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Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

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Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#741

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Somebody probably said that just before an innovation is made. Many times.

For every time someone said it and was wrong, I bet there were a hundred times someone said it and was right.

Come on, this isn’t a pissing contest. You can both sit down and relax without arguing through such subjective and unsubstantiated opinions.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#742

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two orders of magnitude would put them at a million employees?

Sorry, I was thinking revenue but I don't see how revenue is the right number. One order of magnitude in employees it is.

I think the bigger issue is that Google is publicly traded.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#743

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to say this as politely as possible, but... are you serious? If you seriously cannot have conversations at this level without them turning into political discussions, you really need to reflect on your conversational habits. It is absolutely not normal or healthy if you can't talk about drinking water without it turning political. My SO is a vegetarian. It comes up a lot , both with my friends (who are all…

Can you discuss with your SO why the vegetarianism without getting into political questions like: 1. What are our obligations to organisms we eat? 2. What are our obligations to each other? 3. Is vegetarianism an obligation? Why or why not? I don't see how those are not political issues.

Yes. I am truly trying my best to understand your viewpoint here, but I honestly don't understand why you imply that those questions, or even any questions similar to them, would be necessary parts of a conversation about vegetarianism. In all of the various discussions we've had with each other and with other people, even very in-depth ones about her reasoning for being a vegetarian and how other people are not vegetarian, not once has any three of those questions come up.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#744

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I am transgender, lesbian, asexual and polyromantic, and none of these things have I ever had so much as a discussion about at my office, nor have they sparked any 'political' discussion. (I work at one of the major 5 banks in Canada).

"transgender, lesbian" Wait what

lesbian: woman who is attracted to women transgender: one whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth

A transgender lesbian, therefore, is a transgender woman ("male-to-female") who is attracted to women.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#745

I think they just overestimated the ability of their employees to respect each other when they hold differing world views. That's kinda natural once you reach a certain size and your colleagues may as well be randos on the street. To be fair, that's a learning most businesses stumbled upon decades ago, it's the new generation of "re-invent management" companies that are speedrunning HR policy.

I think the magic here is just about the 1% media controlling elite getting better at breaking up the remaining 99% into infinitesimally small factions so oxygen is sucked up from talking about real issues.

When we turn the narrative of everything from "respecting differing world views" into "respecting nazis/dictators/bigots" etc and turn everyone into a world saving moral crusader upon whom humanity's salvation rests on, it's a very invigorating and powerful message that takes intellectualism away from discussions.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#746

It's funny how we pigeonhole "things that actually matter" as "politics" and that those things are somehow taboo. I mean, what's MORE worth talking about than human rights, the environment, history, etc.?

Sex, politics and religion have long been held up as the bane of polite society. This is why polite society is pretty fucking boring and rarely achieves much of any value.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#747

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying to say this as politely as possible, but... are you serious? If you seriously cannot have conversations at this level without them turning into political discussions, you really need to reflect on your conversational habits. It is absolutely not normal or healthy if you can't talk about drinking water without it turning political. My SO is a vegetarian. It comes up a lot , both with my friends (who are all…

I'm curious if you live in San Francisco, Seattle, New York City, Portland or any "woke" city. The point you're replying to is palpable as someone that has lived in two of these places, but I agree that it would sound absurd based on my experience living in places that aren't highly woke.

I live in Texas, so I suppose not.

That said, my SO and I travel frequently (and due to the nature of our work, our friend group is very varied in terms of where they come from, with several of them being ex-SFers/ex-NYCers, etc). I honestly can't think of any increased politicization when talking with non-Texan friends versus Texan friends.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#748
post #666

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I try to keep the latter out of work-related mail, slack, etc, but I've had plenty of political discussions over coffee and lunch, and nobody ever seemed any the worse off for it. I suspect an important factor is that these happen in smaller groups that know each other better, beyond individual views. I was appalled that one of my foreign born, non-Christian, non-Caucasian co-workers voted for Bush 43 and listened to…

Your observation that small groups that are already friends having differing points of view does not make them "the other" in your mind, may well be the opposite of (Political) Twitter, which may well be why that ends up being such a dumpster fire. Q: You mention that you were 'appalled'. Did either of you take the time to explore your presumptions behind your reasons for coming to differing conclusions (while realiz…

Good question. We discussed this a bit, and my impression was that he (a) had somewhat negative opinions of muslims in general (although he got along fine with muslim co-workers — again, the phenomenon of knowing somebody protecting against "othering" them) (b) did not hold his political views very strongly, but partially saw politics as entertainment (he also listened to Michael Savage) (c) somewhat felt that when Limbaugh and Savage trashed foreigners, they could not possibly mean him.

Re: Google Doesn’t Want Staff Debating Politics at Work Anymore

#750
post #554

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But what is the alternative? The problem is diametric opinions end with two people (no company involved). What is the company to do to get people with opposing views to “get along”? Let’s put up Tibet. Some people will have strong opinions on one side and another set will have strong opinions on the other side. (Most people will be indifferent). How can the company manage that tension among people who work for them w…

Good example :-) The 'hard' solution is to teach people to communicate about topics on which they disagree. An easier solution would be to have employee moderators. A combination of providing communication classes and moderators with a dose of involuntary enrollment might be a middle ground. For a long time Google generated hundreds of thousands of dollars per employee in revenue which they have been banking for the…

Mediation and coaching are certainly great ideas for non-traditional approaches, although I feel that’s beyond the scope of a company given how resource intensive this is.

Beside, you won’t get the Dalai Lama with all the tools at his avail to accept the mainstream Chinese point of view.

That said I wouldn’t mind if a company tried this approach out of curiosity to see how it works out.

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