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Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

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Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#381

Post by shadowgovt »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #318
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (It turns out that it's not possible to selectively repress emotions: "I've got to watch what I say about politics" subconsciously spills over into "I've got to watch what I say" which spills over into "I've got to watch what I say about anything new and controversial", and you lose the latter well before the former.) This was the same logic that allowed talented men to turn their workplaces into a very unwelcoming…

Its ridiculous to equate talking about politics to sexual harassment. Talking politics doesn't magically turn you into a chauvinist.

Not in general. James Damore was likely a singular exception.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#382

Post by mav3rick »

OneMoreGoogler wrote: post #367
hgytr wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you know names of those better workplaces, I'm all ears.

Over 16 years I've worked at only four companies, but one of them was Google, and it was honestly my least favorite. Creature comforts: I have an actual cubicle with >2x the space. Excellent meals are still provided, but now lines are Engineering culture: No more promo or perf review nonsense. There's none of the internal competition / pressure that I felt every day at Google. The org and leadership has vastly less c…

What "pressure" you feel is entirely up to you. Most managers at Google don't micro manage you.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#383

Post by tirewarehouse »

Animats wrote: post #112
malvosenior wrote: post #5

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…

Well, that's the price of expecting people to spend their whole life at work. If everybody knocks off at 5 and goes home, they can keep their politics at home. Google feeds 3 meals a day, and if you eat dinner at work, you're expected to return to work afterwards. They have lockers and showers at work. They'd have adult dorms if they could.

I know you're a prolific poster on here, and you often provide valuable contributions, so it's disheartening to see how full of misinformation this comment is. I've worked at many tech companies, and Google has among the best work-life balance I've encountered. Work hours vary by team and by role, but on a whole, it's very reasonable.

They serve three meals, but you're not expected to eat all three meals. Some people like to get in early and leave early, others like to get in late and stay late. The food is just a perk, there if you want it.

Also, you're not obligated or expected to work longer if you eat dinner. Not sure where you heard that one. If you're at the office when dinner is served, it's considered that you've already stayed late.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#384

Post by m0zg »

malvosenior wrote: post #5

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…

Seems like it'd be really easy to get rid of the "activists" though: sign a few Cloud contracts with people they don't like (starting with DoD and going down the list), and if they really are activists, they'll go work elsewhere. You don't have to get rid of TGIF to do that.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#385

Post by flaviu1 »

heavyset_go wrote: post #358
monocasa wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when were advertising agencies button-up affairs? Crispin Porter is down the street from me and they seem to be every silly brogrammer stereotype, just in a different market. Like their shuttle looks like a prison bus but is labeled "disruptive thinkers transport" or some such. That's Mike Judge levels of ridiculousness.

> Like their shuttle looks like a prison bus but is labeled "disruptive thinkers transport" or some such. You're joking, right?

looks like they're not: https://static.businessinsider.com/image/4f3c01186bb3f7d71d0...

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#386

Post by technobabble »

heavyset_go wrote: post #358
monocasa wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when were advertising agencies button-up affairs? Crispin Porter is down the street from me and they seem to be every silly brogrammer stereotype, just in a different market. Like their shuttle looks like a prison bus but is labeled "disruptive thinkers transport" or some such. That's Mike Judge levels of ridiculousness.

> Like their shuttle looks like a prison bus but is labeled "disruptive thinkers transport" or some such. You're joking, right?

It appears to be real

http://boulderreporter.com/a-crispin-porter-bogusky-primer/

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#387

Post by barry-cotter »

sailfast wrote: post #273
burtonator wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interviewed at Etsy about a year or two ago and the interviewer was asking me about politically charged topics. How I would handle workplace gender complaints. How they should handle racial diversity in the work place, etc. It was really clear I was giving wrong answers. I told them flat out that I think people should be judged by the quality of their character, not the color of their skin and that the company should…

I assume this was for a supervisory position or an HR position? These aren’t really politically charged questions but rather questions about how to manage people and the issues that come with people. While the cause of the complaint may be politically charged, how one would handle the situation should be pretty by the book.

Just to be clear you’re explicitly saying that the law says that in a workplace context you should treat people differently based on whether or not they’re in a protected class.

Not the same, differently?

Because the entire point of the law on protected classes is that people should be treated the same regardless of being a member or not of a protected class.

Non discrimination, not discrimination.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#388

Post by shadowgovt »

kortilla wrote: post #362
jeromegv wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You seem to be the revisionist. Implying that people of colour that were brought at the company changed the culture for the worse because this is what the media wanted. Implying that politics came in only because they tried to bring diversity in the workplace. We are talking of the company that was advocating do not evil. This was political from day 1, remember their stand on China?

> You seem to be the revisionist. Implying that people of colour that were brought at the company changed the culture for the worse because this is what the media wanted. Implying that politics came in only because they tried to bring diversity in the workplace. Yes, when they stopped caring about engineering skills and starting caring about diversity checkboxes, their overall engineering capabilities declined. Googl…

It doesn't take more than a handful of interactions to determine if a coworker is competent. The reason they were hired is irrelevant; software engineering at Google is very fast-paced, and it tends to interpret incompetence as damage and route around it.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#389

Post by pm90 »

RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #309
nostrademons wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> (It turns out that it's not possible to selectively repress emotions: "I've got to watch what I say about politics" subconsciously spills over into "I've got to watch what I say" which spills over into "I've got to watch what I say about anything new and controversial", and you lose the latter well before the former.) This was the same logic that allowed talented men to turn their workplaces into a very unwelcoming…

I don’t think they’re the same thing. It might be a generational thing, but younger workers are at ease and fluid with Gender and gender based identities. There is a culture of respect that I see in this generation that might be hidden by the absolutely pathetic situations under which many of them live today due to reasons unrelated to their talents and work ethic. But this is changing, Google embraced that change but it’s struggling with it today for uncertain reasons.

Re: Google cancels TGIF weekly all-hands meetings

#390

Post by shadowgovt »

ggm wrote: post #287
aprdm wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read the "how Google works " book and I can't help but question myself if they built what they built despite of the culture. The best recipe for a company that isn't printing billions of dollars from Advertising to go bankrupt is try to follow their book and culture. If you remove infinite money and market dominance would it still work out in the end ? My guess is that it wouldn't. Google feels sometimes very much…

Is there a variant of Godwin's law/meme that all conversations on HN about politics degenerate to hitting each other over neoliberal economics, the CoC and men's rights?

CoC?
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