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Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

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Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#4
I know almost nothing about her, but Marissa Mayer doesn't come off as a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk-like "visionary" who will drive Yahoo to unexplored and unexpected market openings. Her approach seems to be to make Yahoo a great place to work, attract and empower talent, and let said talent churn out great products. Some would say that she should focus on changing the market direction of the company, and that's certainly one of her responsibilities. At the same time, I think what she's doing is admirable and valuable. It's certainly putting Yahoo on the map in the communities that matter. Let's hope Yahoo can ride this momentum and make something of it!

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#5
I've worked at a few companies where a fresh CEO asked the rank and file for a list of problems, suggestions, ideas, etc. But I've never seen it make much of a difference. I fear Marissa Meyer is already toast -- just like Yahoo.

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#6

Some things they mention should be done at every tech company: 1. Give employees free lunch 2. Give every employee an iphone 3. Github for code review

Actually, I wouldn't be terribly happy if my company gave me a daily free lunch. It would be a disincentive to get out of the office and away from my co-workers once a day, which is something that I think makes me happier and more productive. (I work in a big city, where diverse types of food are a short walk away. If you work in an office park in Silicon Valley, I can see why a free lunch might be more appealing.)

Also, having a cell phone paid for by my employer might give my employer the idea that I'm always available to them, which I don't want to encourage. Since I'm a developer of software that doesn't get deployed to the web in real time, it isn't likely that an issue can't wait until the next work day. For dire emergencies, they have my home number.

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#7
post #4

I know almost nothing about her, but Marissa Mayer doesn't come off as a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk-like "visionary" who will drive Yahoo to unexplored and unexpected market openings. Her approach seems to be to make Yahoo a great place to work, attract and empower talent, and let said talent churn out great products. Some would say that she should focus on changing the market direction of the company, and that's certai…

What makes you say that she's not a visionary?

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#8
post #4

I know almost nothing about her, but Marissa Mayer doesn't come off as a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk-like "visionary" who will drive Yahoo to unexplored and unexpected market openings. Her approach seems to be to make Yahoo a great place to work, attract and empower talent, and let said talent churn out great products. Some would say that she should focus on changing the market direction of the company, and that's certai…

Not every CEO has to be a visionary. If the CEO can hire good people who have good ideas and get out of their way, she doesn't have to provide all the ideas herself. But she'd need to create an environment where good ideas can be born and come to fruition. Giving people free food won't do this. You'd need to set up a culture in which good ideas actually get rewarded and people aren't afraid to fail.

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#9
post #4

I know almost nothing about her, but Marissa Mayer doesn't come off as a Steve Jobs or Elon Musk-like "visionary" who will drive Yahoo to unexplored and unexpected market openings. Her approach seems to be to make Yahoo a great place to work, attract and empower talent, and let said talent churn out great products. Some would say that she should focus on changing the market direction of the company, and that's certai…

Not every CEO has to be a visionary. If the CEO can hire good people who have good ideas and get out of their way, she doesn't have to provide all the ideas herself. But she'd need to create an environment where good ideas can be born and come to fruition. Giving people free food won't do this. You'd need to set up a culture in which good ideas actually get rewarded and people aren't afraid to fail.

I hope modern MBA courses teaches things like this.

Re: Marissa Mayer's Email Promising To Make Yahoo 'The Absolute Best Place To Work'

#10

Some things they mention should be done at every tech company: 1. Give employees free lunch 2. Give every employee an iphone 3. Github for code review

You mean a smartphone, right? Why does it have to be an iphone?

And why even that? A laptop I could understand, but phone?

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