Internal memos from large companies leak all the time. It happens. Companies don't like it, but most learn to deal with it. Sometimes, they go a bit nuts. For example, you may remember the spying scandal at HP, in which the board tried to stop leaks by spying on phone records and other info, including trying to spy on various journalists. Apparently some companies just go a bit nutty when they think they have someone to track down, where execs suddenly think they can act like they're in some sort of spy movie. Apparently this is now happening at Cisco as well. A few weeks ago, Network World reported on Cal State's decision to use Alcatel-Lucent instead of Cisco, claiming that it saved the university $100 million. As is fairly typical at companies when such bad news is in the press, an internal memo was sent around on how to respond to questions about this story. And... as is fairly typical at such companies, the internal memo leaked to bloggers who posted it. The memo itself is fairly tame and about what you'd expect given the situation.

But... then, apparently, a VP at Cisco, Mike Quinn, got upset about the leak... and proceeded to send out an angry email telling the leaker to resign, and saying if he doesn't resign, that "finding you is now my hobby." And, of course, that new letter leaked to the same sources:

This is an open response to the person(s) that sent our internal confidential memo regarding the RFP response noted in the Subject line. I want to advise you that no matter the color of your badge (blue or red), the years of service and or your CPC rating you have decided to violate the Code of Business Conduct. The company in response to a number of requests to share internally what our RFP contained once again is insulted by the lack of respect for the business and "family" internal to Cisco. The person or persons whom felt it was cool or correct to share this internal memo should now have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and admit that they did this, then resign.

I want you to remember that Cisco puts the groceries on your table every two weeks, not Brad Reese or other Slander Sheet Journalists. That you disrespected everyone else at Cisco. Now I know you do not have it in you to stand up and admit what you did, so I will now make you my "hobby." Ask around you will find out that I like to work on my hobbies.

Mike Quinn Vice President - Services Cisco Systems

And, if that doesn't sound quite threatening enough, people quickly pointed out that in the distant past, Quinn worked for the CIA.

The amazing thing about all of this is that all it's done is call much more attention to the whole thing. If they'd just let that initial leak go, it would have been mostly forgotten in a few days and people would have moved on. But now because someone went on a power trip, it's right back in the news again.

Big companies often pride themselves on the corporate cultures they've developed. But over time, maintaining the same culture can become difficult as industries change and when shareholders aren't so happy with a company's performance. When employees leave a big firm, the culture can quickly bleed away. Here are just some examples of employees publicly pointing out some corporate culture shifts.

• Greg Smith resigned from Goldman Sachs, and he had a lot to say about how the company changed on his way out. "People who care only about making money will not sustain this firm..." [url]
• Stephen Elop's "burning platform" memo was published a little over a year ago in 2011. Has Nokia hit the water yet? [url]
• Brad Garlinghouse wrote Yahoo's "Peanut Butter Manifesto" back in 2006. It looks like that peanut butter is being spread thick on patent trolling now. We should all hate peanut butter, indeed. [url]
• James Whittaker says there's a big difference between the Google culture and the newer Google+ culture. Guess which one he thinks is double plus ungood. [url]
• To discover more interesting business-related content, check out what the deal is on StumbleUpon. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.