3 ms·

Where are the nice bosses of top tech companies? Maybe that's how you build a big tech company.

Goronmon 4y ago
I think there is a middle area between being a "nice boss" and being a boss who calls out internal engineering implementation concerns (rightly or not) on Twitter. And then fire people who disagree in a response.
- whatwherewhy 4y ago
  Well, Gates is an asshole, Jobs was an asshole - where's the middleground? Maybe niceness leads to [business] mediocrity.
  - lake_vincent 4y ago
    Just because the Great Pyramids were built with slavery doesn't mean that slavery is okay, or that there is not a better way to build a pyramid.
    - bckr 4y ago
      The pyramids were not built with slavery
      - jjtheblunt 4y ago
        how were they built?
        nvr219 4y ago
        Aliens.
        artificial 4y ago
        By teams of people stacking enormous stones on top of one another. Fun fact, there's inscriptions by the teams.
        bckr 4y ago
        "... labourers were recruited from farms, perhaps from a region much further down the Nile, near Luxor. The labourers would have been enticed by the mix of high-quality food and the opportunity to work on such a prestigious project." https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/were-the-egyptian-pyramids-built-by-slaves/ https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/were-the-egyptian-pyram...
    - whatwherewhy 4y ago
      Don't be absurd, we are not talking about anything comparable to slavery. I am asking - show me the person who found the better way.
    - q-big 4y ago
      > Just because the Great Pyramids were built with slavery They weren't build by aliens with alien technology? ;-) SCNR because we are talking about Elon Musk with his space obsession.
  - eesmith 4y ago
    Hewlett and Packard were relatively low on the asshole scale, at least for their employees. [1] Early support for company health insurance, flextime, work-from-home, free coffee breaks, decentralized decision making, etc. See the HP Memory Project at https://www.hpmemoryproject.org https://www.hpmemoryproject.org for some of the stories. ("Jim Catlin's Packard Story" and Packard's 11 rules, "Bill Hewlett and the HP Medical Plan" for their anonymous payment for medical bills for an employee's premature baby, etc.) The padlock story at https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/john_minck/inside_hp_03.htm https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/john_minck/inside_h... is also pretty well-known, and used as an example of promoting institutional trust. Packard's support for apartheid profits keeps him definitely on the scale. [1] Probably better if you were a white male not as subject to the "mixture of machismo and misogyny" of early HP - https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/barbara_waugh/barbara_waugh_memoir.htm https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/barbara_waugh/barba... .
gavindean90 4y ago
I don’t think it’s nice or not thing but more a management strategy thing. Hard-driving can be great at extracting value from an organization but it isn’t as effective at exploring potential as other management styles.
kevinventullo 4y ago
Were Larry and Sergey not considered nice?

I think there is a middle area between being a "nice boss" and being a boss who calls out internal engineering implementation concerns (rightly or not) on Twitter. And then fire people who disagree in a response.

whatwherewhy 4y ago
Well, Gates is an asshole, Jobs was an asshole - where's the middleground? Maybe niceness leads to [business] mediocrity.
- lake_vincent 4y ago
  Just because the Great Pyramids were built with slavery doesn't mean that slavery is okay, or that there is not a better way to build a pyramid.
  - bckr 4y ago
    The pyramids were not built with slavery
    - jjtheblunt 4y ago
      how were they built?
      - nvr219 4y ago
        Aliens.
      - artificial 4y ago
        By teams of people stacking enormous stones on top of one another. Fun fact, there's inscriptions by the teams.
      - bckr 4y ago
        "... labourers were recruited from farms, perhaps from a region much further down the Nile, near Luxor. The labourers would have been enticed by the mix of high-quality food and the opportunity to work on such a prestigious project." https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/were-the-egyptian-pyramids-built-by-slaves/ https://www.sciencefocus.com/science/were-the-egyptian-pyram...
  - whatwherewhy 4y ago
    Don't be absurd, we are not talking about anything comparable to slavery. I am asking - show me the person who found the better way.
  - q-big 4y ago
    > Just because the Great Pyramids were built with slavery They weren't build by aliens with alien technology? ;-) SCNR because we are talking about Elon Musk with his space obsession.
- eesmith 4y ago
  Hewlett and Packard were relatively low on the asshole scale, at least for their employees. [1] Early support for company health insurance, flextime, work-from-home, free coffee breaks, decentralized decision making, etc. See the HP Memory Project at https://www.hpmemoryproject.org https://www.hpmemoryproject.org for some of the stories. ("Jim Catlin's Packard Story" and Packard's 11 rules, "Bill Hewlett and the HP Medical Plan" for their anonymous payment for medical bills for an employee's premature baby, etc.) The padlock story at https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/john_minck/inside_hp_03.htm https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/john_minck/inside_h... is also pretty well-known, and used as an example of promoting institutional trust. Packard's support for apartheid profits keeps him definitely on the scale. [1] Probably better if you were a white male not as subject to the "mixture of machismo and misogyny" of early HP - https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/barbara_waugh/barbara_waugh_memoir.htm https://www.hpmemoryproject.org/timeline/barbara_waugh/barba... .

gavindean90 4y ago

I don’t think it’s nice or not thing but more a management strategy thing. Hard-driving can be great at extracting value from an organization but it isn’t as effective at exploring potential as other management styles.

kevinventullo 4y ago

Were Larry and Sergey not considered nice?