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Words Matter at Google

Words Matter at Google
By Bill Catlette (who proudly hired the first female Couriers at FedEx)
 
Much has been written and said about the software engineer being dubbed "Google Bro" and the recent dust-up over his screed "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber,"suggesting that the company's (and by extension industry's) underutilization of women in tech positions owes to innate differences of ability and biological tendency between men and women. Yikes!
 
As one might expect, when the document went viral, like a broom handle shoved into a hornet's nest, it provoked serious buzz and some pain. Indeed, Google CEO Sundar Pichai felt it necessary to interrupt a foreign vacation, return home, de-select the employee, and cautiously but skillfully explain why that action was necessary. (https://www.blog.google/topics/diversity/note-employees-ceo-sundar-pichai/)
 
Some might think the matter ended there. Au contraire! A hue and cry has arisen, both from those who maintain that the offending employee was mistreated for simply speaking his mind, and others who might want to push back against what they view as a left-leaning agenda within Google.
 
Whoa, full stop. There is a huge difference between respectfully speaking your mind in an appropriate setting, and posting something that publicly paints your employer, and a lot of coworkers in a very bad light and, oh by the way, craters productivity throughout a large organization for a few days. Whether it's Google, Apple, your company or mine, this is a place of business, not a university or think tank! Things like reputation and productivity matter, a lot.
 
As explained in the CEO's "Note to Employees" the individual's actions (in part) constituted a violation of the company's published Code of Conduct and were contrary to their basic values. By almost any definition, the remarks were detrimental to the best interests of Google, particularly in view of the fact that the organization is trying mightily to recruit and otherwise improve its reputation with women and minorities, under watchful federal eyes, no less.
 
So what takeaways might exist for the rest of us?
 
Since the matter has been brought to the fore and is a topic of discussion anyhow, it wouldn't hurt to have some conversation with our own employees about:
  • The fact that whereas our free speech rights aren't necessarily altered when we enter a private facility (e.g., a church, arena, workplace), neither are the rights of the organization to decide what the behavioral standards are within their domain. What we forfeit is the opportunity to stay there after behaving in a manner that the organization deems unacceptable. A guest who is invited into your home for dinner has the same free speech rights that everyone else does. But the moment they pop off with crude discussion or engage in other behavior that is objectionable to you and your family, their opportunity to finish the meal and remain in your home is likely foreclosed. We have no more right to lob a thought grenade about our workplace into the public sphere than we do to spray paint graffiti all over the outside of the building and our coworkers' cars.
  • This is also something that we should have a fairly extensive conversation with our management team about... that the organization's mission, values, and code of conduct are more than empty words on a dusty plaque hanging on the wall. It is their job first to understand why those things exist, why they matter, to model them via their own behavior, starting from the top, and to hold others to that standard.
  • Make sure people know what the boundaries are in your organization, and don't apologize for them. It's not a democracy. In every organization and every public setting, even in places like Google, which are known for having fairly permissive social guardrails, there are certain norms to be adhered to, flags to be saluted, and a time when we all must choose to climb in the boat and start rowing or prepare to be thrown overboard. It's not a matter of submitting to the "thought police", but rather recognition of the institution's right to draw the line on what's acceptable and what isn't.
  • Lastly, when it comes to the subject matter in this case, namely the station of women in the workplace and their opportunity / ability to compete, knuckleheads who refuse to accept the notion that girls have game, too are in for a rude awakening. If you need more convincing, read Susan Wojcicki's thoughts on the subject. (http://fortune.com/2017/08/09/google-diversity-memo-wojcicki/)


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