tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post4391093066023485960..comments2023-04-30T05:23:27.355-07:00Comments on hush!: On Innovation and Yahoo's Telework Banhushhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05532820460835325762noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-32619800927776042382013-03-06T12:18:42.716-08:002013-03-06T12:18:42.716-08:00Hush, I am new to your blog and I am loving your v...Hush, I am new to your blog and I am loving your voice and your comments on nannies today over at 11D<br /><br />http://www.apt11d.com/2013/03/just-one-more-sandbergmayer-blog-post.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-19375003416628157782013-03-06T08:10:30.985-08:002013-03-06T08:10:30.985-08:00I think Flickr is an example of a big company outs...I think Flickr is an example of a big company outsourcing innovation. :) We still use photobucket because of hysteresis.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-61058428478021730142013-03-06T08:00:16.895-08:002013-03-06T08:00:16.895-08:00Oh, and I have a Yahoo email account, too. I'm...Oh, and I have a Yahoo email account, too. I'm too lazy to move and they've improved it enough now that I'm not feeling as much motivation to move. Maybe if I get around to setting up my own domain I'll move my email to that.<br /><br />The Yahoo service I think is great is Flickr. I got on it recently, when my husband's homemade photo sharing service was down for an extended period of updating. I looked at Picassa and some others, and decided Flickr was the best one for me.<br /><br />Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-78587882129787898972013-03-06T07:40:07.110-08:002013-03-06T07:40:07.110-08:00Innovation and productivity are both great things....Innovation and productivity are both great things. That's why I think many people find a good balance being in an office 3 days a week, and not in an office 2 days a week. I wrote elsewhere about why Fri might not be the best work-from-home day (because of the whole long weekend temptation) but I don't see why this has to be a either/or thing. I could envision a team that worked tightly together deciding that they'd all be in the office M, T, and F, and they'd be elsewhere W and Th. They'd kick ideas off each other on the in-office days and they'd all crank out what they needed to crank out on the other ones. It doesn't have to be about childcare and family friendliness. Btw, I use yahoo mail too. I do get some people sending stuff to my gmail account, which I don't use, because they can't fathom that the yahoo one is the primary one. Laura Vanderkamhttp://www.lauravanderkam.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-41046382480835993592013-03-05T21:44:51.459-08:002013-03-05T21:44:51.459-08:00I will continue my behavior of having a bunch of t...I will continue my behavior of having a bunch of tangentially related thoughts on this topic! I can't seem to synthesize them all for some reason.<br /><br />1. I dislike the blanket policy, but also think that its Yahoo's business and any employee who disagrees with the new policy can find tech companies who still allow- even encourage!- working from home. Some of them used this as a recruiting opportunity.<br /><br />2. The innovation angle is interesting. I'll have to think on that more and read the original research. I wonder if a hybrid model with a mix of office and home time would actually work best? Similar to, @Got It Ma, my instincts tell me that different people innovate in different ways. Heck, I think I innovate in different ways during different steps of the process. Sometimes a group discussion about architecture uncovers new ideas. Sometimes I need to sit in a quiet place and work through those ideas to see what other ideas come up.<br /><br />3. I sometimes wonder how often the people leading tech companies make mistakes just out of lack of experience. I'm not saying that is what Mayer's doing here. But the tech world seems to put a premium on youth and knowing the latest tech fad over experience and understanding management principles. That is one of the reasons I stay on the fringes and make jokes about hopping over to internet/tech but never really do it. Not that the managers in my business really know squat about managing, either- it is the same problem, but they at least tend to have more experience so more time to have learned some things by trial and error.<br /><br />4. I am seriously tempted to write a post about how business decisions need to be driven by business cases. I'm coming across too many well-meaning arguments that businesses should do something just because it would be nice. If we want businesses to handle certain societal problems for us, we have to think about how to make it in their best interest to do that, not just wag our fingers at them.Cloudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09317847285050447789noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-68504922000000492272013-03-05T18:55:27.116-08:002013-03-05T18:55:27.116-08:00Initially, I found myself grumbling about this whe...Initially, I found myself grumbling about this when I read about it in the paper. But, when you look at Yahoo! as a single entity and not a representative of all corporations, as you've done here, it makes a lot more sense. <br /><br />I'm really not sure why this has being treated a "feminist issue," other than the fact that Mayer is female. It's a workplace issue that effects men and women alike. It's not that I think Mayer shouldn't be measured against some pretty strict feminist standards when it comes to family friendly workplace policies. I just think her male counterparts ought to be measured the same way.<br /><br />But still, it makes me nervous to see such a high profile company setting this example. Telecommuting (which to me means working from home - period; not working from home and watching your kids at the same time) has always been, for me, a source of both productivity and innovation. I don't really buy the work at home=productivity, work at the office = innovation thing, I guess. It strikes me as part of the whole extrovert ideal issue that Susan Cain talks about in her book, Quiet.<br /><br />Most American offices are designed around flawed notions of group work being somehow better than individual work. They favor extroverts over introverts and offer little in the way of privacy or quiet to the average worker who must sit in a cubicle, not an office with walls and a door. <br /><br />When I was working in an office (open plan with cubicles) my most productive and creative time was always the time I could carve out to work at home where it was quiet and no one interrupted me.<br /><br />Meetings and collaboration are important but their success depends entirely upon workers also having access to quiet workspace that encourages introspection and creativity. The reality is that most offices don't provide that, so forcing everyone to report to the office every day may not solve all of Yahoos! problems.<br /><br />The real issue seems to me to be accountability. Because I'll wager that those same people goofing off at home will be goofing off just as much in the office, and will also be a distraction to otherwise productive people.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-63619393108491669372013-03-05T14:44:46.351-08:002013-03-05T14:44:46.351-08:00I think that as long as Yahoo is offering sufficie...I think that as long as Yahoo is offering sufficient PTO balances to accommodate for the times when a child is sick, etc, then it could be a good thing. I know lots of people who "work from home" on Fridays and don't send their kids to daycare that day, and then disappear for much of the early afternoon and after 4. If everyone does it often, it starts to add up and piss off the people who spent 8 hours at the office.<br /><br />That said, if good employees have to start taking unpaid time off because their kid is too sick for daycare but they're not allowed to bill 4 hours of legitimate work, then it's likely to drive some people away. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10666136938776213545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-42959362576171041202013-03-05T13:10:18.616-08:002013-03-05T13:10:18.616-08:00Good post. I, too, think that the "burden&quo...Good post. I, too, think that the "burden" of creating family-friendly workplaces should not fall on corporations, as they're focused on profit and oftentimes squeezing out as much as possible from employees. Example: Even if Google wanted to give 1 year maternity leave, they won't do it because they would fear losing any competitive edge against companies who don't give much of a leave. Only if the government makes it mandatory (like in Europe) would it level the playing field. oilandgarlichttp://oilandgarlic.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-70177443467265300822013-03-05T12:07:03.593-08:002013-03-05T12:07:03.593-08:00We'll soon find out, won't we? In a years&...We'll soon find out, won't we? In a years' time we'll know if Yahoo's outlook has improved or not(although it will be hard to tease out the impact of this decision in isolation). My guess is that is will not make a difference. This is totally based on personal experience, working for large organizations where someone comes in and makes a Big Bold Decision meant to shake things up that totally falls flat. Why? Because changing the course of a huge company with entrenched problems involves making a lot of difficult, nuanced decisions and implementing many smaller changes over time.<br /><br />That's not flashy or newsworthy though so I guess we'll have endure more headlines about Big Bold Decisions.scanteenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8482270755935730046.post-60808720703994688932013-03-05T11:24:49.967-08:002013-03-05T11:24:49.967-08:00Brilliant post! Thanks!
This innovation question...Brilliant post! Thanks!<br /><br />This innovation question is one that's also addressed a lot by the start-up blogs my husband reads... They suggest that the natural order of things is for a company to eventually outsource all their innovation to start-ups rather than doing it in-house. <br /><br />I think that's not always true, and I know that hasn't always been true-- Bell labs lasted for a really long time, for example. But it does seem to be is a trend. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com