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Definition of politics: anything that doesn't have the product's best interests at heart. My central point was not that Google only hires PC engineers (althoug

by pgt 7y ago

Definition of politics: anything that doesn't have the product's best interests at heart. My central point was not that Google only hires PC engineers (although the James Damore debacle seems to support this), but that engineers like me (since I can only speak for myself and my peers) don't want to work for politically-correct organisations. Why? Because if you want to work on great products, you can't be concerned with politics. If the politics were aligned with product, it would be considered an apolitical organisation, or a product company.

cycrutchfield 7y ago
So your central thesis is that the only engineers that are product-focused would not want to work for Google because they feel the environment is too political? So what do you make of other companies that are product-focused that also care about “PC” things like diversity?
- pgt 7y ago
  Yes. I am suspicious of any company that has written diversity into its corporate structure. Here in South Africa, racism is economically sanctioned by well-intentioned BBE (black economic empowerment) "diversity" laws, which made it illegal to do business with government unless your company is majority black-owned. This guaranteed the creation of countless rent-seeking middlemen, which increased costs for the poor majority they were designed to protect and caused valuable skills to leave the country. With widespread power outages, South Africa is not doing so well. If diversity does not arise naturally in an equal opportunity environment, then either the opportunity is unequal, or the homogeneity is inherent in the makeup of the hiring pool. If you try to compensate for this by hiring for diversity in your company instead of excellence, you will lose in the marketplace. Of course, I support giving everyone an equal opportunity, but I remain unconvinced you can reconcile forced diversity with excellence.
  - cycrutchfield 7y ago
    Just because you have a goal to correct the inequities of the past doesn't mean that you cannot be excellent. Surely as a South African, with its horrible history relating to race, you should understand that.

by pgt 7y ago

cycrutchfield 7y ago

So your central thesis is that the only engineers that are product-focused would not want to work for Google because they feel the environment is too political? So what do you make of other companies that are product-focused that also care about “PC” things like diversity?

pgt 7y ago
Yes. I am suspicious of any company that has written diversity into its corporate structure. Here in South Africa, racism is economically sanctioned by well-intentioned BBE (black economic empowerment) "diversity" laws, which made it illegal to do business with government unless your company is majority black-owned. This guaranteed the creation of countless rent-seeking middlemen, which increased costs for the poor majority they were designed to protect and caused valuable skills to leave the country. With widespread power outages, South Africa is not doing so well. If diversity does not arise naturally in an equal opportunity environment, then either the opportunity is unequal, or the homogeneity is inherent in the makeup of the hiring pool. If you try to compensate for this by hiring for diversity in your company instead of excellence, you will lose in the marketplace. Of course, I support giving everyone an equal opportunity, but I remain unconvinced you can reconcile forced diversity with excellence.
- cycrutchfield 7y ago
  Just because you have a goal to correct the inequities of the past doesn't mean that you cannot be excellent. Surely as a South African, with its horrible history relating to race, you should understand that.