4 ms·

Sorry, what’s bad about that?

afarrell 5y ago
If you start from the assumption that it is meaningless and insincere, then it is eye-rollingly vapid. If you start from the assumption that it is a genuine attempt to put messy feelings into concise words, then it is a bit lacks vividness but is nonetheless heartfelt. When you choose not to trust someone, you make them untrustworthy.
- fishtacos 5y ago
  Is that why we make judgement calls on this case? No one can know the intent or original thoughts of the author, but we can certainly ascribe qualities to their product based on our experience... The fun exercise here is not that this is yet another vapid post on HN, but that people are defending it.
  - adventured 5y ago
    > The fun exercise here is not that this is yet another vapid post on HN, but that people are defending it. It's quite plausible that the simple truth of the matter is that some people commenting here, defending the post, may feel that HN shouldn't be so very frequently cynical, negative, mean, quick to jump to assuming the worst about intentions, and so on. The Guidelines - for good reason - even go out of the way to try to drive users away from behaving that way.
    - afarrell 5y ago
      Thats my motive. Why? Because “If people would assume the worst about someone as competent at communication as $leader, then how much more likely are they to mistrust me when I try to communicate sincerely?” is the story I tell myself. Spending time in low-trust environments does bad things to the psyche.
fishtacos 5y ago
Reading up higher will inform you of context, but to reiterate: OP: "Look the guy probably had some success and met some great people. So why in the hell can't you say that in your own words?" My comment: "Not even Clark Kent could be this braggadocios." There are better way of expressing one's (dis)satisfaction in the workplace. Starting with, perhaps, whittling down one's pride in accomplishing what tens of thousands already have...
- renewiltord 5y ago
  When a leader lists each of these accomplishments, it’s less “See what I did” and more “To the team that did this: I see you, I recognize your contribution”. I think all these comments are incredibly childish. It’s a nice goodbye letter from their well known and visible leader.
  - fishtacos 5y ago
    Then we probably agree to disagree on this point. A braggadocios "goodbye letter" is worse than no letter at all. The corporate speak regurgitation is icing on the cake.
- nine_k 5y ago
  He cannot say it in his own words because it's a ritual. All formulae here are ritualistic, following a corporate protocol for such speeches. The speaker's agency is,limited to choosing which formulae to choose, and filling in the predefined slots in them. The point of the ritual is to signal the world that all goes as planned, while giving away as few salient details as possible.
  - fishtacos 5y ago
    "The speaker's agency is,limited to choosing which formulae to choose, and filling in the predefined slots in them." Sometimes it's better to say nothing at all than be thought a fool.
    - 5y ago

If you start from the assumption that it is meaningless and insincere, then it is eye-rollingly vapid. If you start from the assumption that it is a genuine attempt to put messy feelings into concise words, then it is a bit lacks vividness but is nonetheless heartfelt. When you choose not to trust someone, you make them untrustworthy.

fishtacos 5y ago
Is that why we make judgement calls on this case? No one can know the intent or original thoughts of the author, but we can certainly ascribe qualities to their product based on our experience... The fun exercise here is not that this is yet another vapid post on HN, but that people are defending it.
- adventured 5y ago
  > The fun exercise here is not that this is yet another vapid post on HN, but that people are defending it. It's quite plausible that the simple truth of the matter is that some people commenting here, defending the post, may feel that HN shouldn't be so very frequently cynical, negative, mean, quick to jump to assuming the worst about intentions, and so on. The Guidelines - for good reason - even go out of the way to try to drive users away from behaving that way.
  - afarrell 5y ago
    Thats my motive. Why? Because “If people would assume the worst about someone as competent at communication as $leader, then how much more likely are they to mistrust me when I try to communicate sincerely?” is the story I tell myself. Spending time in low-trust environments does bad things to the psyche.

fishtacos 5y ago

Reading up higher will inform you of context, but to reiterate: OP: "Look the guy probably had some success and met some great people. So why in the hell can't you say that in your own words?" My comment: "Not even Clark Kent could be this braggadocios." There are better way of expressing one's (dis)satisfaction in the workplace. Starting with, perhaps, whittling down one's pride in accomplishing what tens of thousands already have...

renewiltord 5y ago
When a leader lists each of these accomplishments, it’s less “See what I did” and more “To the team that did this: I see you, I recognize your contribution”. I think all these comments are incredibly childish. It’s a nice goodbye letter from their well known and visible leader.
- fishtacos 5y ago
  Then we probably agree to disagree on this point. A braggadocios "goodbye letter" is worse than no letter at all. The corporate speak regurgitation is icing on the cake.
nine_k 5y ago
He cannot say it in his own words because it's a ritual. All formulae here are ritualistic, following a corporate protocol for such speeches. The speaker's agency is,limited to choosing which formulae to choose, and filling in the predefined slots in them. The point of the ritual is to signal the world that all goes as planned, while giving away as few salient details as possible.
- fishtacos 5y ago
  "The speaker's agency is,limited to choosing which formulae to choose, and filling in the predefined slots in them." Sometimes it's better to say nothing at all than be thought a fool.
  - 5y ago