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I could see this working out badly. I think Coinbase will now attract/retain fewer conscientious employees. The kind of employees who definitely won't leave ar

I could see this working out badly. I think Coinbase will now attract/retain fewer conscientious employees. The kind of employees who definitely won't leave are the ones with careerist/mercenary personality types. If that becomes a vicious cycle ( per the 'like attracts like' thing https://youtu.be/wTgQ2PBiz-g?t=75 https://youtu.be/wTgQ2PBiz-g?t=75 ), the culture could lead to wide-spread ass-covering and fraud. Then again, this isn't an area in which I have some particular expertise. Maybe it will work out perfectly.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago
I'm also interested to see how it works out. Another possibility that occurs to me is that some employees are very conscientious, but have value systems that are looked down upon in mainstream Silicon Valley culture. I could imagine such employees being more willing to stay with Coinbase when that potential source of strife is removed.
modeless 6y ago
I think the opposite. The employees who stay are the kind who agree with the mission and want to focus on it. The kind who leave were focused on something other than advancing the company's goals. The company will be more effective at achieving its goals with a workforce that is all pointed in the same direction with less distraction. And the CEO mentioned that the people who left were not disproportionately underrepresented, so they are not losing diversity, just increasing focus.
- uniqueid 6y ago
  My thinking is that it takes a certain personality type to whistle-blow, or push back against SOP for moralistic (or customer-focused) reasons. I don't want to overplay my hand here — I don't know for certain — but Coinbase's current messaging strikes me as off-putting to that sort of personality type.
- mtalantikite 6y ago
  “The kind who leave were focused on something other than advancing the company's goals.” I’m not sure that’s what happened here. This was started because employees were upset that the company wasn’t taking a stance to support the Black Lives Matter movement. If my employer decided to be apolitical around something as basic as saying racism is a thing and Black people shouldn’t be killed by the police I’d certainly leave too.
MattGaiser 6y ago
6 months of severance when you can probably get a job in a few weeks is not something a careerist would take?
- uniqueid 6y ago
  Ha, good point! Maybe the balance of those who have already quit is the inverse of what I assumed. To my point, though, I'm envisioning a longer-term culture-shift.
jariel 6y ago
Don't think that people tho don't want to bring their politics to work are 'less conscientious' - this is in fact almost a form of bigotry. "Oh those people who don't want to bring politics to work just 'don't care'". Not true. Life is complicated, we have a lot of things to focus on, most people like to do work at work, not get tangled in what might be suppressive or irrelevant social webs. My bet is that 70% of people would prefer apolitical, 20% 'moderate' and only 10% activism - of course - only if it's specifically their view of activism.

DoofusOfDeath 6y ago

I'm also interested to see how it works out. Another possibility that occurs to me is that some employees are very conscientious, but have value systems that are looked down upon in mainstream Silicon Valley culture. I could imagine such employees being more willing to stay with Coinbase when that potential source of strife is removed.

modeless 6y ago

I think the opposite. The employees who stay are the kind who agree with the mission and want to focus on it. The kind who leave were focused on something other than advancing the company's goals. The company will be more effective at achieving its goals with a workforce that is all pointed in the same direction with less distraction. And the CEO mentioned that the people who left were not disproportionately underrepresented, so they are not losing diversity, just increasing focus.

uniqueid 6y ago
My thinking is that it takes a certain personality type to whistle-blow, or push back against SOP for moralistic (or customer-focused) reasons. I don't want to overplay my hand here — I don't know for certain — but Coinbase's current messaging strikes me as off-putting to that sort of personality type.
mtalantikite 6y ago
“The kind who leave were focused on something other than advancing the company's goals.” I’m not sure that’s what happened here. This was started because employees were upset that the company wasn’t taking a stance to support the Black Lives Matter movement. If my employer decided to be apolitical around something as basic as saying racism is a thing and Black people shouldn’t be killed by the police I’d certainly leave too.

MattGaiser 6y ago

6 months of severance when you can probably get a job in a few weeks is not something a careerist would take?

uniqueid 6y ago
Ha, good point! Maybe the balance of those who have already quit is the inverse of what I assumed. To my point, though, I'm envisioning a longer-term culture-shift.

jariel 6y ago

Don't think that people tho don't want to bring their politics to work are 'less conscientious' - this is in fact almost a form of bigotry. "Oh those people who don't want to bring politics to work just 'don't care'". Not true. Life is complicated, we have a lot of things to focus on, most people like to do work at work, not get tangled in what might be suppressive or irrelevant social webs. My bet is that 70% of people would prefer apolitical, 20% 'moderate' and only 10% activism - of course - only if it's specifically their view of activism.