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At this point, I have started seeing Google as a miniature of contemporary SV (with all its good and bad stuff). Lots of random products thrown out to the user

At this point, I have started seeing Google as a miniature of contemporary SV (with all its good and bad stuff). Lots of random products thrown out to the user only to be cancelled in a few years? Check! Occasional massively successful (and actually useful) products? Check! Lip service and virtue signaling for fads du jour (eg. diversity)? Check! Actual behavior hinting towards prioritizing profits over all else (eg. lots of low-wage contractors in lieu of full time employees)? Check! So it won't be a surprise if there are internal pitching sessions where Product Managers would be pitching their ideas to VPs just like YC demo days. Then get started with 2-3 engineers, put out the product, take it to some decent success level (eg. US-only, English-only, Android/iOS-only launch), pocket your promo, move on, rinse and repeat!! The real question for me is is this all by design? Could it be that they want exactly this kind of setup? I won't be surprised if Google leadership is thinking this way...

atdt 7y ago
Could you please explain what you mean when you say diversity is a fad du jour? I'd like to believe you didn't mean to say something this ugly.
- otabdeveloper4 7y ago
  Gasp! Thoughtcrime alert! Call the police!
  - benblu 7y ago
    Would you prefer if he just called him a jerk? Telling someone that they're being mean or inconsiderate is not the same thing as censoring them.
    - otabdeveloper4 7y ago
      > Would you prefer if he just called him a jerk? Indeed I would. > Telling someone that they're being mean or inconsiderate is not the same thing as censoring them. Unless this 'telling' is a dogwhistle for the thought police to take action. My parent comment was already flagged. One more dogwhistle and I'll be banned.
- RestlessMind 7y ago
  Sure, I will engage. I believe there is a minority of population for whom diversity is really important. Based on my first hand experience, I am seeing that most of the people are simply apathetic to it, even within senior management. This manifests externally (eg. lack of serious diversity enhancing proposals, movement of diversity stats over the last four years, keeping low wage workers as contractors instead of full-time employees etc). Depending on how senior you are, you can also see this internally where diversity is given mere lip service (similar to other issues like technical debt or accessibility), but no real sticks and carrots are used (eg. making diversity efforts a part of performance reviews). If you wonder whether your company leadership is serious about diversity, check if it matches its actions with its words. Mine doesn't!

atdt 7y ago

Could you please explain what you mean when you say diversity is a fad du jour? I'd like to believe you didn't mean to say something this ugly.

otabdeveloper4 7y ago
Gasp! Thoughtcrime alert! Call the police!
- benblu 7y ago
  Would you prefer if he just called him a jerk? Telling someone that they're being mean or inconsiderate is not the same thing as censoring them.
  - otabdeveloper4 7y ago
    > Would you prefer if he just called him a jerk? Indeed I would. > Telling someone that they're being mean or inconsiderate is not the same thing as censoring them. Unless this 'telling' is a dogwhistle for the thought police to take action. My parent comment was already flagged. One more dogwhistle and I'll be banned.
RestlessMind 7y ago
Sure, I will engage. I believe there is a minority of population for whom diversity is really important. Based on my first hand experience, I am seeing that most of the people are simply apathetic to it, even within senior management. This manifests externally (eg. lack of serious diversity enhancing proposals, movement of diversity stats over the last four years, keeping low wage workers as contractors instead of full-time employees etc). Depending on how senior you are, you can also see this internally where diversity is given mere lip service (similar to other issues like technical debt or accessibility), but no real sticks and carrots are used (eg. making diversity efforts a part of performance reviews). If you wonder whether your company leadership is serious about diversity, check if it matches its actions with its words. Mine doesn't!