As many of the 'softie blogs around have noted - it is review season again. Depending on who you talk to, either Microsoft has a great model, or a horrible one. The core thing at the model here is the notion of relative grading. That terrible (or glorious) curve that you had in school is back. Now, at a given level, you compete with your peers for the top rankings.

Sometimes you get bit by the curve, sometimes you profit. I was once asked how to improve your review score, I gave the flip answer - find a bad team and join it, you will look better. Fundamentally I think most people come to Microsoft to be challenged. Part of that challenge comes from working with great people and being measured against them.

I, like many people here, find the review time to be an opportunity to reflect on how you are progressing on your career. Are you spending your energy in the right place, what can you be doing better. Personally I always find constructive criticism way more useful than vague positive feedback.

When I managed people I found the review to be the hardest part about the management job. I put a lot of weight on my review (from the pro/con feedback), so I made the assumption that my employees did also - so I wanted to give them good feedback. Not sure if I succeeded at that or not, but this year is the first year that I haven't had any reports in a while. It doesn't quite seem like review season without the stress of writing my direct's reviews.