The writer didn't mention any drive of his own except to work at a company whose products he liked, but didn't learn about the company culture before joining.
If you want a great job, you have to take responsibility for making it great. If you don't take that responsibility, blaming the employer won't help. The company had a strategy long before you joined you can learn about before joining. If you didn't learn about it before joining, how can you complain about it?
The email to the VP he closed with didn't help the company. He just vented. Who wants a petulant employee?
We can learn from his experience to find out before joining a team if we can create the environment for ourselves we want, then to do so.
How do you change the culture at a company like Microsoft though? I think in this case he tried to change it and found it too daunting. He got jaded and burned out. Sure, he should have handled it differently but sometimes stuff happens.
If you want a great job, you have to take responsibility for making it great. If you don't take that responsibility, blaming the employer won't help. The company had a strategy long before you joined you can learn about before joining. If you didn't learn about it before joining, how can you complain about it?
The email to the VP he closed with didn't help the company. He just vented. Who wants a petulant employee?
We can learn from his experience to find out before joining a team if we can create the environment for ourselves we want, then to do so.