{"id":34381,"date":"2013-03-23T14:10:56","date_gmt":"2013-03-23T14:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?p=34381"},"modified":"2013-03-23T14:11:48","modified_gmt":"2013-03-23T14:11:48","slug":"sometimes-course-correction-requires-rocking-the-boat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/sometimes-course-correction-requires-rocking-the-boat\/","title":{"rendered":"Sometimes Course Correction Requires Rocking the Boat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\" align=\"left\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n                                                                                     google_ad_client = \"pub-7021221536180758\"; \/* 468x60, created 11\/11\/09 *\/ google_ad_slot = \"1949837292\"; google_ad_width = 468; google_ad_height = 60;\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\n\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>All Hands<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p align=\"center\">\n<p>OMG Yahoo\u2019s Marissa Mayer made a policy change and told people they had to show up to work.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s obvious she\u2019s the Wicked Witch of the West.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34384\" title=\"Untitled-1\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-13.jpg?resize=351%2C261\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-13.jpg?resize=351%2C261 351w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-13-300x223.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" align=\"center\">Oh, you say, Best Buy\u2019s boss just changed the rules for his employees too \u2026 well, he\u2019s a guy so that\u2019s different.<\/p>\n<p>Besides, he\u2019s piloting a company that is obviously and rapidly heading toward the rocks so he needs to do what needs to be done \u2026 and then some.<\/p>\n<p>I just wonder why people are so busy hollering out that we want women to be executives and make the tough calls but secretly thinking they really don\u2019t have what it takes for those calls.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Mayer\u2019s decision is still being cussed and discussed.<\/p>\n<p>Best Buy\u2019s announcement didn\u2019t even last the proverbial 24-hour news cycle.<\/p>\n<p>The geek\u2019s sweetheart was brought over from Google just about a year ago with cheers from the crowd in the coliseum.\u00a0 She was going to single-handedly return the luster (and profits) of the company for the shareholders.<\/p>\n<p>Running a company with 13,000 + people can\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n<p>Just ask Carol Bratz.<\/p>\n<p>A tough-minded, no-nonsense person, Ms Bratz oversaw a lot of changes but couldn\u2019t get the team on board with all of her ideas, all of her visions.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the product changes, she wasn\u2019t able to move the sales\/profit needle and a questionably responsible board of directors said she just couldn\u2019t get the people to produce results. So, she was unceremoniously given her walking papers.<\/p>\n<p>Enter Ms Mayer to rejuvenate an old brand.<\/p>\n<p>She orchestrated the introduction of initiatives like FYI, Goals and PB&amp;J.<\/p>\n<p>She refreshed the company\u2019s email, photo-sharing and other products, including an updated home page.<\/p>\n<p>She didn\u2019t do it with the hubris Zuck did when he unveiled his changes; but they were much needed improvements.<\/p>\n<p>With the assistance and blessing of her new board, she has gotten rid of non-core business assets and acquired others.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it had stagnant revenues and earnings and wasn\u2019t paying healthy dividends like other Internet companies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Times Have Changed<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>But Yahoo is facing the challenge everyone else in the industry is facing \u2026 we just don\u2019t surf the web like we used to.\u00a0 We share links; use email, text, chat and go directly to pages that are buried in a website bypassing homepages.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34385\" title=\"Untitled-2\" src=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-22.jpg?resize=330%2C262\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-22.jpg?resize=330%2C262 330w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-22-300x238.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 330px) 100vw, 330px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>There\u2019s only so much lipstick you can put on a pig; and when you\u2019re done, it\u2019s still a pig.<\/p>\n<p>So she dared to take Carol Sandberg\u2019s (COO at Facebook) advice even before she read Ms. Sandberg\u2019s book, <strong><em>Lean In<\/em><\/strong>, as well as following an old German proverb, <em>\u201cYou can\u2019t direct the wind, but you can adjust your sails.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>She sorta\u2019 said, <em>\u201cO.K. folks, you have to come into the office, show up for work.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s about as cruel, inhuman and inconvenient as it gets!<\/p>\n<p>Back in the Neanderthal days of business when we wore a suit (or at least a sports coat) and tie, we had a boss once say half jokingly (we think) that if you don\u2019t come in on Saturday don\u2019t bother coming in on Monday because you won\u2019t have a job.<\/p>\n<p>Even then, people worked all kind of weird hours; and most professionals took work home just to think through issues.<\/p>\n<p>Things aren\u2019t better today, they\u2019re just different.<\/p>\n<p>According to quotes from unnamed Yahoo employees, the work ethic of some workers had deteriorated over time.<\/p>\n<p>Some \u2013 as in any good thing \u2013 abused the work-at-home policy to the point of founding their own start-ups while being paid by Yahoo.<\/p>\n<p>Others even found the freedom allowed them to hold down a second fulltime job.\u00a0 <strong><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Management Problem<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>True that\u2019s a management problem.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also a personal professional ethics problem.<\/p>\n<p>You have to wonder how many of the folks had to call Yahoo and find out where their offices were located.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t see it as a shift in workplace flexibility or encouragement that people have a balanced work\/home life because that line blurred long ago.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34386\" title=\"Untitled-3\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-32.jpg?resize=319%2C268\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-32.jpg?resize=319%2C268 319w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-32-300x252.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/>What Ms. Mayer is really saying to people who draw a paycheck from Yahoo is that we\u2019re taking on water and we need all hands to help us bail the water and repair the boat before it sinks.<\/p>\n<p>In a way, she has shown her vulnerability by saying, <em>\u201cHey I can\u2019t fix this by myself. I need you here to help me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When the company and boss mentioned earlier faced a marketing\/sales crises there was never a question&#8211;it was all hands.<\/p>\n<p>It was all about collaborating and communicating to achieve a common goal.<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t mean the company wants to take roll call or start tracking people because if they wanted to do that, all they would have to do is start using timecards.<\/p>\n<p>Or, they could do what some firms do and use monitoring programs and Internet\/Big Data analytic tools to track what home-based workers are doing online.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a great backdoor way to coordinate, manage projects (and people) in realtime.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, she said she wants everyone at Yahoo to be actively involved in developing new products, new programs and new ideas to repair what is obviously broken.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Opportunity Not Penalty<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s a helluva\u2019 call to arms for anyone who values his\/her professional worth and expertise.<\/p>\n<p>Ms Mayer has to get everyone back on board and revitalize an 18-year-old company, which as someone recently said, has no identity.<\/p>\n<p>And if the average tenure of CEOs (according to <strong><em>Fortune<\/em><\/strong>) is any measure, she has about 2.5 years more years to do it.<\/p>\n<p>If some of the folks at Yahoo aren\u2019t up to the challenge, then maybe they should just say \u201cthe H*** with it,\u201d admit they aren\u2019t up to the challenge and bail.<\/p>\n<p>With nearly seven billion people on the planet, I have to believe that there are a goodly number of highly qualified people who would love to have a job to go to every day.<\/p>\n<p>Will the \u201ccome to the office\u201d policy stand forever?<\/p>\n<p>Probably not.<\/p>\n<p>If the team spirit, energy gets Yahoo sailing again, then work\/office flexibility will probably return. By then, who knows, people might find they like the positive and constructive energy that exists in the office is really cool.<\/p>\n<p>Then, she\u2019ll have to issue a new policy \u2026 you have to go home at least a few hours a day to be with your family, significant others.<\/p>\n<p>No, she isn\u2019t the Good Witch of the North.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-34387\" title=\"Untitled-4\" src=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-42.jpg?resize=339%2C274\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-42.jpg?resize=339%2C274 339w, http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/Untitled-42-300x242.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 339px) 100vw, 339px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>If she were, she probably would have waved her wand and put Yahoo back at the front of the pack.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, she\u2019s an intelligent and technically smart person who right now is responsible for getting the ship back on course for the future of 13,000 +\/- employees and who knows how many stockholders.<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s asking the crew to help her set the sails.\u00a0 And it could work as long as she\u2019s one of the \u201call hands on deck!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"># # #<\/p>\n<h1 style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">G.A. \u201cAndy\u201d Marken<\/h1>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>President<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>Marken Communications, Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><a href=\"mailto:Andy@markencom.com\">Andy@markencom.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><p>Please join us in our <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/abt\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Forums<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Become a Fan on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/AlienBabelTech\/123268467142', 'Facebook']);\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow us on <a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/twitter.com\/alienbabeltech', 'Twitter']);\" target=\"_blank\">Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the latest updates from ABT, please <a href=\"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/?feed=rss2\" target=\"_blank\">join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Folding@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 164304<\/li>\n<li>SETI@Home &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech &#8211; 138705<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1\" onclick=\"_gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'outbound-article', 'http:\/\/www.worldcommunitygrid.org\/reg\/viewRegister.do?teamID=3P39R3SRV1', 'World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech']);\" target=\"_blank\">World Community Grid &#8211; Team AlienBabelTech<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All Hands OMG Yahoo\u2019s Marissa Mayer made a policy change and told people they had to show up to work. It\u2019s obvious she\u2019s the Wicked Witch of the West. Oh, you say, Best Buy\u2019s&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":396,"featured_media":34387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2533],"tags":[6213,5619,6214,6212,5362],"class_list":["post-34381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abt-news","tag-management","tag-marissa-mayer","tag-professional-ethics","tag-women-executives","tag-yahoo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/396"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}