2 ms·

At the micro level, I have seen many teams pull everyone in to the same physical location when faced with a sprint or deadline. It doesn't strike me as inherent

by doktrin 14y ago

At the micro level, I have seen many teams pull everyone in to the same physical location when faced with a sprint or deadline. It doesn't strike me as inherently illogical, and is a strategy that IME has yielded results. What yahoo and BB are doing is essentially this, but at scale. They are both companies under significant duress and pressure and are attempting to rally the troops. While it remains to be seen whether these drastic moves will help, they most likely will not hurt.

georgemcbay 14y ago
I have no opinion one way or another about either Yahoo or Best Buy, but in my experience (when I've seen these sorts of things go down in person at previous companies) once a company starts down the path of emergency policy changes to right the ship, the death spiral is more or less irreversible. The top employees are already either out the door or actively looking for their next gig, and in a couple of months the ranks will be down to primarily people who can't easily find more stable jobs elsewhere. This is in large part the fault of the corporations themselves who over the past 20 odd years have mostly destroyed the idea of company<->employee long-term loyalty, particularly when it comes to companies larger than a couple of hundred people.
- skore 14y ago
  I find it particularly interesting that Mayer goes to Yahoo from Google and straight away implements things that would surely make Google look like the better place to work at. At least for me (and I guess the HN audience type of people in general, judging from the comments on this topic so far). It's like a Trojan Horse that you can sell with a straight face as being tough on failure and driven for success and all that. Probably good for marketing and the chairholders to feel smug, will probably boost stocks... company will likely still fail.

by doktrin 14y ago

georgemcbay 14y ago

I have no opinion one way or another about either Yahoo or Best Buy, but in my experience (when I've seen these sorts of things go down in person at previous companies) once a company starts down the path of emergency policy changes to right the ship, the death spiral is more or less irreversible. The top employees are already either out the door or actively looking for their next gig, and in a couple of months the ranks will be down to primarily people who can't easily find more stable jobs elsewhere. This is in large part the fault of the corporations themselves who over the past 20 odd years have mostly destroyed the idea of company<->employee long-term loyalty, particularly when it comes to companies larger than a couple of hundred people.

skore 14y ago
I find it particularly interesting that Mayer goes to Yahoo from Google and straight away implements things that would surely make Google look like the better place to work at. At least for me (and I guess the HN audience type of people in general, judging from the comments on this topic so far). It's like a Trojan Horse that you can sell with a straight face as being tough on failure and driven for success and all that. Probably good for marketing and the chairholders to feel smug, will probably boost stocks... company will likely still fail.