So Ballmer is the ultimate PHB?<p>This is a great way to build a career, but if you look at his track record at Microsoft, I&#x27;m not sure Ballmer is the guy we want to be emulating. He was hard-headed, amazingly risk-averse when it came to Microsoft&#x27;s core platforms, and was not a great manager (he was unable to control a lot of the culture problems that plagued Microsoft in the early 2000s).<p>It&#x27;s fine to make bold moves that fail, but Ballmer&#x27;s failed moves weren&#x27;t really all that bold. They were big, but not incredibly bold, and were often doubling down on a failing business inside Microsoft.