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There is a time that arrives for many companies where they stop being from cool, fast, creative, whimsical to... well, just collection of business suits. So fir

There is a time that arrives for many companies where they stop being from cool, fast, creative, whimsical to... well, just collection of business suits. So first consider the fact that this is written by Jay Hanlon, EVP of Culture and Experience. When you see titles like this for individuals working in full time position at about the highest level of executive staff, you know what I was talking about. To confirm my fear, I looked up if this EVP guy actually has account on Stackoverflow. All I can find is jhanlon with no real profile, no contributions and no real activity. So we indeed have a suit who has no first hand experience with the product, it’s culture or experience. In typical fashion of suits, this guy also stays on the safe side of “be kind” without ever diving in to details, pro and cons, data or real remedies. If Joel is still running this thing he needs to wake up.

jsmeaton 8y ago
You don’t think he’s involved in this process? You don’t think many of the employees are? Who do you think hired the EVP of culture. Joel is currently writing about this same issue. There’s a problem. Data backs this up.
wool_gather 8y ago
This, so much. Jay Hanlon is the single worst thing that has happened to Stack Overflow, hands down. His relentless focus on inclusion is all form and no function: making things seem nicer, without addressing the actual painpoints experienced by all users, new or veteran. Those painpoints engender frustration and lead to the hostility that comes from both sides. For all his insistence on the primacy of people's feedback, he completely ignores and dismisses the concerns of existing, engaged users. Whatever gains have come from the the means he has chosen come at the very real cost of the expertise that makes the site useful. Eight, even six, years ago, when you clicked that link from Google to Stack, you got your answer, first time. Now you're lucky if you can find it among the broken code masquerading as a task-oriented question and copy-pasted answers that reply.
wool_gather 8y ago
His account is named jaydles (last I knew, anyways).

jsmeaton 8y ago

You don’t think he’s involved in this process? You don’t think many of the employees are? Who do you think hired the EVP of culture. Joel is currently writing about this same issue. There’s a problem. Data backs this up.

wool_gather 8y ago

This, so much. Jay Hanlon is the single worst thing that has happened to Stack Overflow, hands down. His relentless focus on inclusion is all form and no function: making things seem nicer, without addressing the actual painpoints experienced by all users, new or veteran. Those painpoints engender frustration and lead to the hostility that comes from both sides. For all his insistence on the primacy of people's feedback, he completely ignores and dismisses the concerns of existing, engaged users. Whatever gains have come from the the means he has chosen come at the very real cost of the expertise that makes the site useful. Eight, even six, years ago, when you clicked that link from Google to Stack, you got your answer, first time. Now you're lucky if you can find it among the broken code masquerading as a task-oriented question and copy-pasted answers that reply.

wool_gather 8y ago

His account is named jaydles (last I knew, anyways).