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Shopify CEO Email to Managers: We Are Not a Family
- ajmadesc 5y agoPaywall
- coolspot 5y agoFull article: https://outline.com/HwjtG8 https://outline.com/HwjtG8 Full email (too long to quote directly): https://pastebin.com/7hd0XKcZ https://pastebin.com/7hd0XKcZ
- mnouquet 5y agoOorah! Finally an honest CEO!
- unixhero 5y agoSetting the diversity channel to read only. That's a badass move.
- funcDropShadow 5y agoWhy?
- unixhero 5y agoIt was a badass move because the CEO was asserting his power and right to say stop. That channel probably spiralled out of control and spawned social justice warriors and all kinds of "identity based" discussions which completely derail everything. A company does not necessarily have the capability to make everyone politically happy, and to not have feelings hurt or to keep people unoffended. It is a company with a value chain. I mean that a company discussion board is not the right arena. You don't want it to turn into a 4chan cesspool. Having a CEO to say enough and use his role to park the whole discussion and reframe. This is my view and not an absolute truth.
- approxim8ion 5y agoWell, at least he's not pretending I suppose. I don't really care for the slimy HR rhetoric most companies employ. The way you make employees feel valued has to be through pay and perks and actual good management, not through empty platitudes.
- tibbydudeza 5y agoIf you are just flipping burgers for a living then that "you just work here" attitude will work. That fuck your feelings attitude and money/share options will only go so far for some people that has lots of options in the marketplace. Just ask Basecamp management how that worked out for them.
- break_the_bank 5y agoIt seems to have worked for coinbase! People at basecamp didn’t have any equity / incentive to stay long term. I don’t think DHH/Fried handled it well either.
- clarge1120 5y agoWe don't yet know how the Basecamp situation worked out for management. Have they backtracked on their decision? I haven't seen anything yet. We'll see in about 12 months if Basecamp loses a ton of customers because the quality of their products and services suffered too severely. And that's assuming quality will suffer at all.
- tibbydudeza 5y agoJason and David are just full it - they not special - all those books and podcasts and they caused a third of their employees to quit in ONE meeting. Maybe they can write a new book - how to downsize the 37 Signals way.
- devoutsalsa 5y agoWhen I ran my company, I tried to make the attitude be about doing our best to focus on career development for our people. I did my best to communicate to employees that the best I could do for them while they worked for me was to pay them as much as I could, which certainly not the best they could get elsewhere, and to help prepare them for their next position so that they weren’t completely screwed if things didn’t work out at the company for any reason. To me, the most honest things one can do is make making money the nicest possible experience. We all go to work to make money, and pretending we’re at work for any other reason is dishonest.
- scoutt 5y ago> internal debate had erupted over the discovery of a noose emoji I think I wouldn't survive 5 minutes in (big) corporate world. Perhaps it's because I'm entering the forties, but I imagine the amount of straight-face, holding-my-thoughts and tiptoeing required in order to not getting fired would wear me out in an instant.
- rejectedandsad 5y agoIt sounds like this shouldn’t be up for debate, having a noose as part of the default reaction set is a little inappropriate
- axiosgunnar 5y agoThis is absolutely up for debate and I refuse to allow somebody to dictate me what kind of sarcasm I am allowed to use in private conversations with close work buddies.
- addicted 5y agoAnd no one is dictating what sarcasm you employ in private conversations. Whereas companies have always restricted what sort of language you use within company property. For example, until very recently, just using emojis could have been a firing offense.
- lmilcin 5y ago> For example, until very recently, just using emojis could have been a firing offense. Worked for two dozen companies over past two decades, never heard of it. I mean, watching porn in the office was firing offense but I have seen people getting away with just a reprimand.
- toomuchtodo 5y agoI recommend a private Slack team (or similar, a Signal group works too) for out of band communications with colleagues you trust. Keep corporate communications to only what’s necessary to get work done.
- drewbug01 5y ago> In the wake of the internal debates, Lütke changed the settings on Shopify's diversity-focused Slack channel, called #belonging, to be read-only, further upsetting some employees who told Insider they felt silenced. I am continually surprised that “let’s shut down difficult conversations” seems to be the default reaction here. As if that makes the conversations go away, or solves the problem. All it does is remind marginalized people that you don’t really care about them. It’s a very “shut up and work, peon” kind of move. I think it highlights exactly what the C-level thinks of their workers: they aren’t worthy of engaging with as full people; just cogs in the machine. I think in exchange for giving an employer the best hours of my day and the best years of my life, I deserve to be more than just a cog in the machine.
- TheMightyLlama 5y agoAnd playing devils advocate you didn’t give them your time you traded it. And that trade came with conditions. No?
- drewbug01 5y agoI’m saying the conditions are a little lopsided, and moves like this make it worse.
- throwaway00127 5y agoDevil's advocate here: >I am continually surprised that “let’s shut down difficult conversations” seems to be the default reaction here. As if that makes the conversations go away, or solves the problem. Isn't that exactly what leftist activist have been calling for though? "Shut down toxic, 'hatespeech'/'difficultspeech' infested subreddits/forums, it makes the problems go away!" Then they link studies that show it does remove "hatespeech" from these places. You can't have your cake and eat it >All it does is remind marginalized people that you don’t really care about them. Conservatives are one of the largest marginalized people in SV/West coast. Is it OK for conservative activist employees to spam Slack all day about how gun control is anti-woman because it removes their right to self-defence? Women are a marginalized people, they need to have the same access to self-defence that they get in other conservative states. Is shutting down this speech anti-women? Do you not care about women because you won't allow this? >It’s a very “shut up and work, peon” kind of move. I think it highlights exactly what the C-level thinks of their workers: they aren’t worthy of engaging with as full people; just cogs in the machine. I'd say the sooner workers understand this, the better it is for everyone. This is reality, anything else is just fantasy land. You're replaceable, and if the company could save a dollar a quarter by laying you off, they would. >I think in exchange for giving an employer the best hours of my day and the best years of my life, I deserve to be more than just a cog in the machine. Negotiate that in your contract at your next job. Else, you're only going to get what you and your employer agreed to. I played the Devil's advocate here but I think most here will understand what I'm getting at. Everyone has a different idea/reality on what the "status quo" is, what "workplace activism" is, etc. Due to this, it's extremely hard to work on teams when everyone is demonizing everyone else. The greater US culture has devolved to this, and it's starting to reflect in the workplace.