Marissa Mayer Said What...?
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has certainly unleashed enormous, untold passions about how, when and where people should work.
The now infamous leaked internal note requiring Yahoo employees to work in the office instead of telecommuting from home has been likened to the shot heard round the world.
No less than a great war has ensued and Marissa Mayer now finds herself villainized and vilified by some and verified and validated by others.
It is no secret that Yahoo has been struggling to keep pace with the likes of the Apples, Facebooks and Googles of the world, all of whom have strong in-office cultures and not coincidentally, strong revenues to match.
In plowing through the debate, which has merit on both sides, I keep thinking of something Sherry Turkle, a professor of the social studies of science and technology at MIT, said that seems wholly relevant:
“We expect more from technology and less from each other.”
Even more, consider what Professor Turkle said at TED:
"Human relationships are rich and they're messy and they're demanding. And we clean them up with technology. And when we do, one of the things that can happen is that we sacrifice conversation for mere connection. We short-change ourselves."
No one will fault a parent for staying home with a sick child. Or even for needing the occasional quiet space to think or write. But human interaction is the beauty of the workplace and the foundation of driving a corporate culture — not just from the top down but from the bottom up.
Technology is an amazing, extraordinary enabler. It can be hugely empowering. But, as anyone who has struggled to figure out whether the email someone just sent you sounds hostile or just hurried, there is still no real substitute for the magic of face-to-face dialogue.
Connectivity vs. connection. They are often used interchangeably. But they are not. Connectivity is about the devices that link us together. Nothing more. Connection is about people, emotions and meaning.
It is, in fact, the often impromptu and imperfect interactions among people that create a rhythm, the motion and the momentum to form a solid culture that uplifts and drives a company forward.
It’s not about not trusting people to work at home. It’s about having a real trust in the infinite possibilities of what people can create together.
Cynthia Verónica Juárez Rico como ves?
Senior Communications Manager at Novo Nordisk
11 年Just Like in Marketing, A One Size Fits All Approach, Never Works... I think a lot of these points are valid, particularly in the Communications industry, however I have to throw in my own perspective as a creative introvert. There are many famous introverts throughout history, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, to name a couple, who accomplished their most life-changing work while working alone. We certainly couldn't accomplish greatness without the help of others, but we also need peace for creative stimulation. We can't be surrounded by other people with no privacy at all times - or at least I can't, and I know a few others who would agree (Susan Cain). I wrote a blog post about this recently where I explain my perspective further: quietgirlloudworld.com. The most important point I think we all need to keep in mind, is that just like in marketing, a one size fits all approach never works. Everyone produces their best work in unique ways. Just like you would tailor an ad campaign to specific audiences, you must tailor your work environment to get the best out of all of your employees.
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12 年Back when the "revolution" began, with job sharing, I was not a supporter. We were forced into it, in a way, because the proverbial "everyone is doing it" and we didn't want to lose out on some of the better available people. I always thought it was a mistake, but learned to be quiet when the bosses all fell for it. For certain projects - quiet time is good - but I contend it is more difficult to get that time away from the office than in the disciplined atmosphere of an office. (I also didn't like the change in the dress code. One does not think in a business way when one is dressed in jeans and sandals.) Yeah, I am one of the old crotchety folks - but I believe USA business went down the tubes from a production and ethical standpoint when we assumed that everyone could work on his/her own without supervision.
天思团创 CEO, RISKID 产品经理, TeamSupport 创始人
12 年TeamSupport, Creating together
Senior Faculty at IIBM( B.School)
12 年Technology is not a substitute for hard work,"at home".