
GitHub CEO: What I learned from our harassment scandal - strzalek
http://fortune.com/2015/09/29/github-ceo-40-under-40/
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dalke
Perhaps I'm being dense, but the Forbes title doesn't seem to match the text,
which only asks how the CEO navigated the harassment claim. The response given
seems to be the bland "companies should think about company culture from the
beginning."

Can someone point out what the CEO learned from the harassment scandal?

~~~
Mz
Sounds to me kind of like he learned this:

"People need to be treated right. That's not a nice to have or something you
can put off until later. Failing to make your people feel safe and secure and
free to focus on their work hurts their work and can come back to bite you in
the arse."

~~~
dalke
That's what I meant by bland. It could be said after nearly any staff-related
problems.

For example, if they had a rank-and-yank system and decided it wasn't
worthwhile as good people were leaving to avoid the internal stress, then they
could announce that they are getting rid of the policy, and repeat almost
identical text.

In any case, I find it hard to believe that it really took a lawsuit to learn
that "people need to be treated right", so that can't be the real lesson
learned.

~~~
Mz
It seems to me the tech world has a lot of folks in it who aren't especially
socially savvy. This is why they tend to hire out things like marketing.

Just because it seems obvious to you does not mean it was obvious to him. And
perhaps it is bland because a) he learned that being too specific about things
is a potential minefield and b) he is still socially awkward enough that
glossing over the details is the best way he knows how to handle it. It takes
substantial social savvy to get into the details and not just dig your grave
deeper. So it does not surprise me that his main takeaway may be "Don't do
certain really stupid things that amount to cutting your own throat" and he
still is not qualified to instruct others in a detailed way as to how to not
make those errors to start with.

Edit: I will note that, so far, the piece has no upvotes. So you aren't the
only one who thinks the takeaway is pretty _meh._

~~~
dalke
Thank you for your insightful comments. What I was missing was the precipice
it is to run a billion-dollar company, with all eyes on you. Your response now
highlighted that those factors are also important.

