October 1st, 2022: Greetings from the US! We had an amazing month in Lisbon. For me, it was the most restful and contemplative month of the year which was a nice “pause” after a busier than normal 2022 (because of the book and increased consulting work).
Interesting to see the trend to clamp down on workplace political discussion. I’ve found it distracting to myself and disruptive to the workforce in places where politics were openly and actively discussed on corporate channels.
I also think it poses cultural risk, as people who don’t identify with the prevailing strain of political thought can feel afraid to express themselves or even silently hold their views.
In other words, I’m in favor of it--even in the presence of other motives from leadership as you mentioned (defending against micro-coups).
Appreciated the graph about % of people working in 250-person companies.
Tracks with my experience that most people I know are in some form of medium/large corporate context.
Lots of crappy culture in these places, which leads to lots of unhappy people, and I’m a big believer we can make these places more healthy and wholesome and thus, create happier people.
I actually have a friend working at GM here in Austin and that's something we discussed a bit on too - so wild about the hard and fast coming back to the office rule. Personally, I am so used to the remote/hybrid model that I couldn't see myself being in the office everyday anymore.
Also really like this point you bring up
"Is working in BigTech just like working for GE 20 years ago? It sure seems like it. It will be interesting to see what the inevitable next generation of companies turns out to be."
I had an advice recently as someone who just started her career to join companies where they are growing the fastest and this made me think of that.
Interesting to see the trend to clamp down on workplace political discussion. I’ve found it distracting to myself and disruptive to the workforce in places where politics were openly and actively discussed on corporate channels.
I also think it poses cultural risk, as people who don’t identify with the prevailing strain of political thought can feel afraid to express themselves or even silently hold their views.
In other words, I’m in favor of it--even in the presence of other motives from leadership as you mentioned (defending against micro-coups).
Nice issue, plenty of food for thought!
Appreciated the graph about % of people working in 250-person companies.
Tracks with my experience that most people I know are in some form of medium/large corporate context.
Lots of crappy culture in these places, which leads to lots of unhappy people, and I’m a big believer we can make these places more healthy and wholesome and thus, create happier people.
Excited to listen to your ep with Sam as well!
So much knowledge from this post!
I actually have a friend working at GM here in Austin and that's something we discussed a bit on too - so wild about the hard and fast coming back to the office rule. Personally, I am so used to the remote/hybrid model that I couldn't see myself being in the office everyday anymore.
Also really like this point you bring up
"Is working in BigTech just like working for GE 20 years ago? It sure seems like it. It will be interesting to see what the inevitable next generation of companies turns out to be."
I had an advice recently as someone who just started her career to join companies where they are growing the fastest and this made me think of that.