So apparently over on the bird site Elon is expressing dismay at advertisers being scared away by “activists.” My response:

“Gosh. It's almost like making sweeping, massive changes (like laying off 50% of the staff) could have big unintended consequences and scare folks away. Who knew?!?”

https://twitter.com/testobsessed/status/1588545422255013888?s=20&t=kEX3vPCWf3SYDj6UGUiXxA

So. Story time. (Also my first attempt at a Mastodon thread…not sure how this will work.)

Once upon a time, a long time ago, in a company far far away I signed up to help lead a troubled product area. Just prior to my involvement, the CEO had laid off maybe 40% of the staff.

The group went from functioning poorly to being in complete chaos. It was a mess.

In the following weeks we bled another maybe 10% of the remaining staff as they essentially walked out. Everyone was interviewing. Customers were getting spooked.

Note that I was helping to lead, not leading by myself. There were others with more authority than me. And they had their hands full.

The chaos got worse. Past decisions that might have worked out OK in the end with more staff created intolerable circumstances with the reduced team sizes.

Eventually, after a series of events that are long in the past and no longer matter, I ended up running the show. And I thought the whole thing might totally fall apart on my watch.

It was terrifying.

During that time, I made some very difficult decisions. Some of those decisions were so unpopular they resulted in even more attrition.

In hindsight, some decisions were absolutely necessary; I should have made them sooner than I did. Even some of the decisions that caused more attrition. But some were terrible mistakes and I wish I could undo them.

I learned a lot. It was painful for everyone.

Things got much worse before they got better.

I wondered when we’d hit bottom. My focus shifted from “make radical changes to turn the boat around” to “patch and bail before we sink.” I needed to keep people happy, even if it meant compromising on my vision for the org. That included employees, customers, and colleagues across the company.

I had to compromise. Partner. Make friends. Be humble.

And that’s what I don’t think Elon understands.

So, he fucked around. And now he’s finding out.

Oh, and the end of my story?

It all worked out. Things stabilized. Although I haven’t been involved in a long time it’s my understanding that the teams continue to thrive & customers still love the products.

While I do think I deserve some credit, I didn’t do it alone. There was a core set of folks who stepped up. They helped keep people in the boat and establish a healthy culture. I am incredibly grateful to them.

And I believe they’re the ones running things now.

So, happy ending. Yay!

But it all really would have fallen apart if I hadn’t listened, compromised, asked advice, and generally been willing to acknowledge the many, many things I didn’t know.

The moral of the story?

Sometimes change is needed. Even massive change. But it’s sheer arrogance to believe you can make huge changes without also creating huge risk. Blaming external forces (“activists,” “disgruntled employees,” whatever) for unintended consequences is counterproductive.

Listen. Partner. Be humble. Adapt.

Since Mastodon threading seems to work so well I thought it would be nice to add a few of the lessons I learned from my experience walking into an org in chaos and eventually, after much pain and anguish on all sides, and with tremendous effort from many people, seeing it stabilize & thrive. The thread continues…