3 ms·

Well, the article spells out that it wasn't really about the sodas: > The engineers focused on building product never noticed when the company had grown into s

by the_af 4y ago

Well, the article spells out that it wasn't really about the sodas: > The engineers focused on building product never noticed when the company had grown into something different than what they first joined. > The sodas were just the wake-up call.

hinkley 4y ago
There is a large cage here. The weathering suggests that it may have been here for a long time. There is a large sign next to the cage. There is a stick on the ground. > read sign The sign says, DO NOT POKE THE BEAR > get stick You pick up the stick. > poke bear with stick Despite your better judgement, you poke the bear with the stick. The bear rouses from its sleep. > poke bear with stick With a terrible roar, the bear turns on you. Reaching through the bars, it tears your arm off. There is an arm laying here, holding a stick.
- Fnoord 4y ago
  Although Luke did not lose his arm in wampa cave on Hoth (he lost it at Cloud City) he could've gotten a new one at the Redemption which was stationed at Hoth at that time. Ontopic: I wouldn't give a shit about soda or free soda, but coffee and tea is always free here for employees in my country (quality may differ!). I simply would not work for a company which wouldn't feat this. So the social norm defines it and keeps its own behavior status quo. That's also a reason why its difficult to get rid of smoking/smokers tobacco in society
- the_af 4y ago
  I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here (who is the bear, the employees or the company?) but anything related to text adventures / interactive fiction has my immediate upvote!
a4isms 4y ago
Having been through this transition multiple times, I agree that it’s not about the sodas or the CFO. Why do you think they hire CFOs? To do things like this. To impose cost discipline. To be the person everyone is mad at instead of wondering why the company hired a CFO in the first place. Same with “HR types ruining the culture” and “middle managers running amok.” Those people all get hired to transform the company, because leadership has decided some thing very fundamental: What got us here, won’t get us there. PG once wrote that startups should frame their reason for existence as “trying to answer a question.” Famous questions of the past: Will microcomputers sell? Will people pay a premium for bit-mapped graphics and a mouse? Can advertising sustain a search engine? Will the world use a social media web site built for college students? But at some point, you know the answer is “yes,” you know that a sustainable business is possible, and you are no longer a startup. The difference between “answering a question” and “running a sustainable business”is vast. Maybe killing free soda is not the best way to start the transition, but one way or another, all the people who want to explore the unknown, test their visions, and answer questions are going to leave, to be replaced by people who enjoy playing the world’s most cut-throat, high-stakes engine game, business. If you truly enjoy what a startup is and how it works, you need to pack your parachute long before the free sodas go away. You need to pack your parachute when everyone realizes that you are no longer wondering if your company can become a real business, the only questions are how, when, and who. On the other hand, maybe you want to build a real business once you know it can be done. Gates did. Jobs did. Long before them, Ken Olsen did at DEC. If so, accept that the sodas will eventually go and the controls will be imposed.
- the_af 4y ago
  I don't disagree. I wonder if it's possible to work at a stable company (not a startup) that doesn't treat its employees as an annoyance to be constrained and mistreated.
  - causi 4y ago
    Sure, but it's a "pick two" problem. Culture, Growth, Profit. Startups bleed money to create a culture (entitlements, informal benefits, etc) that attracts talent and generates very high growth percentages. When a company gets big enough it can either give up the culture in order to turn a profit while growing or give up the high growth rate to maintain its soul. The latter become those stable, durable companies that'll last a hundred years but never make pop investors jizz their pants. The former have the chance to become mega-corporations. There is of course the third category like Google whose solution was to stratify into a caste system where your core employees maintain some of that original culture while most of your employees are contractors you treat like shit.
    - a4isms 4y ago
      My 2c is that these transitions aren't about giving up culture, they're about changing to a different culture. There are companies that make a lot of money and grow both organically and via acquisitions where people have a well-defined culture that attracts top talent... But it's a different kind of talent, it's the talent that enjoys building a lean, mean, money-making machine. Historically, ITT was one of those companies during the Age of Conglomerates. Later on, IBM and Xerox come to mind. I recall that during the 80s and 90s having worked in management or sales for Xerox was a golden ticket to almost any job you wanted. Same with working in finance for GE. What about working in management at Disney today? What about working in leadership with Apple or Amazon today? These are very well run companies with a strong management culture, growth, and profits. And investors love them.
      - causi 4y ago
        My 2c is that these transitions aren't about giving up culture, they're about changing to a different culture. That's a distinction without a difference. it's the talent that enjoys building a lean, mean, money-making machine. Precisely. You start a company as a problem-solving customer-pleasing machine and it becomes a money-making customer-exploiting machine. The ideal world for the MBA is one in which your customers hate you just not enough to stop paying you.

by the_af 4y ago

hinkley 4y ago

There is a large cage here. The weathering suggests that it may have been here for a long time. There is a large sign next to the cage. There is a stick on the ground. > read sign The sign says, DO NOT POKE THE BEAR > get stick You pick up the stick. > poke bear with stick Despite your better judgement, you poke the bear with the stick. The bear rouses from its sleep. > poke bear with stick With a terrible roar, the bear turns on you. Reaching through the bars, it tears your arm off. There is an arm laying here, holding a stick.

Fnoord 4y ago
Although Luke did not lose his arm in wampa cave on Hoth (he lost it at Cloud City) he could've gotten a new one at the Redemption which was stationed at Hoth at that time. Ontopic: I wouldn't give a shit about soda or free soda, but coffee and tea is always free here for employees in my country (quality may differ!). I simply would not work for a company which wouldn't feat this. So the social norm defines it and keeps its own behavior status quo. That's also a reason why its difficult to get rid of smoking/smokers tobacco in society
the_af 4y ago
I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here (who is the bear, the employees or the company?) but anything related to text adventures / interactive fiction has my immediate upvote!

a4isms 4y ago

Having been through this transition multiple times, I agree that it’s not about the sodas or the CFO. Why do you think they hire CFOs? To do things like this. To impose cost discipline. To be the person everyone is mad at instead of wondering why the company hired a CFO in the first place. Same with “HR types ruining the culture” and “middle managers running amok.” Those people all get hired to transform the company, because leadership has decided some thing very fundamental: What got us here, won’t get us there. PG once wrote that startups should frame their reason for existence as “trying to answer a question.” Famous questions of the past: Will microcomputers sell? Will people pay a premium for bit-mapped graphics and a mouse? Can advertising sustain a search engine? Will the world use a social media web site built for college students? But at some point, you know the answer is “yes,” you know that a sustainable business is possible, and you are no longer a startup. The difference between “answering a question” and “running a sustainable business”is vast. Maybe killing free soda is not the best way to start the transition, but one way or another, all the people who want to explore the unknown, test their visions, and answer questions are going to leave, to be replaced by people who enjoy playing the world’s most cut-throat, high-stakes engine game, business. If you truly enjoy what a startup is and how it works, you need to pack your parachute long before the free sodas go away. You need to pack your parachute when everyone realizes that you are no longer wondering if your company can become a real business, the only questions are how, when, and who. On the other hand, maybe you want to build a real business once you know it can be done. Gates did. Jobs did. Long before them, Ken Olsen did at DEC. If so, accept that the sodas will eventually go and the controls will be imposed.

the_af 4y ago
I don't disagree. I wonder if it's possible to work at a stable company (not a startup) that doesn't treat its employees as an annoyance to be constrained and mistreated.
- causi 4y ago
  Sure, but it's a "pick two" problem. Culture, Growth, Profit. Startups bleed money to create a culture (entitlements, informal benefits, etc) that attracts talent and generates very high growth percentages. When a company gets big enough it can either give up the culture in order to turn a profit while growing or give up the high growth rate to maintain its soul. The latter become those stable, durable companies that'll last a hundred years but never make pop investors jizz their pants. The former have the chance to become mega-corporations. There is of course the third category like Google whose solution was to stratify into a caste system where your core employees maintain some of that original culture while most of your employees are contractors you treat like shit.
  - a4isms 4y ago
    My 2c is that these transitions aren't about giving up culture, they're about changing to a different culture. There are companies that make a lot of money and grow both organically and via acquisitions where people have a well-defined culture that attracts top talent... But it's a different kind of talent, it's the talent that enjoys building a lean, mean, money-making machine. Historically, ITT was one of those companies during the Age of Conglomerates. Later on, IBM and Xerox come to mind. I recall that during the 80s and 90s having worked in management or sales for Xerox was a golden ticket to almost any job you wanted. Same with working in finance for GE. What about working in management at Disney today? What about working in leadership with Apple or Amazon today? These are very well run companies with a strong management culture, growth, and profits. And investors love them.
    - causi 4y ago
      My 2c is that these transitions aren't about giving up culture, they're about changing to a different culture. That's a distinction without a difference. it's the talent that enjoys building a lean, mean, money-making machine. Precisely. You start a company as a problem-solving customer-pleasing machine and it becomes a money-making customer-exploiting machine. The ideal world for the MBA is one in which your customers hate you just not enough to stop paying you.