1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company • Hacker News Board

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#251

Post by rsj_hn » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:36 PM UTC

Grimm1 wrote: post #248

woodruffw wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You're paid to do a job. Politics is for your personal time. It's remarkable how easily we've forgotten that the very concept of "personal time" took decades of sustained political effort at the workplace.

Sustained political effort - in spite of the established rules. Every one of those people risked their jobs and in many cases their health and life fighting for those rights against laws and established order. People today want their cake and to eat it to. They want the people who made an economic exchange for their labor also let them do things that work directly against their "the purchaser's" interests. How about…

The difference between traditional union organizing and the social justice crusaders here is that the unions were fighting management to improve the material well being of the workers. They wanted more sick leave, higher wages, etc.

The present-day crusaders are attacking their fellow employees (who disagree with them) as well as customers (trying to get customers who disagree with them dropped). They are most certainly not fighting management. Management gets involved in those cases where it tries to stop one of the crusading employees from harassing another employee or customer, at which point there are demonstrations to try to get the enemy coworker or employee dropped.

That is why this is not at all like the unionization efforts of the past.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#252

Post by gwelson » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:37 PM UTC

The thing I hate about this line of thinking is the supposed "distractions" of being mission-focused are nearly all related simply to basic rights/dignities for marginalized groups. I don't think anyone is saying companies need to take a strong stance on every political issue, but merely saying "we as a company believe the lives of our Black employees matter" or "we as a company welcome and accept our LGBTQ+ employees and don't tolerate anyone who doesn't" are just...basic things you need to do in 2021. They aren't a distraction, I would say not saying them is a distraction.

In all of the discussion around the blog post from Armstrong last year and the similar discussion around Basecamp, I never once saw an example cited of these so-called distractions from being mission-focused that wasn't just affirming the basic dignity of a group of people. I don't understand why doing so should be controversial. Anyone who doesn't fully and unambiguously support the right of Black people to not be killed randomly and of LGBTQ+ people to exist simply doesn't belong in polite, modern society. How is this controversial?

I simply cannot imagine working at a place that doesn't recognize the humanity of their workers. Utterly baffling and heartless mindset.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#253

Post by dmix » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:39 PM UTC

> 3/ One of the biggest concerns around our stance was that it would impact our diversity numbers. Since my post, we've grown our headcount about 110%, while our diversity numbers have remained the same, or even improved on some metrics.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from Reddit is at scale a sentence like this often means they’ve established a dominant monoculture and squashed out the ‘annoyances’..

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#254

Post by poszlem » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:44 PM UTC

gwelson wrote: post #252

The thing I hate about this line of thinking is the supposed "distractions" of being mission-focused are nearly all related simply to basic rights/dignities for marginalized groups. I don't think anyone is saying companies need to take a strong stance on every political issue, but merely saying "we as a company believe the lives of our Black employees matter" or "we as a company welcome and accept our LGBTQ+ employee…

There is a difference between people/companies that believe that lives of black people matter and those that claim that BLACKLIVESMATTER. There is a difference between people/companies that believe that women need to have the same rights as men and those that claim to be feminists. There is a difference between people/companies that believe that gays/lesbians are normal people and those who put rainbows everywhere.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#255

Post by urda » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:44 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #34

emsy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people think work is an appropriate place for political activism?

It is impossible to remove politics from your work. If you try to ignore everything except the mission of making money at work, that ALSO is a political choice…

> It is impossible to remove politics from your work.

It absolutely is and this statement is either not informed enough or is being argued in bad faith. Unless your job is involved in direct politics or government you can keep the politics out and focus on the work.

I do not need my peers or coworkers bringing in politics to the workspace. Politics is a disease that seems to be seeping in everywhere because a vocal minority thinks every moment needs political involvement.

It does not.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#256

Post by no_butterscotch » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:44 PM UTC

greenie_beans wrote: post #172

ryan93 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats political about using coinbase to buy and sell bitcoin?

crypto is political

For you? Or for everyone?

People say everything is political, that doesn't make it so.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#257

Post by staysafeanon » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:47 PM UTC

jrockway wrote: post #67

What mission did they focus on and how did it go? All I see here is "I wrote a controversial screed and many people tolerated it and kept showing up to work." That's great and all, but what sort of new things did it unlock? How do you compare it to the world where you didn't write the screed? It all feels like a heap of bullshit to me -- if you're in the right industry, you can be the worst manager on the planet and…

>What mission did they focus on and how did it go?

RTFA: https://blog.coinbase.com/coinbase-is-a-mission-focused-comp...

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#258

Post by StanislavPetrov » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:50 PM UTC

gwelson wrote: post #252

The thing I hate about this line of thinking is the supposed "distractions" of being mission-focused are nearly all related simply to basic rights/dignities for marginalized groups. I don't think anyone is saying companies need to take a strong stance on every political issue, but merely saying "we as a company believe the lives of our Black employees matter" or "we as a company welcome and accept our LGBTQ+ employee…

>I never once saw an example cited of these so-called distractions from being mission-focused that wasn't just affirming the basic dignity of a group of people.

You are free to affirm whatever you want, and have all sort of discussions about society at large when your aren't being paid for your time by someone else to do a job that has nothing to do with affirming groups of people.

>I simply cannot imagine working at a place that doesn't recognize the humanity of their workers. Utterly baffling and heartless mindset.

Its baffling to me that so many people feel entitled to espouse their social and cultural beliefs in the workplace instead of doing the job they are being paid to do. The way a workplace recognizes the humanity of their workers is by offering good wages, good hours and a generous benefits package.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#259

Post by mrRandomGuy » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:56 PM UTC

StanislavPetrov wrote: post #258

gwelson wrote: post #252

The thing I hate about this line of thinking is the supposed "distractions" of being mission-focused are nearly all related simply to basic rights/dignities for marginalized groups. I don't think anyone is saying companies need to take a strong stance on every political issue, but merely saying "we as a company believe the lives of our Black employees matter" or "we as a company welcome and accept our LGBTQ+ employee…

>I never once saw an example cited of these so-called distractions from being mission-focused that wasn't just affirming the basic dignity of a group of people. You are free to affirm whatever you want, and have all sort of discussions about society at large when your aren't being paid for your time by someone else to do a job that has nothing to do with affirming groups of people. >I simply cannot imagine working at…

This just in, people who also happen to work are not mindless automatons. People like working at places that seem to align with their own personal views.

It's baffling to me that people believe I should turn off my brain when I'm at work.

Re: 1 Year of Coinbase as a mission focused company

#260

Post by staysafeanon » Fri, Oct 08, 2021, 10:56 PM UTC

malermeister wrote: post #29

emsy wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people think work is an appropriate place for political activism?

Everything you do is implicitly political. To say you're non-political is just another political position itself - complicity with the status quo.

>complicity with the status quo.

This is a non-argument because "status quo" can be construed as anything and everything. It boils down to "you're either with us or against us."

"If you don't actively support my pet cause on women's rights to own hand guns in California, it means you support the status quo. You support women being murdered and victimized without any recourse because you want to disarm them when they need guns the most! Supporting the status quo on gun rights is supporting women victimization!"