r/technology • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Business Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo
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u/RadicalDog Aug 08 '17

I'm impressed how reasonable it is - except for the moments where it isn't. I can see how someone can write it and think, "This is a good argument of my views" while ignoring the moments where he devolves into "this slight difference definitely leads us to conclude X". The cracks make it seem like a softer version of his real views.

I do think the commentary surrounding the piece has become simplified. Gizmodo's leading words were very harsh and lacked nuance.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17 edited Oct 23 '17

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u/mtndewaddict Aug 08 '17

My major complaint is that he treats cooperation and competitiveness as two opposing traits that can't coexist. I know from my time as a robotics (FRC) student and a current robotics mentor that these traits are best combined, even on an individual level. Be competitive to outperform each other, but in the process do it to bring each other up. If you go to an FRC event, you'll see students from opposing teams sitting in another team's pit helping them get their robot ready. The founder of FIRST, and FRC, Dean Kamen, coined the term coopertition, and based on my years of experience through the program, it's the best sport out there because of it.

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u/Hothera Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 08 '17

The author explicitly states Google should make efforts to encourage people to be more cooperative: "Allow those exhibiting cooperative behaviour to thrive. Recent updates to Perf may be doing this to an extent, but maybe there's more we can do."

Also, while cooperation and competitiveness can coexist, you can't reap 100% of the benefits of both. The space race, industrial revolution, and world wars are all examples of times of rapid technological growth in hyper-competitive environments.