The geek in question: James Lyle

The job title: Program Manager in Windows International Globalization Services.

How long have you been here?
I just passed my 9th anniversary at Microsoft. I got my PhD from the University of Washington in the late '90s and my full intention was to be a professor of linguistics. But I knew some people who were working here who had come out of linguistics and came to check it out.

I had been looking at language in a very academic way with all these abstract theories about syntax. And when I got here, I started seeing the real thing. Once you start trying to build a grammar checker, you've got to know what all kinds of language real people are using in the real world every day. I felt like one of these 19th century biologists boating down the Amazon just looking at thousands of un-catalogued species with no time to even stop and say, "That's what that is, and that's what this is." I was seeing so much language every day!

Microsoft is known for all of its acronyms. As a linguist, do you feel like there's a whole separate company language?
There's definitely some different language at Microsoft, and acronyms are a part of that. Sometimes that's challenging because you get lost in your own communication style. But I think that's true of any workplace — although we're pretty special in the amount of acronymification we have.

I understand you're a part of the Microsoft Theater Troupe. How did you get from a PhD in linguistics to acting?
I did theater way back in high school and got away from it for many, many years. But lo and behold, Microsoft has a theater troupe — quite a good theater troupe, actually, with all of the ticket proceeds going to charity. Incidentally, our just-completed season of two shows raised more than $37,000 for charity!

So in 2004 I showed up for an audition there thinking I'm going to rekindle this love of theater a little bit since I have this opportunity right here. Turned out to be one of the best things I ever did. The people who are involved in it turn out to be very enthusiastic and professional and cool and full of talent.

How does the theater troupe affect your work, and vice versa?
One great benefit of being in the theater troupe is just the connections that you make with people professionally. I've met very interesting people doing a wide array of jobs that I never would have met otherwise within the company.

And as for linguistics informing my theater work … I keep getting cast as Englishmen. Since I was a kid, I've done accents and dialects obsessively. So, I don't know if it's the accent or talent, but I keep getting cast as people who have different kinds of English dialects.

Let's hear some examples! [Click here to hear James rocking his accents]

So is the Microsoft Theater Troupe your only acting outlet?
No, I'm also a part of the first fan-produced Star Trek series to be based in Seattle. I just saw an open audition and went to it. How could I resist going for a role in Star Trek? And maybe because of the accent, I got cast as the ship's doctor. So, I'm the chief medical officer of the starship Phoenix.

As a linguist, I've also made myself responsible for the pronunciation guide for all the alien names.

What surprises you about working for Microsoft?
I was surprised at just how cool the corporate culture was here. I knew that things were very relaxed, that there was a lot of opportunity to sort of explore intellectual growth and meet and talk to interesting people and do projects that were cool and kept you excited and interested … but the extent to which that was true was shocking to me.

The fact that I really could do interesting things using my background every day, new and interesting stuff just kept coming along … there's just never a time when I've been intellectually unstimulated.

LINKS?
• GoGlobal Developer Center • Microsoft Theater Troupe • Star Trek Phoenix