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Wow, shots fired! To be fair to Tony Fadell, as I understand it, he made the comments to his team and not the public, so he was probably speaking more from the

Wow, shots fired! To be fair to Tony Fadell, as I understand it, he made the comments to his team and not the public, so he was probably speaking more from the hip than he would have if he was talking to a reporter. In this case he was trying to assure his team that they shouldn't be worried about the departures, and one way to do so would be to try and spin it as a positive. On the other hand, wow, you just said this about people who you are trying to integrate into your team. Anyone whose managed people knows how hard it is to keep your employee's happy, especially when things aren't going well. You are constantly fighting battles and just when you feel like you've reached your breaking point you get another burden put on your shoulders. TL/DR Stress is an awful thing and it makes people react in ways that they normally wouldn't.

outside1234 11y ago
Saying that internally is not any better. It is classless, shows a lack of EQ, a high degree of immaturity as a leader, and frankly, makes him look insecure. If they really weren't any good, it should have been obvious to the rest of the team already.
simula67 11y ago
Why not focus on the good qualities of the team members already there ? This type of dialogue does not inspire trust in anyone. How can you trust someone who speaks ill of people behind their backs ? How do you know they won't do the same to you when your back is turned ? Besides there is something profoundly wrong about taking stabs at someone who cannot defend themself. I am not sure I can fully get behind someone like that.
protomyth 11y ago
> To be fair to Tony Fadell, as I understand it, he made the comments to his team and not the public, so he was probably speaking more from the hip than he would have if he was talking to a reporter. Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J. C. Watts Character is what you are in the dark. - D.L. Moody I'm starting to the think their needs to be a tech CEO version of these quotes. I think he needs to be fair to other people before someone is fair to him. Putting a positive spin on something by disparaging others is a sign of low character and poor leadership.
skuhn 11y ago
I have encountered this sort of sour grapes reaction to employee turnover a fair amount over the years. I have literally been told that no one who has ever left the company has been someone we needed or should have tried to retain. Whenever a manager or executive tells the team that they didn't want the people who left anyway, it makes me think three things: 1. They shouldn't have continued to employ people who they didn't value in the first place -- if you have identified someone who isn't working out, it should be dealt with (fairly and humanely) rather than waiting for attrition to do your job for you. 2. This person probably says this about everyone who falls out of their favor. 3. For all I know this is what they'll be saying about me in a month, so I may as well make other plans and be somewhere that values employees appropriately. It's really damaging to team morale to make these kinds of blanket statements, and I don't respect or trust people who refuse to hold themselves to a higher standard than that.
- dandare 11y ago
  Thanks for putting my thoughts on the paper for me. This should be on a list of things that only shitty managers say. (r/shittymanagerssay ?)
gduffy 11y ago
No, believe it or not he said it explicitly on the record to Reed when he was interviewed. That's one of the reasons I agreed to respond, and then I decided to follow up with this Medium post to make sure things were ultra clear.

outside1234 11y ago

Saying that internally is not any better. It is classless, shows a lack of EQ, a high degree of immaturity as a leader, and frankly, makes him look insecure. If they really weren't any good, it should have been obvious to the rest of the team already.

simula67 11y ago

Why not focus on the good qualities of the team members already there ? This type of dialogue does not inspire trust in anyone. How can you trust someone who speaks ill of people behind their backs ? How do you know they won't do the same to you when your back is turned ? Besides there is something profoundly wrong about taking stabs at someone who cannot defend themself. I am not sure I can fully get behind someone like that.

protomyth 11y ago

> To be fair to Tony Fadell, as I understand it, he made the comments to his team and not the public, so he was probably speaking more from the hip than he would have if he was talking to a reporter. Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught. - J. C. Watts Character is what you are in the dark. - D.L. Moody I'm starting to the think their needs to be a tech CEO version of these quotes. I think he needs to be fair to other people before someone is fair to him. Putting a positive spin on something by disparaging others is a sign of low character and poor leadership.

skuhn 11y ago

I have encountered this sort of sour grapes reaction to employee turnover a fair amount over the years. I have literally been told that no one who has ever left the company has been someone we needed or should have tried to retain. Whenever a manager or executive tells the team that they didn't want the people who left anyway, it makes me think three things: 1. They shouldn't have continued to employ people who they didn't value in the first place -- if you have identified someone who isn't working out, it should be dealt with (fairly and humanely) rather than waiting for attrition to do your job for you. 2. This person probably says this about everyone who falls out of their favor. 3. For all I know this is what they'll be saying about me in a month, so I may as well make other plans and be somewhere that values employees appropriately. It's really damaging to team morale to make these kinds of blanket statements, and I don't respect or trust people who refuse to hold themselves to a higher standard than that.

dandare 11y ago
Thanks for putting my thoughts on the paper for me. This should be on a list of things that only shitty managers say. (r/shittymanagerssay ?)

gduffy 11y ago

No, believe it or not he said it explicitly on the record to Reed when he was interviewed. That's one of the reasons I agreed to respond, and then I decided to follow up with this Medium post to make sure things were ultra clear.