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One of the major takeaways for me from this article was about how sincere feedback and contributions to the company can be so quickly brushed aside. Making impr

One of the major takeaways for me from this article was about how sincere feedback and contributions to the company can be so quickly brushed aside. Making improvements aren't always easy, but espousing a "two-way street" then acting very "top down" is dishonest. A cultural issue. Then I saw the communication about performance and then the firing, and I don't feel a reason to doubt the author. It's not a new story or situation. I've witnessed first-hand how some employees can be 'set up' by management to pretty much ensure a Termination channel. I'm not claiming the employee in my example was a Saint, but I watched the machine work and HR is not your friend. A distant relative I got to meet was a career HR professional, eventually becoming the Top Dog at a company with 20k+ employees. He had one phrase for me that has been and continues to be invaluable: Guard Your Words & Actions. This article should be appreciated for digging into the personal elements of reflecting on 'warning signs' that maybe there wouldn't be a happy ending. Wisdom is not always easily earned. What this author did is share some very personal experiences in their own perspective and I think, in many ways, it's like therapy. We sometimes question our own choices and intentions in hindsight because in the moment clarity isn't possible. We're human. This piece felt very liberating to me, because I know I've been in similar situations and wondered if I was the one out of line or if maybe there was a bigger picture. Sometimes talking dollars is the way we get down to what we value. This author is essentially putting his money where his mouth is. That, to me, is important and impressive.

cpncrunch 10y ago
>One of the major takeaways for me from this article was about how sincere feedback and contributions to the company can be so quickly brushed aside. I didn't see that from the gitlab comments. It just looks like a technical discussion where his colleagues disagreed with his analysis.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  My bad for not being more clear - there's a specific part in the article (I highlighted on Medium) that stated this: >I was in charge of hiring them, so I went to great lengths to make sure my team consisted of the best possible people, with great engineering skills. You would imagine my concern and indignation when the CEO decided that the Service Engineers were to handle not just our increasingly demanding enterprise customers, but also every single GitLab related question posted on the internet, not just Twitter and/or Facebook, the entire internet! I, of course, opposed this measure and went on to make my point as to why that was the case. I also suggested hiring specialized people, like Community Managers, to handle this task, which to me sounded reasonable, but management saw this as me going against the company’s best interests. To me, this clearly meant that it was no longer OK to voice your opinions, like it was in the past. In hindsight, this should have been the second clue. That is the point I was getting at in I can see the value being added in multiple sectors! First, trying to cultivate talent and feeling responsible for that. Second, recognizing out-of-scope "Mission Creep" and speaking up. Third, not just complaining but offering a viable solution to the dispute. Fourth, being able to reflect that when good ideas are shot down without clarity and respect for the person and responsibilities being brought forward, is very important to the soul. That's what I was referencing and I hope to have brought more context to my reasoning.
  - cpncrunch 10y ago
    It's hard to really understand what was going on from this. How exactly did he voice his opinions, and how did the company respond? From the only evidence given (the gitlab comments), he seems to be overblowing things somewhat.
    - 6stringmerc 10y ago
      Counter-Point, never having a voice until "The Bobs" show up and do some "consulting" a la Office Space. >...So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired. Post Script: Not Everybody Can Afford to Jerry McGuire Out A Gig. This essay? Closer and more real than most claim to be.

cpncrunch 10y ago

>One of the major takeaways for me from this article was about how sincere feedback and contributions to the company can be so quickly brushed aside. I didn't see that from the gitlab comments. It just looks like a technical discussion where his colleagues disagreed with his analysis.

6stringmerc 10y ago
My bad for not being more clear - there's a specific part in the article (I highlighted on Medium) that stated this: >I was in charge of hiring them, so I went to great lengths to make sure my team consisted of the best possible people, with great engineering skills. You would imagine my concern and indignation when the CEO decided that the Service Engineers were to handle not just our increasingly demanding enterprise customers, but also every single GitLab related question posted on the internet, not just Twitter and/or Facebook, the entire internet! I, of course, opposed this measure and went on to make my point as to why that was the case. I also suggested hiring specialized people, like Community Managers, to handle this task, which to me sounded reasonable, but management saw this as me going against the company’s best interests. To me, this clearly meant that it was no longer OK to voice your opinions, like it was in the past. In hindsight, this should have been the second clue. That is the point I was getting at in I can see the value being added in multiple sectors! First, trying to cultivate talent and feeling responsible for that. Second, recognizing out-of-scope "Mission Creep" and speaking up. Third, not just complaining but offering a viable solution to the dispute. Fourth, being able to reflect that when good ideas are shot down without clarity and respect for the person and responsibilities being brought forward, is very important to the soul. That's what I was referencing and I hope to have brought more context to my reasoning.
- cpncrunch 10y ago
  It's hard to really understand what was going on from this. How exactly did he voice his opinions, and how did the company respond? From the only evidence given (the gitlab comments), he seems to be overblowing things somewhat.
  - 6stringmerc 10y ago
    Counter-Point, never having a voice until "The Bobs" show up and do some "consulting" a la Office Space. >...So that means that when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it. That's my only real motivation is not to be hassled, that and the fear of losing my job. But you know, Bob, that will only make someone work just hard enough not to get fired. Post Script: Not Everybody Can Afford to Jerry McGuire Out A Gig. This essay? Closer and more real than most claim to be.