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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. I'm sure this has been discussed for months in the board. Maybe even was the reason he was appointed CEO.
Or perhaps an opportune time to make a change like this.
I know little about how Twitter works, but it's interesting that a new leader would make such sweeping changes just a few days into the job. Usually, you would want at least a little time viewing and understanding the org from your new job/perspective before changing anything major. It sort of implies a CEO decision coming from solely a CTO perspective.
> Davis, previously a director of product design at Facebook, joined Twitter in 2019 to lead its design team. He is Black and Asian, and was the first Black executive at Twitter to report directly to the CEO. The company had touted him as a hard-charging leader who would detoxify the platform, but he was also criticized by some employees for what they said was a blunt, aggressive management style.
Since they've clearly gone for the "diversity" angle here, I decided to read more[0] about Davis.
> The comment occurred during a meeting in which Liz Ferrall-Nunge, who led Twitter’s research team, shared concerns about diversity at Twitter and referred to her experience as a woman of color. Mr. Davis seemed to dismiss her, telling Ms. Ferrall-Nunge, who is Asian American, that if she wore sunglasses, she would pass as white, three people familiar with the investigation said.
…Wow.
[0]: https://web.archive.org/web/20210816090522/https://www.nytim...
I know little about how Twitter works, but it's interesting that a new leader would make such sweeping changes just a few days into the job. Usually, you would want at least a little time viewing and understanding the org from your new job/perspective before changing anything major. It sort of implies a CEO decision coming from solely a CTO perspective.
> The changes include moving to a "General Manager model" for teams in the product and technology organizations, which will mean having one person lead the work in those divisions. "This will allow us to operate more cross-functionally and enable faster, more informed decision-making," the spokesperson added. In other words: We now have an Overseer role. Individual contributions no longer matter to management. Overse…
This part caught my attention: > Davis, previously a director of product design at Facebook, joined Twitter in 2019 to lead its design team. He is Black and Asian, and was the first Black executive at Twitter to report directly to the CEO. The company had touted him as a hard-charging leader who would detoxify the platform, but he was also criticized by some employees for what they said was a blunt, aggressive manage…
> The changes include moving to a "General Manager model" for teams in the product and technology organizations, which will mean having one person lead the work in those divisions. "This will allow us to operate more cross-functionally and enable faster, more informed decision-making," the spokesperson added. In other words: We now have an Overseer role. Individual contributions no longer matter to management. Overse…
This is such a weird take and makes me question if you've ever worked in a large company to begin with? I think ICs would much rather be part of a cohesive team with an engaged leader that is advocating on behalf of the product the IC is involved with. That's a hell of a lot better than the typical dysfunction in large orgs/companies where ICs are just lost in a sea of confusion and politicking with no clear higher-l…
We don’t know the complete extent of the reorg, but my experience at large companies and living through multiple reorgs (10? 15? I’ve lost track) is that they usually don’t actually mean much for ICs on the ground.
The reorg usually is limited to VP level folks - they get moved around, but usually their teams stay with them. It’s usually not a big day to day difference for the folks at the bottom of the org chart.
Edit: I’ve also never experienced reduced confusion or politicking as a result of a reorg. Those things seem inherent to large power structures.
This part caught my attention: > Davis, previously a director of product design at Facebook, joined Twitter in 2019 to lead its design team. He is Black and Asian, and was the first Black executive at Twitter to report directly to the CEO. The company had touted him as a hard-charging leader who would detoxify the platform, but he was also criticized by some employees for what they said was a blunt, aggressive manage…