
Quick Thoughts on the Google Walkout - cribbles
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/11/quick-thoughts-google-walkout.html
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kough
It will be interesting to see if we programmers can capture more of the value
of our labor by forming unions. This walkout is exactly the sort of thing that
a union would organize. The most salient point of this article (although
mentioned quite obliquely) is that: programmers have more power over the
companies they work for than they are currently exercising.

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malvosenior
The problem with programmers unionizing is that there is an extreme spread of
talent in the industry. If you're a 10X coder it doesn't really behoove you to
pull up ranks with all of the 1X coders.

It's the top end of the scale that is commanding high salaries and they're the
ones with the leverage over large companies (since they're very difficult to
replace).

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untog
Are programmers really that unique in that sense? Any profession has people
that are considerably more talented than others.

(I'm also not at all convinced by the 10x developer myth. There are lots of
developers more talented than others... they are senior developers, or
whatever role exists beyond that in your company)

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stcredzero
_I 'm also not at all convinced by the 10x developer myth._

I've yet to meet a 10x code writer who was really worth it. Difficulties in
dealing on an interpersonal level usually counteracted whatever advantage they
could bring to a team.

Much more valuable are the 10x managers. In truth, they're more like 2x or 3x,
but they are quite rare though they are quite real.

~~~
xiphias2
What I have seen more are 0.1x managers. They may be just 10% of the managers,
but the problem is that if you have a deep hierarchy, you just need one 0.1x
manager in the hierarchy to ruin your project.

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malvosenior
> _" James Damore was fired after publishing an article internally that argued
> that women were inferior coders."_

That's an absolute and complete misrepresentation of what Damore discussed in
his memo. Hard to take this article seriously when it leads with a lie.

~~~
bassman9000
Came to this. If "quick thoughts" are to be valuable, author needs to
accurately synthezise. Clearly missed the point.

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stcredzero
To me, this is a symptom of Google transforming into just another BigCo riding
its own coattails, with just an ideology of its own greatness. The ability to
remove people through accusations outside of a rigorous and impartial process
is simply too great a power not to go abused. All the more the shame that
there's a certain degree of real need and idealism behind the justification.
I'm talking about both accusations of interpersonal impropriety and
accusations of attitudes of social injustice. Peter Boghossian and others have
discussed the idea that Intersectionality has become like a religion. The way
that people use accusations in that belief system are eerily similar to the
way religious people used to make accusations of immorality in the past.
(Often for power and material gain.)

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bQTxNT-K8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bQTxNT-K8)

 _Perhaps they have accurately assessed that Google has such a glass jaw in
terms of its perceived need for top “talent” that it is hyper sensitive to any
PR that might lead prospective employees not to consider them._

Google could easily replace its own numbers 4X over and wind up with pretty
much the same level of talent. The problem isn't the talent. It's the
operational knowledge embodied in its workforce. If I were Google's
management, I'd be thinking of some sort of way to wrest back that source of
worker power. Unfortunately, I think the upper management of Google are
themselves true believers, and to stay in power, they'll have to maintain a
faction inside Google loyal to them personally. Under the surface, the inner
political life of Google may be getting uglier.

EDIT: The way to wrest back power from the worker pool, would be to distribute
it in small enough pieces, such that any one group is replaceable. Then set
all of the groups against each other. Maybe the atmosphere of inter-group
accusation brought about by Intersectionality is actually desired by upper
management at Google?

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jstewartmobile
That was one serious, no-bullshit, to-the-point write-up there. I will have to
read more from this Yves Smith.

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purplezooey
The voting rate of to those aged 18-29 is _twenty percent_. Thus a Google
walkout isn't very interesting.

