
What happened to Cory? - zorpner
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15JokX8thp1TxG_I9aodYUxDwRdvdselVQmUwEjOFXGQ/preview#
======
merb
Actually I think Cory was in the wrong. And the managers actually __did
__everything correctly. They even talked with him, they didn 't even fired
him. They just clearly stated that the topic was closed and that he shouldn't
have raised it because there was always a negative discussion about the topic
which actually led to "performance" problems of certain groups within google.

actually a workplace should be your workplace, not your political debate site.

yes free speech is important. yes it's bad if people discriminate. but did he
had other choices than just raising the topic again, in a "google" public
forum? yes he could! but he did not, he could've mailed his HR guys or talked
with his manager. or both.

but raising the same topic again and again and the same disucssion occurs with
no end in sight, is always a bad idea (regardless of the topic).

p.s. i go to work because i love programming and not because i can raise
political discusissons over and over again with my co-workers.

------
rendall
Sounds like Urs et. al. were less concerned with shutting down pro-diversity
speech than they were with Cory's tone, which they seem to believe per se was
causing division. Cory didn't seem to be self-aware enough to understand that.

Since the external links are private, it's hard to know if we're comparing
apples to oranges; but it's informative to contrast the reaction to Damore's
single memo with this fellow's repeated, willful flouting of his superiors'
requests to moderate his tone and stop posting long enough for the topic to
calm down. It seems like they gave Cory a lot of second chances and leeway.

~~~
Brian_K_White
It's proper to flout invalid requests.

------
hawkice
Current US law about workplace safety proscribes a certain type of
professionalism. The kind that says, "We can have a heated discussion on how
text based web search works, but not anything else." There are other ways to
be professional, but those seem to be difficult to operate usefully in
multiperson US companies, and this way isn't bad.

I think it's appropriate to ignore whether a co-worker thinks the moon landing
was faked, or what sports team they like, or if those idiots they heard about
in the news are a big deal or no deal at all. That's simply not what the
workplace is for. To the extent those discussions happen, I view it as a
partially-voluntary leaking of their personal lives. Nothing to condemn or
engage in, just politely ignore it until your lunch finishes in the microwave.
The idea that people would want to express _any_ views in some type of
organized way inside their employer's organization makes little sense to me --
I find it unprofessional but not outrageous or anything.

I think it's clear whether something is an on-topic professional comment. All
discussion of news stories is a 'no' unless it is e.g. a new regulation on the
industry or their customers that was just announced.

------
simcop2387
I don't mean to sound dismissive or anything, but Cory who? There's very
little context in the link about what this was or who it was.

~~~
tantalor
Context: [https://gizmodo.com/ex-google-employees-memo-says-
executives...](https://gizmodo.com/ex-google-employees-memo-says-executives-
shut-down-pro-1821996513)

~~~
simcop2387
Thanks, I had missed that article, and this was definitely missing that extra
information.

------
realandreskytt
The entire thing is a great case of cultural challenges. From one hand, you’d
like to encourage open discussion about everything. Because innovation and out
of the box thinking. On the other, discussing some ideas leads to conflict. A
culture of free ideas is one of the best ways to attract talent, restricting
it will commercially detrimental. So is loosing talent over conflict like
this. It is a leadership challenge. A very complex one. But one that does not
seem to be handled with a ton of grace. Maybe because there is no good
solution

------
senatorobama
Cory is lacking in self-awareness.

