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Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

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Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#71
post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google and most SV companies are somewhere between left to far-left.

US "left" is basically center though.

Not anymore. US left has stretched very far to the left in the last few years while the right has moved slightly more to the right. It's created a whole new "center".

Here's Pew research, check page 12: http://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/201...

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#73
post #7

This reminds me of this sentence from a Wired article[0] in August: > TGIF's transformation from candid conversation to press conference was pretty much complete. As a Googler I'm totally not surprised this is happening. The writing has been on the wall for a very long time. [0]: https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery...

Unfortunately that's what happens when the discussions get leaked. It's hard to be candid and open if what you say might end up distorted in the media and without you having an ability to defend yourself.

I fail to see how that really matters. Facebook had all kinds of media exposure (Cambridge Analytica, Libra, etc). Nothing happened.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#74
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> at these previously pro-politics (some kinds of politics) workplaces There are no people who actually think it’s ok to bring politics into the workplace. There are only people who don’t think their politics are politics; it’s everybody else’s politics that’s politics.

I think it’s OK to bring politics into the workplace. I discuss Brexit, elections, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Donald Trump, etc, with those of my colleagues that want to discuss it when they want to discuss it. I agree with some of them, disagree with others.

I think the key difference is, you aren't trying to paint those who disagree with you or even refuse participation in such discussions as members of some axis of evil. Unfortunately, it is only possible if the overall culture of your company is conductive to that, as opposed to the monoculture of "if you aren't as enthusiastic about this topic as me, then you are the enemy".

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#75

I wonder if companies like Google and GitHub that actively courted activists are now regretting their decision. For a long time it was common knowledge that you would try to keep stuff like that out of the workplace. The past 10 years have been an about face to that strategy and now we're seeing more or less complete chaos internally at these previously pro-politics (some kinds of politics) workplaces. My guess is th…

I strongly suspect that Google can't hear the question over the sound of their stock reaching record highs, but it's an interesting question.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#76

I wonder if companies like Google and GitHub that actively courted activists are now regretting their decision. For a long time it was common knowledge that you would try to keep stuff like that out of the workplace. The past 10 years have been an about face to that strategy and now we're seeing more or less complete chaos internally at these previously pro-politics (some kinds of politics) workplaces. My guess is th…

To be clear, "keep politics out of the workplace" is another way of saying "I'm okay with the status quo, and if you don't like it I don't want to hear about it at work".

[deleted]

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You say that like it's a given truth - do you have anything to back up that assertion? Sure, and this is just one of many examples: https://diversity.google/ They have been very proactive in this space for a long time.

I think their diversity initiatives failed miserable. They created a monoculture that is violently intolerant of diverse viewpoints.

Yeah, absolutely! Poor little white straight men, nowadays you cannot find any of them working in Google. What a pity!

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#78

I wonder if companies like Google and GitHub that actively courted activists are now regretting their decision. For a long time it was common knowledge that you would try to keep stuff like that out of the workplace. The past 10 years have been an about face to that strategy and now we're seeing more or less complete chaos internally at these previously pro-politics (some kinds of politics) workplaces. My guess is th…

I think it's more that they actively courted assertive people with opinions and then created a culture where you can bring your whole self to work. They did this so that they could get the benefits of creativity, which inherently requires emotional engagement, which requires that you not repress your emotions. (It turns out that it's not possible to selectively repress emotions: "I've got to watch what I say about po…

You can be creative and still act like a professional in a professional environment.

One example is advertising agencies, which in the last century (in spite of what you see on popular television) were very button-up places but created cultural touchstones we still know today.

(Edited to clarity I'm referencing ad agencies in the 20th century, not the SV-wannabe agencies a few have evolved into today.)

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#79
post #7

This reminds me of this sentence from a Wired article[0] in August: > TGIF's transformation from candid conversation to press conference was pretty much complete. As a Googler I'm totally not surprised this is happening. The writing has been on the wall for a very long time. [0]: https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery...

It hadn't really been practical for years to have an "all hands" with a 100,000 person company.

Time constraints alone had already put pressure on the whole concept. Humans don't scale that way.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#80
It makes sense, if I was CEO and only 20% of employees were attending, and whatever I said at the meeting got leaked, I'd cancel them too. And I think most people would. Also, I think a lot of people just want to go to work and work, they don't care about politics or even business strategy.
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