Earlier quoted context omitted.
With many close friends who work at $FB, I promise you politics are alive and well :)
Is "$FB" the new "Micro$oft"?
It's just a reference to their stock ticker symbol.
How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
121–130 of 187 posts
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#122"At Facebook, moving into management is not a promotion. It’s a lateral move, a parallel track. " This is nice in theory. But when your "peers" with Manager in their title have access to more information and more decision-making power, it is not in fact a parallel track. Just saying people are equal doesn't make it so, and it doesn't change the underlying organizational structures.
This is pretty standard in old industrial companies.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you're absolutely right, in general, but I've been at Facebook for 5 years now, and the one thing I'll say about it is that once you establish a track record of 1) doing good work and 2) making good long-term decisions, that trumps any considerations around level. The culture is definitely such that the very senior folks (Director++) will value trust over level, so it's very much "influence over authority." P…
"value trust over level" Isn't this the definition of politics? Trust is a personal feeling based on other opinion and your own experience while level should be based on documented achievements in the company. Same with influence over authority. Influence is just another word for politics.
The parent's comment uses the word "influence" more in the sense of "Merit Influence" than "Political Influence", I think
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#124> Successful candidates should clearly demonstrate that their priorities are company, team, and self — in that order
I would politely ask Facebook to go fuck themselves if they asked me to put the company before myself. I don't exist to serve a company.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#125> Successful candidates should clearly demonstrate that their priorities are company, team, and self — in that order I would politely ask Facebook to go fuck themselves if they asked me to put the company before myself. I don't exist to serve a company.
It's commonly called "teamwork over ego", though we might be talking past each other.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
"value trust over level" Isn't this the definition of politics? Trust is a personal feeling based on other opinion and your own experience while level should be based on documented achievements in the company. Same with influence over authority. Influence is just another word for politics.
The parent's comment uses the word "influence" more in the sense of "Merit Influence" than "Political Influence", I think
Doesn't that still mean more informal, people in my sphere than formal merit recognition which is the whole point of levels? Maybe I'm just not getting it.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#127"Take the incentive out of “climbing the ladder.” Some of the organization structure setup is not unique to Facebook. My former boss was a long time Microsoft employee, from what I heard from her anecdotally, Microsoft has long been setup with dual tracks for technical employees. The management track and the engineer track. One moves from engineer track to management track is a true lateral move in that salary don't…
At most companies, Distinguished Engineer is the "technical track" equivalent of Vice President. So making more than a mid-level manager may not be all that great. :-) (I imagine Distinguised Engineers at MSFT do very well, and when you factor in quality of life may be happier with their jobs than VPs. But that doesn't make it parallel.)
The problem is that most companies have a small handful of such people, and lots of vice presidents. They want you to think it's equivalent, but the reality is that, Facebook and anywhere, there's only so far you can go on the technical track.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#128Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, I planned on writing a blog post on this at some point. I work at Hired, and we had an interview process to determine who (internally) would become the next manager. This involved three interviews with engineers, and a presentation with management.
That sounds humiliating for candidates who don't make it. Especially having to go back to work with the engineers that rejected them.
In the "traditional" method of selecting a manager, most engineers don't get selected either. However, the process is less transparent that way.
I'm saying this as a candidate that didn't get selected. I got great actionable feedback on how to be a better leader, and I'll keep my fingers crossed when there is another opportunity available.
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#129"At Facebook, moving into management is not a promotion. It’s a lateral move, a parallel track. " This is nice in theory. But when your "peers" with Manager in their title have access to more information and more decision-making power, it is not in fact a parallel track. Just saying people are equal doesn't make it so, and it doesn't change the underlying organizational structures.
I think you're absolutely right, in general, but I've been at Facebook for 5 years now, and the one thing I'll say about it is that once you establish a track record of 1) doing good work and 2) making good long-term decisions, that trumps any considerations around level. The culture is definitely such that the very senior folks (Director++) will value trust over level, so it's very much "influence over authority." P…
[deleted]
Re: How Facebook Tries to Prevent Office Politics
#130You can't take politics out of people... no matter how hard you try.
Also there are just too many mediocre people to go around. I'm not optimistic, I suspect this will end with the very best people leaving the company.