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I've wondered for awhile about this. Having lived through the first wave of tech companies, where the idea of perks was bagel wednesday and free coffee, I find

I've wondered for awhile about this. Having lived through the first wave of tech companies, where the idea of perks was bagel wednesday and free coffee, I find myself a bit amused at the naked desire to own employees' entire lives. As I worked with more milennials I think I've stumbled across something, and Google (consciously?) tapped into it, brilliantly. The children of the baby boomers, so eager to use social networking, or live in communes in the city (see yesterday's SF Gate) are so willing to believe in this shell of an idea passed down from their parents. They are much more social and communal than us in generation X. They're often morally adrift (religious worship is declining), financially adrift (the economy), and grew up with tales of free love. They're delicately raised to have great self esteem, but often crumble in the face of adversity or criticism. They're a brittle group, it seems. So the social nature (if my friends do it, it's ok) makes them so eager to buy into this. I can't say it's a new concept. I remember showing up to work at big mega tech corp at 8 am (after a 1 hour commute) and being told "nice of you to show up today." I routinely worked 12 hours a day and we were never allowed to work from home. There it was forced on us, but how ever so much nicer to just gently slide into being a company man with free food, etc. Sort of like the Matrix. That said, daycare is an important perk, I cannot deny Google the kudos it deserves for caring for parents who work for them. More companies should do this.

pron 13y ago
You mention religion, and I think not by accident. I find Google's founders' involvement with the Burning Man festival to be a guiding principle of how they perceive work and society. Burning Man adopts many religious ideas and practices, most of all the power of religious ecstatic experiences. Max Weber tried to tie the rise of protestant christianity to the rise of capitalism. He postulated that the ascetic ideals of protestant christianity urged people to adopt hard work as a central tenant of life. I think that Burning Man helps take this idea further. It turns work from an ascetic endeavor to an ecstatic one. Burning Man is the religion that underlies Google's view of work.
- melindajb 13y ago
  this is what keeps me coming back to HN. thanks for the insights. very interesting....people always want something to believe in, whether it's god, country, exercise, companies, etc. Religion (of any kind) is one of the best sources of dopamine. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-difference-between-the-brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-...
mkr-hn 13y ago
It's always weird to read accounts of experiences with my age group that diverge wildly from my own experience. Everyone I know is hard working and completely open to criticism. Maybe you just got a bad batch in your local experience. Religious observance is near absent, but no one I know is without morals.
- melindajb 13y ago
  I don't mean immoral. I mean amoral. From grammarist: The adjective immoral means contrary to established moral principles. Immoral actions are corrupt, unethical, sinful, or just wrong. Amoral means (1) neither moral nor immoral, or (2) lacking moral sensibility. So while immoral and amoral might share a little common ground, there is a clear distinction: immoral things are bad, and amoral things are either neutral from a moral perspective or simply removed from moral considerations.
  - mkr-hn 13y ago
    Are you talking about religious morals or humanist morals? No one I know lacks moral sensibility. Some of them even derive their set from religion. I had a look at my own OED, and it agrees with your definition. It's still not an accurate depiction of the morals of anyone I know.
    - melindajb 13y ago
      Lucky you! (and I mean it). I more think about it this way--and hey, if I chose the wrong word, do correct me. When we are changing the world with our technology we don't really stop to think about all the people who will be put out of work by it. We don't as a community really care much about the impact of our companies on our communities (giving to local arts organizations and volunteer efforts in SF are not rising concurrently with population or wealth). To be fair, this thinking isn't limited to milennials, it's just that as children they were more likely to have been raised without the early foundation of morals which are usually taught by religion. I do not in any way mean to imply religion is necessary for morals, just statistically that's how most people get them. I also don't mean to imply milennials are criminals, just that well, it doesn't occur to them to think sometimes about the impact of their choices; or if they do, they don't care. Hell, maybe I was that way in my 20s and I've conveniently forgotten it...so maybe it's a function of youth. The brittleness though? absolutely. Most of them are deeply insecure, fundamentally needing a lot of praise. I don't mind , because that's the kind of leader/manager I like to be; but adversity is hard for them to deal with. I sometimes think one's attitude toward all this is dependent on when one arrives in the area; for myself having arrived during the bust of 2002 I feel perpetually like "winter is coming." for those for who it has always been prosperous springtime, it's hard to realize how important it is to squirrel away money, karma, connections, etc. Random musings. YMMV.
serge2k 13y ago
Oh cool,I don't practice religion so I'm an amoral heathen.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

pron 13y ago

You mention religion, and I think not by accident. I find Google's founders' involvement with the Burning Man festival to be a guiding principle of how they perceive work and society. Burning Man adopts many religious ideas and practices, most of all the power of religious ecstatic experiences. Max Weber tried to tie the rise of protestant christianity to the rise of capitalism. He postulated that the ascetic ideals of protestant christianity urged people to adopt hard work as a central tenant of life. I think that Burning Man helps take this idea further. It turns work from an ascetic endeavor to an ecstatic one. Burning Man is the religion that underlies Google's view of work.

melindajb 13y ago
this is what keeps me coming back to HN. thanks for the insights. very interesting....people always want something to believe in, whether it's god, country, exercise, companies, etc. Religion (of any kind) is one of the best sources of dopamine. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-difference-between-the-brain http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=is-there-a-...

mkr-hn 13y ago

It's always weird to read accounts of experiences with my age group that diverge wildly from my own experience. Everyone I know is hard working and completely open to criticism. Maybe you just got a bad batch in your local experience. Religious observance is near absent, but no one I know is without morals.

melindajb 13y ago
I don't mean immoral. I mean amoral. From grammarist: The adjective immoral means contrary to established moral principles. Immoral actions are corrupt, unethical, sinful, or just wrong. Amoral means (1) neither moral nor immoral, or (2) lacking moral sensibility. So while immoral and amoral might share a little common ground, there is a clear distinction: immoral things are bad, and amoral things are either neutral from a moral perspective or simply removed from moral considerations.
- mkr-hn 13y ago
  Are you talking about religious morals or humanist morals? No one I know lacks moral sensibility. Some of them even derive their set from religion. I had a look at my own OED, and it agrees with your definition. It's still not an accurate depiction of the morals of anyone I know.
  - melindajb 13y ago
    Lucky you! (and I mean it). I more think about it this way--and hey, if I chose the wrong word, do correct me. When we are changing the world with our technology we don't really stop to think about all the people who will be put out of work by it. We don't as a community really care much about the impact of our companies on our communities (giving to local arts organizations and volunteer efforts in SF are not rising concurrently with population or wealth). To be fair, this thinking isn't limited to milennials, it's just that as children they were more likely to have been raised without the early foundation of morals which are usually taught by religion. I do not in any way mean to imply religion is necessary for morals, just statistically that's how most people get them. I also don't mean to imply milennials are criminals, just that well, it doesn't occur to them to think sometimes about the impact of their choices; or if they do, they don't care. Hell, maybe I was that way in my 20s and I've conveniently forgotten it...so maybe it's a function of youth. The brittleness though? absolutely. Most of them are deeply insecure, fundamentally needing a lot of praise. I don't mind , because that's the kind of leader/manager I like to be; but adversity is hard for them to deal with. I sometimes think one's attitude toward all this is dependent on when one arrives in the area; for myself having arrived during the bust of 2002 I feel perpetually like "winter is coming." for those for who it has always been prosperous springtime, it's hard to realize how important it is to squirrel away money, karma, connections, etc. Random musings. YMMV.

serge2k 13y ago

Oh cool,I don't practice religion so I'm an amoral heathen.

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]