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> Do you think people in charge of hiring, particularly outside of the SV bubble, are going to be eager to pick someone up who left their last job because they
by GVIrish 5y ago
> Do you think people in charge of hiring, particularly outside of the SV bubble, are going to be eager to pick someone up who left their last job because they couldn't agree to stop bitching about politics on the company dime?
I think that's a big mischaracterization of what happened.
For one, it seems a lot of the issue was about the 'funny names list' and heated debate around that. It wasn't people going to war over liberals vs conservatives. It seems DHH took particular umbrage at someone brining the Anti Defamation League's Pyramid of Hate into the conversation.
Secondly, Basecamp had allowed the creation of a Diversity and Inclusion committee with at least a dozen employees joining. DHH and Fried decided to unilaterally dissolve it. If you're going to give employees your blessing for a D&I group then just axe it with no discussion or warning, some people will be put off.
Then there's the fact that employees found out about this group of changes via blog post. That betrays a lack of empathy/care for employees when implementing a set of big changes.
Lastly, saying 'no politics or societal issues' because you, as the owners of the company felt uncomfortable, is a recipe for ruining the culture of a company like Basecamp. For some employees, they can't get away from politics and societal issues because it affects them every day and their very existence has been politicized. More savvy leaders could've established a better climate of respect and politeness around any 'political' discussion rather than a heavy handed and clumsy edict.
This wasn't about a bunch of people endlessly bickering about politics at work, it's about company owners who took a manageable issue and turned it into a public crisis. Companies several orders of magnitude larger manage to accommodate employees having political conversations without making messes like this.
- rayiner 5y ago> For some employees, they can't get away from politics and societal issues because it affects them every day and their very existence has been politicized. What a lame excuse for politicizing everything.
- pell 5y agoIt might sound like a "lazy excuse" for someone who hasn't been in their shoes. As lazy as commenting one's gut reaction even. It might be worthwhile to actually give this one some thought, maybe read up on it, talk to people. The non-lazy response basically.
- LunaSea 5y agoNot really, responsible adults manage to get a grip over their emotions while at work.
- lelanthran 5y ago> It might sound like a "lazy excuse" for someone who hasn't been in their shoes. I'm in those shoes. I still won't interview anyone who left their previous company over an inability to keep their religious/political beliefs away from work. It's a double whammy if the person in question left because they couldn't proselytise to their co-workers.
- katbyte 5y agoWhat if they left because it’s clear the company has a leadership/hr problem? Or the 6 months pay? Ect How will you be able to tell why they left without interviewing them?
- lelanthran 5y agoWell, if I'm unable to tell why they left then they clearly aren't preaching their personal beliefs to the world, are they?
- katbyte 5y agohah good point
- rayiner 5y agoNobody’s “existence” has been politicized in the 30 years I’ve been in America.[1] I remember during 2015-2016 my friends were freaking out asking if I was worried if Trump would be sending people from Muslim countries (like me) to internment camps. I thought they were being completely absurd. I guess it wasn’t just me: a third of Muslims voted for Trump in 2020. People don’t do that when their “very existence has been politicized.” Government policies may be unfair, unconstitutional, or discriminatory to different groups of people. But that’s not politicizing people’s “very existence.” That sort of rhetoric is just a way to dial up the temperature of political debates by equating any negative impacts with existential harm. People have a right to freely debate things like who the government will let into the country, what benefits it will provide to whom, etc. [1] Except unborn children, whose very existence has literally been politicized.
- protomyth 5y agoI think that's a big mischaracterization of what happened. But is it the characterization that other company HR teams / managers will believe?