The Mess at Meetup

#1

Post by rfreytag » Sat, Feb 17, 2018, 3:21 PM UTC

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#2

Post by tnolet » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 9:36 AM UTC

Am I crazy or does the slide deck embedded in the article look totally normal? I would applaud if my senior management presented this.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#3

Post by purple-again » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 9:57 AM UTC

tnolet wrote: post #2

Am I crazy or does the slide deck embedded in the article look totally normal? I would applaud if my senior management presented this.

It seemed completely fine to me. I went to business school and have sat through my share.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#4

Post by firasd » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:01 AM UTC

Seems like a smaller-scale version of what happened at Etsy. Management/new ownership deciding to tighten the reins and focus less on singular internal culture. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/25/business/etsy-josh-silver...

Maybe also a sign that the tech field is not as frothy as it was a few years ago... in general, it seems like from like 2009-2015 there was a bit more optimism and 'irrational exuberance'.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#5

Post by shipintbrief » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:04 AM UTC

Oh no, they would need to work more and communicate directly to their colleagues instead of passing messages via HR — WHAT A MESS

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#6

Post by spac » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:05 AM UTC

I noticed as well a shift of focus in the product, from before the acquisition: they forced users into a new flashy version of the website despite it being clearly broken, and less functional overall (e.g., meetup editing did not allow to save, and several features available only in the older version of the website). The net result for me so far has been to always have to go back to old version.

Worsening user experience does not seem a good way to grow.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#7

Post by ealexhudson » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:10 AM UTC

tnolet wrote: post #2

Am I crazy or does the slide deck embedded in the article look totally normal? I would applaud if my senior management presented this.

I wouldn't say it's abnormal, but I also wouldn't say it's positive. It's clearly a move to less autonomy and more decisions-from-above. Stuff like "constantly push ourselves out of our comfort zone" literally means "we want to make this an uncomfortable place to work".

This type of culture is fine, there's nothing wrong with it, but we need to acknowledge that for people who joined in the previous setup, this is simply a management bait-and-switch.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#8

Post by quaunaut » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:13 AM UTC

There seems to be an overall attitude in these early comments that have seemed to reach a consensus of, "Those changes sound like what every company should have."

Personally, I'm not sure I agree.

I think it's entirely possible that those qualities are not what help startups grow, but instead please investors/people not involved in the actual success of the company, while generally decreasing real productivity, increasing turnover, and causing anyone who sticks out from the norm to be the first to go.

I might be wrong, but I've yet to be on a team under hard pressure for long periods of time that I saw productivity rise under. Instead, people stress more, and productivity drops because everyone's worrying about looking like they're working instead of figuring out the right work and nailing it.

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#9

Post by gaius » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:17 AM UTC

tnolet wrote: post #2

Am I crazy or does the slide deck embedded in the article look totally normal? I would applaud if my senior management presented this.

It is much harder to take something away, than to have never granted it in the first place.

Also if an employee chose to take a lower salary to work at a company with a relaxed culture, and that culture becomes just like any company, why wouldn't that employee expect their salary to be upped accordingly?

Re: The Mess at Meetup

#10

Post by TekMol » Sun, Feb 18, 2018, 10:43 AM UTC

The slide deck looks like a persiflage to me. Something I would expect to see in a movie [1].

Are employees in the US really such ducklings that they swallow such insult and paternalism?

If I would be a manager at Meetup and would be shown a bunch of bullshit bingo slides about how my current approach is shit and that I am supposed to become better at my job by 'pushing to achieve more' my reaction would be clear.

I would say 'Dude, I have built and refined my management approach over many years. It's based on these key values. And these metrics. Held together by the following theory. And I have a lot to show for it. I achieved this and this and this and this last year. Tell me again with a straight face how this is not exceptional performance. And now take your pile of cliches and fuck off.'.

[1] Popular movie version of the deck: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4PE2hSqVnk