Microsoft

Very good work-life balance.

Sometimes it is hard to get ideas through. The culture does not promote creativity. It's more like a manager; managers have an idea and then it goes down. Most of the time, ideas that come from up are shut down fast, and it kills creativity. I would suggest having a work environment where you can easily switch teams and work on other projects. Have all code available for all, not just for x, y, or z.

Stop killing creativity and even more, try to promote it. What I can say is if the argument is that people don't want to, then two things are wrong: 1) wrong people (no motivation, just come to work for a paycheck) and 2) wrong manager attitude.

I would:

• For the Hackathon, I would push all teams to have a project.
• Switch teams for 1-2 weeks a year to see what impact you can make in a different team.
• Have a 0.5 day or 1 day where you don't work for the company; you work on something you are passionate about. A lot of ways to bring the best out of people.