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  1. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    David Foster (View Comment):

    I’m sure there were too many people at Twitter…Musk’s risk, though, given the speed with which he has implemented the reduction, is firing too many of the wrong ones. In running a large organization, it’s really necessary to use your managers to evaluate people…and, to the extent that you find yourself with managers you can’t trust, it is generally better to make the changes at that level first.

    Musk does, although, face some especially difficult people-problems given the in-your-face hostility that has greeted his purchase of the company. There really does seem to be a danger of people behaving destructively.

    My experience is that it’s easier to build a new organization than to fix an existing one…although both situations are hard and without guaranteed success.

    Just think what exist in the agencies of the federal government. Then factor in the civil service employment protections and unions that are an absolute waste and hindrance for managers who already have more than enough hindrances. It’s too bad President Trump couldn’t do some things like Musk.

    • #31
  2. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    As a heavy Twitter user, this is all hilarious. Nothing has changed. NOTHING. Not the content, not the responsiveness of the app. There’s no firehose of NAZI HATE. There’s not a gaggle of nattering goblins injecting the N-word into my feed. I see a lot of people retweeting Twitter employees who believe they were the last best hope, the thin blue-check line, the dedicated folk who could save Our Democracy by having meetings twice a month on tweaking the shadow-ban protocols for borderline transphobic sh*tposting accounts. As if the entire nation was a quivering brain with PTSD that needed the careful ministrations of Twitter moderators who keep it all from descending into feral shrieking despair.

    • #32
  3. GlennAmurgis Coolidge
    GlennAmurgis
    @GlennAmurgis

    I been in tech for 35+ years – I do not understand why this level support is needed – I bet most of these were non-technical positions e.g. reviewing tweets to determine which arbitrary woke standard have been violated

     

    • #33
  4. Headedwest Coolidge
    Headedwest
    @Headedwest

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    As a heavy Twitter user, this is all hilarious. Nothing has changed. NOTHING. Not the content, not the responsiveness of the app. There’s no firehose of NAZI HATE. There’s not a gaggle of nattering goblins injecting the N-word into my feed. I see a lot of people retweeting Twitter employees who believe they were the last best hope, the thin blue-check line, the dedicated folk who could save Our Democracy by having meetings twice a month on tweaking the shadow-ban protocols for borderline transphobic sh*tposting accounts. As if the entire nation was a quivering brain with PTSD that needed the careful ministrations of Twitter moderators who keep it all from descending into feral shrieking despair.

    My twitter feed is moderated — by me. I follow interesting people and block or mute people who show up and are offensive. If your entire feed is insults, I don’t care what side you are on; I’m tuning you out.

    You know: like an ignore button in a discussion forum.

    ADDED LATER: I use the Twitterrific app to read twitter. Better controls and less junk than the web or native twitter app.

    • #34
  5. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    • #35
  6. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

     

    Very interesting is the demographic profile of those employees staying. No women! What an outrage! And I did not see any ‘person of color’ either?

    • #36
  7. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Very interesting is the demographic profile of those employees staying. No women! What an outrage! And I did not see any ‘person of color’ either?

     

    One in the back, I think. And apparently Asians don’t count as BIPOC on Ricochet, either. 

    • #37
  8. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Locke On (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Very interesting is the demographic profile of those employees staying. No women! What an outrage! And I did not see any ‘person of color’ either?

     

    One in the back, I think. And apparently Asians don’t count as BIPOC on Ricochet, either.

    Quite a few Asian men and I see the tops of some heads that could be Asian women. Makes sense to me.

    • #38
  9. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Very interesting is the demographic profile of those employees staying. No women! What an outrage! And I did not see any ‘person of color’ either?

     

    One in the back, I think. And apparently Asians don’t count as BIPOC on Ricochet, either.

    Quite a few Asian men and I see the tops of some heads that could be Asian women. Makes sense to me.

    But, it is NOT equality of result. Therefore something is wrong, oppressive and racist going on! Right?

    • #39
  10. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    Elon knows things about the realities of Silicon Valley engineering that his critics aren’t even allowed to think about.

    • #40
  11. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    Columbo (View Comment):

    Very interesting is the demographic profile of those employees staying. No women! What an outrage! And I did not see any ‘person of color’ either?

     

    One in the back, I think. And apparently Asians don’t count as BIPOC on Ricochet, either.

    Quite a few Asian men and I see the tops of some heads that could be Asian women. Makes sense to me.

    But, it is NOT equality of result. Therefore something is wrong, oppressive and racist going on! Right?

    No

    • #41
  12. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules? 

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    • #42
  13. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing.  I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    • #43
  14. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He did. A month’s pay for each month you work there. Do a good job and you get a lot more than three months’ pay. Which in today’s tech economy is one heluva deal. 

    • #44
  15. WillowSpring Member
    WillowSpring
    @WillowSpring

    David Foster (View Comment):
    Musk does, although, face some especially difficult people-problems given the in-your-face hostility that has greeted his purchase of the company.  There really does seem to be a danger of people behaving destructively.

    I think this is a lot of what Trump faced and didn’t realize until late in the game.

    • #45
  16. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He did. A month’s pay for each month you work there. Do a good job and you get a lot more than three months’ pay. Which in today’s tech economy is one heluva deal.

    I think if I was doing a good job at Twitter, and they wanted to keep me, I would quit and get the 3 months’ severance, then get the job back again.  (Remember, that would be for someone they wanted to keep!)

    Heck, I might do that every month!  That would get me FOUR months’ pay for each month I worked!

    • #46
  17. Seawriter Contributor
    Seawriter
    @Seawriter

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He did. A month’s pay for each month you work there. Do a good job and you get a lot more than three months’ pay. Which in today’s tech economy is one heluva deal.

    I think if I was doing a good job at Twitter, and they wanted to keep me, I would quit and get the 3 months’ severance, then get the job back again. (Remember, that would be for someone they wanted to keep!)

    Heck, I might do that every month! That would get me FOUR months’ pay for each month I worked!

    I think you are a little unclear on the concept.

    • #47
  18. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He did. A month’s pay for each month you work there. Do a good job and you get a lot more than three months’ pay. Which in today’s tech economy is one heluva deal.

    I think if I was doing a good job at Twitter, and they wanted to keep me, I would quit and get the 3 months’ severance, then get the job back again. (Remember, that would be for someone they wanted to keep!)

    Heck, I might do that every month! That would get me FOUR months’ pay for each month I worked!

    I think you are a little unclear on the concept.

    My main point was that the people who stay and work hard, get one month’s pay for one month of working hard.  The people who don’t stay get THREE months’ pay for doing NOTHING.

    Seems like if I were one of those staying and working hard, that wouldn’t seem like my best option.  And it would seem like a smart manager would find a way to provide more incentive for staying and working.

    • #48
  19. Locke On Member
    Locke On
    @LockeOn

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He’s executing what’s sometimes called a “sign up ritual” in Valley culture. Twitter may have had such for its former culture. Elon’s put the staff on notice that it’s now irrelevant and they need to do a new sign up if they want to be involved going forward. Excellent move, IMO. Those who sign up, survive, and contribute will be rewarded in due course, but they have to commit a bit of act of faith (3 mos salary’s worth) as part of the process.

    • #49
  20. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Seawriter (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    He did. A month’s pay for each month you work there. Do a good job and you get a lot more than three months’ pay. Which in today’s tech economy is one heluva deal.

    I think if I was doing a good job at Twitter, and they wanted to keep me, I would quit and get the 3 months’ severance, then get the job back again. (Remember, that would be for someone they wanted to keep!)

    Heck, I might do that every month! That would get me FOUR months’ pay for each month I worked!

    I think you are a little unclear on the concept.

    My main point was that the people who stay and work hard, get one month’s pay for one month of working hard. The people who don’t stay get THREE months’ pay for doing NOTHING.

    Seems like if I were one of those staying and working hard, that wouldn’t seem like my best option. And it would seem like a smart manager would find a way to provide more incentive for staying and working.

    In the rapidly changing tech world you’ve got to stay with it full time or get left behind. I found that out for myself when I went to 3/4 time for a while so I could do some other personal things. I was falling behind and soon wouldn’t have been worth having if I had stayed at 3/4 time.  It’s not something that could have lasted long.  Besides, full time in any position that is interesting is more like 125% of full time on a 100% salary (with a possibility of future payoff) while 75% of full time is only 75%.  

     

    • #50
  21. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Another option might be that the people who stay get an increased pay amount based on their work, while the people who leave get 3 months of what they WERE making.

    • #51
  22. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    • #52
  23. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    A lot of managers in my old company regarded engineers as fungible commodities. “Get me a four!” “I need a three.” In those cases, the number referred to the salary grade. To some of those half-wits, software is software. Never mind that embedded systems software has almost nothing in common with satellite ground station software. They’ll pick it up. Not that I care about twatter, but I’d hate to think Musk is the same as those managers I’m referring to. 

    • #53
  24. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Django (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    A lot of managers in my old company regarded engineers as fungible commodities. “Get me a four!” “I need a three.” In those cases, the number referred to the salary grade. To some of those half-wits, software is software. Never mind that embedded systems software has almost nothing in common with satellite ground station software. They’ll pick it up. Not that I care about twatter, but I’d hate to think Musk is the same as those managers I’m referring to.

     

    • #54
  25. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Django (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    A lot of managers in my old company regarded engineers as fungible commodities. “Get me a four!” “I need a three.” In those cases, the number referred to the salary grade. To some of those half-wits, software is software. Never mind that embedded systems software has almost nothing in common with satellite ground station software. They’ll pick it up. Not that I care about twatter, but I’d hate to think Musk is the same as those managers I’m referring to.

    P.S.  I dealt with a CFO once who thought the solution to any problem was to “add another ‘do’ loop.”

    • #55
  26. Phil Turmel Inactive
    Phil Turmel
    @PhilTurmel

    Django (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    A lot of managers in my old company regarded engineers as fungible commodities. “Get me a four!” “I need a three.” In those cases, the number referred to the salary grade. To some of those half-wits, software is software. Never mind that embedded systems software has almost nothing in common with satellite ground station software. They’ll pick it up. Not that I care about twatter, but I’d hate to think Musk is the same as those managers I’m referring to.

    Musk has made many comments about his own work habits and the beliefs that drive them.  Notably, he seems to believe engineering managers need to do real engineering, too, for a majority of their time.  Because they will otherwise be clueless about what they are managing.  And he claims to spend about 80% of is his own schedule doing engineering.

    Not sure how he manages that, but take it for what it’s worth.  I suspect I’d like working with him.  (Not that that is likely.)

    • #56
  27. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    I suspect some of the issue is that we do not understand what business Twitter is in.  We think of it as a communication platform.  But that is actually just the resource it mines.  That mining and other activities will be what chews up people.  

    • #57
  28. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    kedavis (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Locke On (View Comment):

    An intriguing tweet from Elon today:

    https://nitter.it/elonmusk/status/1593899029531803649#m

    Tech types may find the functional block diagram interesting. Others might find the demographics in the other images intriguing (remember those in pic are those who are staying).

    I can’t keep up with Musk. Didn’t he offer a 3-month’s pay severance package or you could continue and work under his new rules?

    Maybe these are the ones interested in working for a living.

    The ones leaving with severance are getting paid to do another 3 months of nothing. I think he should have offered some kind of bonus to those who stay and work.

    Yeah, they were probably already doing all the work.

    A lot of managers in my old company regarded engineers as fungible commodities. “Get me a four!” “I need a three.” In those cases, the number referred to the salary grade. To some of those half-wits, software is software. Never mind that embedded systems software has almost nothing in common with satellite ground station software. They’ll pick it up. Not that I care about twatter, but I’d hate to think Musk is the same as those managers I’m referring to.

     

    No kidding! Terri took Scot’s MatLab code and converted it to C++ for some arcane reason given to her by the department manager. She got another job but finished the task before leaving. When enhancements were needed, the guy who got the assignment said, “It’s a piece of **** and needs to be completely rewritten.” While rewriting he got ticked off at the department manager who he said was the worst he had ever encountered and left the company, so they handed it over to James who said of the rewritten code, “It’s a piece of **** and needs to be rewritten from the ground up.” He finished just in time for the entire mess to be OBE. Money wasted. /* True. Only the names have been changed to protect the guilty. */

    • #58
  29. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    I suspect some of the issue is that we do not understand what business Twitter is in. We think of it as a communication platform. But that is actually just the resource it mines. That mining and other activities will be what chews up people.

    You are on to something there. Reports were that it lost $120M a month but stayed on-line. I’d like to know who cooked the books and how twitter stayed in business. Not just how, but why. 

    • #59
  30. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    • #60
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