quickly. No one should assume that the expertise they have today will suffice tomorrow. so a willingness to learn is critical Sixth, you have to be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that can give you perspective. At Microsoft we try to offer a person lots of different jobs through the course of a career. Anyone interested in joining management encouraged to work in different customer units, even if it means moving laterally within the organization or relocating to a different part of the world We try to move people from our product groups out into the field and move field people into the product groups. We have many people in our U.S. subsidiary from other countries, and we have many U.S. employees who work for subsid iaries in other nations. This helps us better understand world markets, and while we do a pretty good job of cross-pollination, there's still not quite as much of it as I would Seventh, a good employee will want to learn the economics of the business. Why does a company do what it does? What are its business models? How does it make money? I' m always surprised to learn of a company that doesn't educate its employees in the fundamental financial realities of its industry. Employees need to understand the make or break"aspects of their industry so that they know what it is about their own job that really counts. Of course, employees have to be willing students who d irect attention to the areas where it makes the biggest difference Eighth, you must focus on competitors. I like employees who think about what's going on in the marketplace. What are our competitors doing that 's smart? What can we learn from them? How can we avoid their mistakes? Ninth, you' ve got to use your head. Analyze problems but don't fall prey to"analys paralysis. "Understand the implications of potential tradeoffs of all kinds, including the tradeoff between acting sooner with less information and later with more Use your head in practical ways, too. Prioritize your time effectively. Think about how to give ad vice crisply to other groups inally, don' t overlook the obvious essentials such as being honest, ethical and hard working. These attributes are critical and go without sayingquickly. No one should assume that the expertise they have today will suffice tomorrow, so a willingness to learn is critical. Sixth, you have to be flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that can give you perspective. At Microsoft we try to offer a person lots of different jobs through the course of a career. Anyone interested in joining management is encouraged to work in different customer units, even if it means moving laterally within the organization or relocating to a different part of the world. We try to move people from our product groups out into the field and move field people into the product groups. We have many people in our U.S. subsidiary from other countries, and we have many U.S. employees who work for subsidiaries in other nations. This helps us better understand world markets, and while we do a pretty good job of cross-pollination, there's still not quite as much of it as I would like. Seventh, a good employee will want to learn the economics of the business. Why does a company do what it does? What are its business models? How does it make money? I'm always surprised to learn of a company that doesn't educate its employees in the fundamental financial realities of its industry. Employees need to understand the "make or break" aspects of their industry so that they know what it is about their own job that really counts. Of course, employees have to be willing students who direct attention to the areas where it makes the biggest difference. Eighth, you must focus on competitors. I like employees who think about what's going on in the marketplace. What are our competitors doing that's smart? What can we learn from them? How can we avoid their mistakes? Ninth, you've got to use your head. Analyze problems but don't fall prey to "analysis paralysis." Understand the implications of potential tradeoffs of all kinds, including the tradeoff between acting sooner with less information and later with more. Use your head in practical ways, too. Prioritize your time effectively. Think about how to give advice crisply to other groups. Finally, don't overlook the obvious essentials such as being honest, ethical and hard working. These attributes are critical and go without saying