[kposehn]

Not really an agenda per se, more that I trust the HN community to think about solutions to problems at scale - such as culture at scale.

I'd love input on how to manage cultures and performance in a massive global org, purely because I want to learn how this sort of thing can be avoided for all of us, not just Uber.

How do you allow a fast, push-the-envelope culture without it getting out of hand? How can orgs that grow extremely rapidly handle these situations and work to not have them happen in the first place?

So many questions, really. Trying to find a good place to start.

Any thoughts?

[jetcata]

It's fairly simple - zero tolerance when it comes to harassment is a great place to start, offenders are sent packing.

Leadership sets an example of what behavior is acceptable and what isn't and management enforces it.

You also look out for culture fit when hiring - you don't just hire on technical competency, you also actively check that someone isn't an asshole, no matter how well they perform.

Edit: The question is, what will you do with the above advice? Will you take action and make improvements? Because otherwise this discussion was for nothing.

[yestoallthat]

> Not really an agenda per se, more that I trust the HN community to think about solutions to problems at scale - such as culture at scale.

Your initial comment doesn't even hint at that. It's just a random anecdote of someone who has a good time at Uber. So to me it seems like you're kind of making it up as you go along, and

> I'd love input on

I kind of read as "I want to change the subject away from my initial post, what it means and just how tone deaf that is", but I'll humour you anyway.

> How do you allow a fast, push-the-envelope culture without it getting out of hand?

Here's a radical thought: You can't, and healthy societies made up of healthy individuals wouldn't have a need for them either, since time is infinite, there is no need to hustle and rush. This is only required for grabbing bigger pieces of a limited pie for yourself, for man waging war on man - not for expanding the size of the pie for all, for competition with more sportsmanship and integrity.

Empathy plays a big role here, people trapped in their own bodies and lifetimes consider this view childish and irrational - but that is mutual, I see many people as junkies who keep claiming they would be content if they just had some more, but really, it's just the monkey on their back talking, which seeks approval and materials from the outside, as a substitute for what they can't grow from the inside.

You might have noticed by now, I don't even accept any of your premises. From where I'm sitting, you're asking how to rationalize bugs into features, and how to make more of them.

> How can orgs that grow extremely rapidly handle these situations

By caring less about money and more about personality and craftsmanship. That is, more about life than survival, and more about what to use resources for than how to grab them the fastest in the shortest amount of time. Then these "orgs" wouldn't need to blame the environment for not accommodating their defects.

> Trying to find a good place to start.

I can recommend Erich Fromm's "The Sane Society".

[Mz]

As someone who has long explored such subjects, this type of discussion is the worst place to try to have that kind of discussion, it is usually unsalvageable if you start by defending the thing others are attacking, and you should start with reading up on things like broken windows theory. In a nutshell: Abuse begins with disrespect and escalates to worse things. If you insist on real respect for all members of the group, abuse becomes far less common.

This is the reason I criticized your comment. Women get shunned, silenced, disrespected, etc in ways that are career killers, that happen solely because they are female and which most men would never put up with. When men are called on this uneven pattern of behavior -- especially by a woman -- the person calling them on it gets attacked, often viciously so, for disrespecting the man.

Real respect is a two way street. When one group or person is supposed to get respect and another is supposed to give it, it isn't respect at all. It is kowtowing.