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Apparent open letter from RIM employee to RIM Senior Management urging “It’s time to change the culture”
First it was an open letter to RIM execs from a frustrated developer, then another open letter from a disgruntled shareholder… and now, yet another open letter from a high-level RIM employee to RIM Senior Management has surfaced online. BGR posted the very lengthy note that starts off by stating that “I have lost confidence”. This comes after weeks of their stock being pounded, poor earnings results and delayed products.
The apparent letter seems incredibly sincere, the writer wants “BlackBerry to once again be leading the pack”. It has some notable quotes, but it’s best to read letter in its entirety at BGR here. Leave your comments below on it and let us know what you think of it.
“While I hide it at work, my passion has been sapped. I know I am not alone — the sentiment is widespread and it includes people within your own teams… unfortunately the culture at RIM does not allow us to speak openly without having to worry about the career-limiting effects.”
“We are in the middle of major “transition” and things have never been more chaotic. Almost every project is falling further and further behind schedule at a time when we absolutely must deliver great, solid products on time. We urge you to make bold decisions about our organisational structure, about our culture and most importantly our products.”
“We often make product decisions based on strategic alignment, partner requests or even legal advice — the end user doesn’t care. We simply have to admit that Apple is nailing this and it is one of the reasons they have people lining up overnight at stores around the world, and products sold out for months. These people aren’t hypnotized zombies, they simply love beautifully designed products that are user centric and work how they are supposed to work.”
“We need some heavy hitters at RIM when it comes to software management. Teams still aren’t talking together properly, no one is making or can make critical decisions, all the while everyone is working crazy hours and still far behind. We are demotivated.”
“we simply must stop shipping incomplete products that aren’t ready for the end user. It is hurting our brand tremendously. It takes guts to not allow a product to launch that may be 90% ready with a quarter end in sight, but it will pay off in the long term.”
“We urgently need to invest like we never have before in becoming developer friendly. The return will be worth every cent. There is no polite way to say this, but it’s true — BlackBerry smartphone apps suck. Even PlayBook, with all its glorious power, looks like a Fisher Price toy with its Adobe AIR/Flash apps. Developing for BlackBerry is painful… The solution? Recruit serious talent, buy SDK/API specialist companies, throw a truckload of money at it… Let’s do whatever it takes, and quickly!”
“BlackBerry Messenger has been our standout, yet we wasted our marketing on strange stories from a barber shop to a horse wrangler. I promise you, this did nothing to help us in the mind of the average consumer.”
“Where is the guy responsible for the 9530 software? Still with us, still running some important software initiative. We will never achieve excellence with this culture. Just because someone may have been a loyal RIM employee for 7 years, it doesn’t mean they are the best Manager / Director / VP for that role. It’s time to change the culture to deliver or move on and get out”
“Now would be a great time to internally re-brand and re-energize the workplace. For example, rename the company to just “BlackBerry” to signify our new focus on one QNX product line.”
Source: BGR
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36 comments for “Apparent open letter from RIM employee to RIM Senior Management urging “It’s time to change the culture””
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As a long loyal RIM user, it is a hard pill to swallow but there is a lot of truth behind the points (whether it’s an actual letter or not).
Some people will say anyone could have written the composition, but regardless, Jim and Mike at RIM must acknowledge without a doubt that the aforementioned issues are a reality and to face the music and to act on it.
The time is NOW to make changes to get RIM back up and going. They really must check their ego at the door in order to push for future success.
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As a proud Canadian, I’ve always hoped RIM can once again stand out for Canada
—- from a frustrated customer
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I haven’t played with the Playbook yet but I absolutely despise the blackberry UI. It is such an unintuitive piece of crap. And then I find out I have to pay $6 for a different theme? With those kind of user-unfriendly decisions, RIM deserves to die. Canadian pride doesn’t make up for the company giving it’s users the finger every time they release a product.
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iv heard this talk alot from people working at rim. wonder if anyone will listen this time. from what i hear, feel like middle management is listening to most employees, but upper management wont have any of it.
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I don’t know if this hurts the credibility of the letter, but read any report showing market shares and it’s clear Apple didn’t take chunks of users away from RIM, Android did.
http://photos.appleinsider.com/smartphones-110621-2.jpg
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Here is the link to an video clip from the original BGR article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEXae1j6EY
This is Steve Jobs in 1997.
Can you imagine Mike and Jim hold an all-hands meeting with all employees? Do you think they can take all criticism to the heart? I don’t believe it.
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Sounds like a staged leak just like the Nokia memos. Hoping investors read this and say, “Wow, they finally get it, I’m not selling my shares after all!” After which executive get to keep their jobs and bonuses. Good luck with that one, guys.
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That could make sense if this letter was being sent from upper management to employees. A letter from an employee, criticizing management only stands to hurt the companies image further in the eyes of investors.
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The word ‘change’ and Canadian can never be put in the same sentence. We like things just the way they are. We like our hockey teams losing, the CBC producing depression era dramas, our clothing black and grey and to talk about our proud ‘Canadian Winters’ from our Florida resorts so I’m not diggin’ this ‘culture change’ thing at RIM. They removed the click wheel already, what else do you want?
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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I’m a huge BB fan, however I just switched to Android. That said, I would go back in a heart-beat if only RIM would fix a couple of major issues. I’m of the mind-set that RIM should run Android and integrate their really great features with the Android platform.. I’d buy, and I imagine millions of other people would too… That’s it, I’m applying at RIM.. Let’s save it lol…
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I’ve worked in development environments like he describes. There’s always one person who’s screwing it all up and no one is willing to replace that one bad apple.
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my friend who worked at rim said to me today when i sent him the link, thats exactly how they felt when they was there…
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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This guy should be promoted to the top!
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As a RIM employee myself.. much lower on the food chain albiet.. I’m a little worried about my job. I’m not in a position to have to worry quite yet.. but 2 years from now, I’m not so sure.
I honestly hope the guys upstairs take heart of this letter.
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….”burning platform” memo comes to mind. Please don’t go the way of Nokia, RIM, Canada needs you to be successful
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They’re definitely being called to the table. Hopefully RIM can (and is willing to) respond. Going to take a bit of humbleness on their part to admit that what they have isn’t working. And that’s something Balsillie is not really known for [being humble].
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This letter is well written and written from the heart of an employee that is still hopeful for RIM but the hope is fading fast.
Look, RIM. You need to admit that Playbook 1 is a complete mess here. It does not even come anywhere close to iPad 2. Yes, RIM always talk about how secure their stuff is but building products that are not in the mind of the end user. no 3G for Playbook and requires tethering is a big no. No email unless connect to to Blackberry is another big no. Having Blackberry with 640 * 480 , < 1GHz processor and poor OS is the biggest no no no here. RIM does have a good chance to win before all of this.
Look, your fallen peer namely Nokia is starting to climb back or at least it is going into that direction. Your asset is your top employee and retain them so that they can turn a burning platform to a Apple killer.
I once think the RIM 9800 and the Playbook will be a kicker to the market and yet, this is just plan disappointment.
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While it is completely plausible that this piece of information is authentic, I question the legitimacy of its source. BGR seems to have a hidden agenda. Their negative coverage of RIM far exceeds that of any media outlet. To me, this article is another attempt to boost their presence in major search indexes such as google or bing. While RIM does have its challenges ahead of them, they are not dead, not in debt, and in no risk of running out of cash anytime soon. The fundamentals of their business are sound. While the transition to QNIX seems to be moving at a snails pace, which manufacture of mobile products has not been caught off guard by the Apple and Android invasion? I agree that RIM needs a management shakeup and some new products asap, however, I cant join the mob in slaughtering RIM in the press.
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I’m Canadian and I want to buy RIM products. But if RIM is catering to carriers instead of consumers and producing out of date products, I can’t afford to invest in a BB.
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you had me at hello! Sounds like a Jerry McGuire mission statement and he is right!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Cisco FTW!
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RIM should forget about the consumer market and stick to its knitting (enterprise) and run with it. A dual personality product is always going to be heavier than a single mandate consumer product. Why should a consumer be paying for some heavy enterprise security features?
I tried the Playbook and returned it. It was cumbersome even just to transfer files back and fore with a PC because of file security and rights. Too confusing, I am not an enterprise user. I am a consumer user. I now have an Android phone HTC Panache and loving it. There is no way I will go to a BB smartphone. Apps is the key and BB will never be able to catch up. I will definitely get an Android tablet and never a Playbook.
Cisco has a CiUS tablet, so RIMM can’t partner with them. There are way too many Android tablets. No way RIMM is going to get any meaningful market share. Besides the app window has closed. RIMM had obviously built the Playbook for the enterprise customer with all the security. they are their captive audience. They should just stick with that and hope to keep that market.
May be they can build an Android Playbook for the consumer. Then their differetiator would be their hardware. However, that advantage can disappear over night too.
A super phone is going to have a battery longevity problem. Others already launching a 4.3″ smart phone. Almost 9 months ahead. RIMM is screwed big time…sigh.
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I disagree.. were at a point were the consumer market is leading the enterprise market. Active sync works with all except BlackBerry (sad) and so they mostly all work as well as another for enterprise.. only 3rd party apps are making the difference now.
CEOs right now want iPhones and Androids. And thats what they will get. BlackBerry has been ignoring consumers so far and it has served them badly. BlackBerry needs to be PC not Mac. Easy on developers and open to 3rd party apps.
Dont try and convice the IT’s.. convince the Devs and Users.
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As a Blackberry owner who may soon defect to Android and wishes that he didn’t have to, I too can only hope that someone will take this message seriously.
The average consumer isn’t interested in the corporate hype, they just want a good phone with all the modern features that one would expect from the competition. I’m not even asking RIM to be better, just be competitive so that I can justify my business with you.
What’s so wrong about a Berry with the latest top line specs and an ANdroid operating system?
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First of all remove those American executives, who run this company for the benefit of Apple and Google. They never entertain constructive suggestions from employees or middle management. As it was decided to sink the RIM.
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I was really excited when the Playbook came out, I figured it would have been a great product to get RIM back on track. Unfortunately it hasn’t turned out that way. We’ve had a playbook, just one, at our location since they launched. It’s still here…
I did play around with it, and it’s not a bad device, but it just doesn’t compare with the iPad and Android Tablet devices. I completely agree with the author of this letter, RIM needs to make some changes to get back to the forefront of the smartphone industry.
As much as I love the Android operating system, I would love to see RIM get themselves on track.
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Fake. Sound’s like the opinions of an average consumer, let alone a “high-level” RIM employee.
I’ll will say that I agree with most of the letter however.
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I to would switch back to BB if they actually got their heads out of their collective a$$es and produced a) a phone worth buying & b)a UI that isn’t a complete pain-in-the-a$$ to use. I honest to god hope that either Jim or Mike have taken the time to read some of the tech blogs out there (especially this one!) and are starting to get it through their bloody thick skulls that no one is going to buy the half-a$$ed pieces of garbage that they have been producing lately.
I would love to see RIM succeed, but for the time being I’ll be sticking to Android and saying “screw you” to RIM (my next phone is looking to be one of the up-coming Nexus phones… if I can wait that long)
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sorry – what am i missing here? is this guy the first guy in the history of the world to complain about his employer?
nothing to see here, move along, waste of space.
every employee at one point in time has felt “disgruntled” about their employer.
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I hope that the Canadian government can give money to RIM if needed. I know it’d be taxpayers money, but it’d be great help to get them back on their feet (mind you, putting condition of replacing some of upper management).
We can’t afford to lose this brand. I would’ve bought BB, but I have apps on Android that i bought, furthermore, they’re better and more suitable for what I need. To add more, development on that one hasn’t been an issue.
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RIM Doesn’t need money, that’s not the issue they have no debt and alot of assets, they just need to pump some money into development and bring a new set of minds in
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As Leonard Cohen said: That’s how it goes, Everybody knows
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died
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I was a long time BlackBerry user and while it was really hard to let go of BBM, the HTC Incredible I switched to is so awesome. Finally have apps that either actually work or are more than just web links. Plus you can force close apps and restart the phone without a battery pull. I also have a Playbook and it is ok, but if people ask if they should buy one I say get an Android instead
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