5 ms·

I'm not from US, but I wonder, in the context of the current cultural shift and war on gay marriage, how are software companies looking at personal opinions on

I'm not from US, but I wonder, in the context of the current cultural shift and war on gay marriage, how are software companies looking at personal opinions on cultural matters like this one? Will that guy in the corner, who politely holds his views on a sensitive matter like gay marriage, make everyone else uncomfortable and, eventually, he'll have to leave?

jsprogrammer 11y ago
This happened at Mozilla.
- jaawn 11y ago
  That was the CEO though. Leaders will always (and should always) be treated differently than employees when it comes to personal views. Leaders often become de facto company spokespersons, and being outspoken against a lifestyle that your subordinates may engage in can have a lot of negative impacts at work, if your opinion is not clearly the majority opinion. This is especially true of the CEO—the 'face' of the company and main decision-maker. So, I don't think what happened at Mozilla is a good example of the whole "guy in the corner" thing.
  - jsprogrammer 11y ago
    I've never been to Mozilla, so I have no idea what actually goes on in there.
    - jaawn 11y ago
      We're referring to this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/03/us-mozilla-ceo-resignation-idUSBREA321Y320140403 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/03/us-mozilla-ceo-res...
      - jsprogrammer 11y ago
        I know, but I'm not sure CEO is a standard unit. Was/is Brenden Eich a "guy in the corner"? I have no idea because I've never worked with him. Does the CEO of Mozilla perform any type of leadership role? I also don't know, as I've never worked there or been there while others were working.
        jaawn 11y ago
        I know right, I mean what is a "programmer," really? What is a job? What is life? ...Is this the Matrix??
        jsprogrammer 11y ago
        All, excellent questions.
      - monksy 11y ago
        Because he donated $1k to an anti-gay group 6 years prior. That is pathetic. Do I agree with his views? No. Who cares. He's the creator of the Javascript language. He made a small donation.
cholantesh 11y ago
I don't think so. There are very divergent political, social, and religious views in my organization, which is a small one, and there is no real language policing going on. Myself and another coworker are the sole atheists working here, and of the two of us, he is a democratic socialist and I'm a Red Tory. There is no language policing here, and we do come to disagreements, but we know how to approach the issue in a way that is not preachy or judgemental. I think the key is not what the person's views are, but how they express them. If that guy in the corner is pushed out of the (B)org for having an unpopular view, that speaks to a bad working culture, because it doesn't encourage diversity of thought, but cultivates groupthink.
dasil003 11y ago
I agree this could be a problem, but that's not what cultural fit is supposed to mean in this context. Working culture is just how things are conducted at work, it has nothing to do with personal views per se. If your culture is one where everybody makes homophobic jokes all the time then it could be a problem, but under most professional cultures (certainly HR in any corporation would lay down the law on this) personal views should not be part and parcel of the culture.

jsprogrammer 11y ago

This happened at Mozilla.

jaawn 11y ago
That was the CEO though. Leaders will always (and should always) be treated differently than employees when it comes to personal views. Leaders often become de facto company spokespersons, and being outspoken against a lifestyle that your subordinates may engage in can have a lot of negative impacts at work, if your opinion is not clearly the majority opinion. This is especially true of the CEO—the 'face' of the company and main decision-maker. So, I don't think what happened at Mozilla is a good example of the whole "guy in the corner" thing.
- jsprogrammer 11y ago
  I've never been to Mozilla, so I have no idea what actually goes on in there.
  - jaawn 11y ago
    We're referring to this: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/03/us-mozilla-ceo-resignation-idUSBREA321Y320140403 http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/03/us-mozilla-ceo-res...
    - jsprogrammer 11y ago
      I know, but I'm not sure CEO is a standard unit. Was/is Brenden Eich a "guy in the corner"? I have no idea because I've never worked with him. Does the CEO of Mozilla perform any type of leadership role? I also don't know, as I've never worked there or been there while others were working.
      - jaawn 11y ago
        I know right, I mean what is a "programmer," really? What is a job? What is life? ...Is this the Matrix??
        jsprogrammer 11y ago
        All, excellent questions.
    - monksy 11y ago
      Because he donated $1k to an anti-gay group 6 years prior. That is pathetic. Do I agree with his views? No. Who cares. He's the creator of the Javascript language. He made a small donation.

cholantesh 11y ago

I don't think so. There are very divergent political, social, and religious views in my organization, which is a small one, and there is no real language policing going on. Myself and another coworker are the sole atheists working here, and of the two of us, he is a democratic socialist and I'm a Red Tory. There is no language policing here, and we do come to disagreements, but we know how to approach the issue in a way that is not preachy or judgemental. I think the key is not what the person's views are, but how they express them. If that guy in the corner is pushed out of the (B)org for having an unpopular view, that speaks to a bad working culture, because it doesn't encourage diversity of thought, but cultivates groupthink.

dasil003 11y ago

I agree this could be a problem, but that's not what cultural fit is supposed to mean in this context. Working culture is just how things are conducted at work, it has nothing to do with personal views per se. If your culture is one where everybody makes homophobic jokes all the time then it could be a problem, but under most professional cultures (certainly HR in any corporation would lay down the law on this) personal views should not be part and parcel of the culture.