The Microsoft culture was one of fighting for your own resources. If you failed to receive them you were to blame.

Bill Gates formed a highly competitive internal environment. You were expected to stand up and fight for your cause - even against BillG himself. If you were right against Bill it was extremely good for your career. This was a time where the success of a BillG review was determined by how many F-bombs came out, and it was never zero.

For more information: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2006/06/16/my-first-billg-rev...

Also understand MSFT culture has changed dramatically since that time. Its no longer representative of the company today.