J Allard’s Parting Email To Microsoft

The official Microsoft blog has posted the full text of an internal email sent by J Allard, on the subject of his impending departure.

In part, it quashes rumours that the split has been acrimonious (“In response to the curiosity, no chairs were thrown, no ultimatums served”), but the scope of the lengthy missive is far broader than that.

It takes an autobiographical trip through Allard’s time at Microsoft, expressing his passion for the job and making clear a desire to see the company constantly reinvent itself.In the concluding paragraph he urges Microsoft to “Find a college student that claims we don’t get it and blogs tirelessly about our lack of agility. Track down an EE that has been focusing on fuel cells and has radical thoughts about power management. Or a social networking whiz who is tired of building little islands that go hot and cold and can’t break the mainstream. Hire a designer who’s given shape to 2 decades of beautiful automobiles and thinks we can sculpt technology to better connect to users.”