone they trust is encouraging them along the path of change. Trust is the foundation of all relationships both professionally and personally.
To all the people I’ve interacted with throughout the years I want to say thank you for the relationships. In all my interactions with you I tried to earn your trust. Thank you for trusting me and letting me be a part of your lives. My hope and prayer is that through these relationships I’ve fulfilled my personal mission statement of “Adding value to people’s lives through serving others that they may do the same”. If I’ve added any value to your life please take the time to do the same through the relationships you form during your time at Microsoft.
Thank you and good bye!
Damon
(425) 770-2522
Simply beautiful! I applaud your grace and wisdom in the face of change. Your gratitude is well founded and your ability to see the gift in Microsoft is glorious. Thank you for sharing with those of us still working for this magnificent corporation.
You are an example of how to exit gracefully. By your actions and words, I can tell you are someone i want to know. I am confident whatever your next step is, you will continue to fulfill your personal mission. God bless you as you bless others.
One of the finest goodbye messages that I have seen. thank you very much for showing us all the privilege of working in this wonderful company and reminding us to be grateful for many of the things that we take for granted. Wishing you the very best in your next phase of your career
I had tears in my eyes reading this. You’ve identified many of the qualities I love about Microsoft, and it’s really sad seeing this through your eyes as you move on. I wish you well in the next chapter of your life.
Appreciate the finesse and chivalry in your thoughts and writing. You have summarily explained why Microsoft is still the best place to work. Wish you the very best, Damon.
Thanks for sharing such a powerful message and good luck in what’s next for you! It makes me feel bad to sit in my office in 109 and thinking that this was field not too long ago.
Amazing email and an amazing company! I spent 20 years and can wholeheartedly share the same stories.
A response brimming with grace and wisdom. Awesome!
My prayers are with you and I loved your positivity. Thanks for being an inspiration
I have never worked with you but I wish I had. Such grace and such wisdom. I can only hope that I have that amount of class if my turn comes. I can tell you one thing for sure, we are all diminished by your departure.
Very inspiring. Company that secure your service will be the lucky one.
thank you for sharing this message. Love your words.
Wishing you the best for the future
Thank you for this! My husband left MS in 2013 after 14 years of the same blessings, to pursue a dream job across the country, and couldn’t agree with you more. Thank you thank you, for this wonderful “love letter” to MS. *sniff*
Beautifully written and full of positive light and perspective. It reads as a goodbye – and a hello message to the new company in need of your background and skills. Best wishes!
I’m glad you posted this! It is one of the finest examples of leaving with grace I have ever read.
What a classy piece of writing from a very classy guy. The only “exception” I take to the entire piece is the final line – it is never good bye, it is only until our paths cross again. Good luck Damon – you will be missed until we meet again!
Proud of you as a microsoftie and a brother in Christ. Godspeed sir.
If I read this from one of my employees who was recently let go, I would be asking myself, how did we let this one get away? an exceptional reflection on this chapter of life Damon, and an incredible foundation for what comes next.
Great, thoughtful, humbling message Damon! my best wishes to you and your family for the next chapter!!
ANY company would be privileged to have you. It is true that it is with privilege that we work for Microsoft, but it is the people who work there – and who have worked there – who made it so. You, my friend, are one of those people!
Wow, just wow. Truly inspiring message, Damon. Looking beyond, you are going to be doing some amazing stuff. Please post a follow-up, if you would, to relate your journey. There are plenty of people who will want to hear about you. Perhaps you are meant to be a motivational speaker?!? You are a natural, buddy. 🙂
Thank you for the great post. Can’t wait to hear what you do next. Am sure great things.
By being grateful, we value what we have, instead of looking at what we don’t have. It’s easy to read about being grateful, you are living it! Awesome.
What a beautiful piece of words i just gone though, very positive and graceful good bye message.
I really enjoy seeing something like this. It is encouraging to see people who are both grateful for opportunities and smart enough to see the value in them. Not a Microsoft employee, but I do admire the company a great deal and am always confused when a really good company fails to recognize the cost of having to go find a new person as opposed to finding the right seat on the bus for an exceptional existing resource. As a member of the energy industry, please look in our direction, we can use people of this quality and experience and there is going to be a lot to do there in the next 10-15 years. Renewables, alternative energy, distributed generation, microgrids are all emerging and developing technologies that need the support of quality and structure to get it right.
Thanks for all your contributions to the MS Dads Leadership team in addition to all your great work personally and professionally. It’s been a real pleasure. Wish you all the best and pray that our paths cross again in the future. Take care.
I know you aren’t worried at this job loss at all, coz you are brilliant!! , period……..
Thank you for sharing your reflections. It will provide many the opportunity to reflect positively on a difficult time.
Damon, like I always said “God is in Control”.
Salute to you Mate…very well said and wish you all the luck for your future
Wow! That is one of the best things I have read in quite some time. This will be a great time to spend some time with your family. I sense that an amazing opportunity will be in your future. Hope to see you at the Bike MS ride! Good Luck
I can’t believe how much water has gone under the bridge since our family was camping with you Monica and the Jordan Family, but you are clearly the same standup guy I’ve always known you to be. This was the most insightful, grateful, and elegant commentary I’ve read in a long time – especially given the uncertain circumstances under which they were written.
Congratulations on your wife being cancer free – I’m looking forward to the day our family gets the same fantastic news about my wife!
No matter what God has in store for you next, you are sure to impact it in a most positive way. All the best to you and your family!
Thank you Damon, for a great blog. I loved your personal mission statement of “Adding value to people’s lives through serving others.” But best of all, you put me back in touch with the things I’ve gotten from my own work at Microsoft. Gratitude is important in general, but in particular, when you are faced with what could be called a break down, gratitude is the path to a quick recovery. I’ve found gratitude in unimaginable places and even wrote a book about it called That Gratitude Attitude. I love that that’s where you immediately went and I am sure you will have a wonderful “next” career with a healthy family, especially since you have such a wonderful and blessed attitude towards life. Best wishes for you and your family in the future.
What a beautiful good bye letter. Simply beautiful. I’m in my 23rd year and I simply adore this company, feel equally grateful for so many things, I couldn’t be who I am today without this company and the relationships as you say. Like someone else said I had tears in my eyes with a smile while reading it. All the best to you and your family. You left a learning to me. No matter how hard the good bye might be, “be grateful for the experiences”, be positive and move forward. Thank you.
David, I believe we met when I was working on the MS helpdesk for Microsoft. If not, the name is familiar and bring up an impression of class and grace. This is also my impression of MS but my almost 5 years does not compare to your 12.5. Thanks for the love letter to MS.
This is a touching letter, full of grace and wisdom, and I thank you for sharing it. I try not to take my role for granted, and this is a wonderful reminder of how blessed I am right now, but to stay prepared for life’s changes. I wish you all the best in your next endeavor.