4 ms·

At work? A lot of other things.

by gtirloni 7y ago

abeisgreat 7y ago
Not if your work directly impacts these things as Google's often does.
- the-pigeon 7y ago
  For profit companies should not choose sides. Google's only discussion of politics in the workplace should be on how to make their systems be as unbiased as possible.
  - damnyou 7y ago
    The problem with statements like this is that not choosing sides is exactly as political as choosing sides. There is no such thing as ignoring politics — it's an essential part of the human experience, so any organization must grapple with it.
    - kortilla 7y ago
      No it’s not. Where did this stupid notion come from that everything neatly fits into two sides
      - munk-a 7y ago
        Oh, I know this one! From the broken political system that forces the optimal play to be a contest of two parties.
      - BigBlueBanjo 7y ago
        People who think everything is political are usually authoritarians. They believe in order for progress to be made, you have to force or coerce people into doing the right thing.
- username90 7y ago
  The most political most Googlers work gets is what to call variable names. We decided to not use master/slave, so we are A-OK now! But seriously, I know a few roles have immense influence over peoples lives, but most of us just try to efficiently plumb data we don't see between black boxes we don't understand.
  - abeisgreat 7y ago
    Just because you can't see where the data you're plumbing touches the world doesn't mean it doesn't have impact. I work on one of the edges of those engineering efforts. On one side I see first hand how detached engineers at Google are from the things they build and on the other I see people's lives being defined by using those products / services. That impact is real and I think it's at a level that very few googlers respect because they're not lucky enough to be on an outside edge like me.
dvtrn 7y ago
Even if your place of work has a hand and a demonstrably relevant position in a lot of global political discussions?
- gtirloni 7y ago
  You can have proper workshops/apps/meetings to discuss these things and gather input from all employees in a way that doesn't disturb the regular day-to-day work. The problem is that discussing politics at any time in your workplace to people that have opposite views and/or don't want to discuss politics at that time is counterproductive.
  - dvtrn 7y ago
    I think I can agree in the affirmative with the first sentence, not so much the second one, with the context of my original comment in mind. If your company is demonstrably involved in issues that affect global, heck or even local politics, speaking to those affairs is an imperative. Whether or not people enter those conversations with the intent on solving problems and actually discussing in earnest is where things get weird, admittedly.
- EpicEng 7y ago
  That's really the crux of the issue. I agree that people should probably leave most of their personal beliefs at home... unless it's something that directly related to what the company is doing. So Google employees are supposed to just shut up or leave?
  - dvtrn 7y ago
    So Google employees are supposed to just shut up or leave? An important question, I think. It would seem some think they should, and some probably think they should do both. Brings to mind the attitude of "shutup and play ball" when sports athletes try to use their platforms for some aspect of social change or another. An attitude I find personally disheartening, but I'll stop there because these discussions never end well.

At work? A lot of other things.

abeisgreat 7y ago

Not if your work directly impacts these things as Google's often does.

the-pigeon 7y ago
For profit companies should not choose sides. Google's only discussion of politics in the workplace should be on how to make their systems be as unbiased as possible.
- damnyou 7y ago
  The problem with statements like this is that not choosing sides is exactly as political as choosing sides. There is no such thing as ignoring politics — it's an essential part of the human experience, so any organization must grapple with it.
  - kortilla 7y ago
    No it’s not. Where did this stupid notion come from that everything neatly fits into two sides
    - munk-a 7y ago
      Oh, I know this one! From the broken political system that forces the optimal play to be a contest of two parties.
    - BigBlueBanjo 7y ago
      People who think everything is political are usually authoritarians. They believe in order for progress to be made, you have to force or coerce people into doing the right thing.
username90 7y ago
The most political most Googlers work gets is what to call variable names. We decided to not use master/slave, so we are A-OK now! But seriously, I know a few roles have immense influence over peoples lives, but most of us just try to efficiently plumb data we don't see between black boxes we don't understand.
- abeisgreat 7y ago
  Just because you can't see where the data you're plumbing touches the world doesn't mean it doesn't have impact. I work on one of the edges of those engineering efforts. On one side I see first hand how detached engineers at Google are from the things they build and on the other I see people's lives being defined by using those products / services. That impact is real and I think it's at a level that very few googlers respect because they're not lucky enough to be on an outside edge like me.

dvtrn 7y ago

Even if your place of work has a hand and a demonstrably relevant position in a lot of global political discussions?

gtirloni 7y ago
You can have proper workshops/apps/meetings to discuss these things and gather input from all employees in a way that doesn't disturb the regular day-to-day work. The problem is that discussing politics at any time in your workplace to people that have opposite views and/or don't want to discuss politics at that time is counterproductive.
- dvtrn 7y ago
  I think I can agree in the affirmative with the first sentence, not so much the second one, with the context of my original comment in mind. If your company is demonstrably involved in issues that affect global, heck or even local politics, speaking to those affairs is an imperative. Whether or not people enter those conversations with the intent on solving problems and actually discussing in earnest is where things get weird, admittedly.
EpicEng 7y ago
That's really the crux of the issue. I agree that people should probably leave most of their personal beliefs at home... unless it's something that directly related to what the company is doing. So Google employees are supposed to just shut up or leave?
- dvtrn 7y ago
  So Google employees are supposed to just shut up or leave? An important question, I think. It would seem some think they should, and some probably think they should do both. Brings to mind the attitude of "shutup and play ball" when sports athletes try to use their platforms for some aspect of social change or another. An attitude I find personally disheartening, but I'll stop there because these discussions never end well.