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Earnings calls are post mortems for the performance of the previous quarter. A post mortem itself is just an analysis, it doesn't even have to be about a screw

by lhorie 4y ago

Earnings calls are post mortems for the performance of the previous quarter. A post mortem itself is just an analysis, it doesn't even have to be about a screw up. Screw ups are something else. When you think about cases like WeWork or Theranos, then I think we get into more familiar territory: gross negligence is a widely acceptable reason for firing, no matter if you're the CEO, Joe developer or a janitor. An operational mistake by a SWE might be something like picking the wrong technology, and for a CEO, an operational mistake might be something like a bad acquisition. Just as a technology is a tool for the dev, an acquisition is a tool for the CEO. Both of these are examples of getting bad outcomes from their tool usage decisions, but they're still categorically operational mistakes, as opposed to gross misconduct. So my two cents is that if one wants to argue that operational mistakes categorically warrant firing personnel, then yeah, I think I'm gonna have a problem with that line of thinking.

bradleyjg 4y ago
Earnings calls are post mortems for the performance of the previous quarter. A post mortem itself is just an analysis, it doesn't even have to be about a screw up. This is bullshit. An earnings call is nothing like an engineering post mortem for an outage. There’s zero introspection or root causing. It’s typical Silicon Valley style hypocrisy, where founders and CEOs claim there’s a certain company culture but never walk the walk themselves. Give me a NY bank any day. At least they aren’t constantly blowing smoke up employees’ asses. Everyone knows the score.
- lhorie 4y ago
  > There’s zero introspection or root causing You mean unlike the Experian breach post mortem, or the numerous "everything is green" Slack outages? IMHO, Costco talking about container costs is introspection. I'll grant that taking analogies too literally does indeed lead one to conclude the other party's arguments are bullshit, but I think that's just a matter of perspective and unwillingness to engage in good faith discussions.

by lhorie 4y ago

bradleyjg 4y ago

Earnings calls are post mortems for the performance of the previous quarter. A post mortem itself is just an analysis, it doesn't even have to be about a screw up. This is bullshit. An earnings call is nothing like an engineering post mortem for an outage. There’s zero introspection or root causing. It’s typical Silicon Valley style hypocrisy, where founders and CEOs claim there’s a certain company culture but never walk the walk themselves. Give me a NY bank any day. At least they aren’t constantly blowing smoke up employees’ asses. Everyone knows the score.

lhorie 4y ago
> There’s zero introspection or root causing You mean unlike the Experian breach post mortem, or the numerous "everything is green" Slack outages? IMHO, Costco talking about container costs is introspection. I'll grant that taking analogies too literally does indeed lead one to conclude the other party's arguments are bullshit, but I think that's just a matter of perspective and unwillingness to engage in good faith discussions.