Ellen Galinsky: Marissa Mayer and Yahoo's Management Issue

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[@bldbar118]

I think that's exactly her point: that yahoo had stagnated due to bad management fostering employee resentment/disinterest. I saw it as an assistant manager at all 3 area retail stores I worked at. The distinct manager came in and pointed out failings, the store manager nodded and complained to us, and we complained to the employees... most of which never cared in the first place, it was just another minimum wage job with bad management. :-P

[@colinhunt2467]

To paraphrase an old saying 'you cannot build castles on sand.' If Yahoo does not address the multitude of outstanding customers complaints (just categorize them and solve priorities) then it will not have a form customers base upon which to build it's future. Any companies success has invariably relied upon taking its customer base forward, if Yahoo does not do that it is doomed to failure. A simple rule of business success which Yahoo, like other short term ambitious companies, ignore to their detriment. Face to face personal relationships often secure long term business relationships, impersonal internet relationships are transitory and fickle, and dumped as quickly as they are established. Yahoo, look after your base first, hear our words, take us with you. Fail to do that and you will suffer the wrath of your current ignored users.

[@exwhyz33]

The purpose of management is to inspire employees and incentivise their work - then let them deliver. The trouble with group discussions is that with the wrong mix, they can become forums for territorial protection or gain, kudos and even a drag on enthusiasm. This blunt approach by Yahoo sounds like posturing: "this is what I think, now YOU justify to me why you can telework".

[@bw0n6]

The idealized purpose of management is to inspire employees, but my experience is that model only is applied when a company is doing extremely well. When a company is not doing so well the purpose of management changes from inspiration to "optimization".

[@RuskoE]

On the pro side of telecommuting. I do go to an office every day, but if I lose internet connection at the office, I am almost dysfunctional. On the con side of telecommuting. I play on my computer at home, and I work on my computer at work. It's important to separate the two. However, if your work IS your play, you should be able to do it from about anywhere.

[@vickmackey24]

The only "work habit" that needs to be monitored is the work produced. If a manager isn't able to keep tabs on a person's productivity, at home or in the office, then he's failing to do his job properly. Scrum, for example, deals with this pretty effectively with technical teams. Daily standup meetings and status reports with video conferencing for remote employees is usually more than sufficient to keep people from slacking off.

[@exwhyz33]

Interesting. I feel quite the reverse would be so. When a company's doing well, that's when its necessary to optimise & refine (iteratively mind) including things like managing cost-base. Its when things aren't going so well that the leaders need to take their people 'to a new place' (inspire) with the vision of how good it will be if we all work towards it (this may ultimately be the carrot-and-stick approach). This leads to re-engineering the processes and once stable, then to optimise.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

I think it's more than just a management problem - I think unproductive employees are often (not always!) a sign that there is something deeply unmotivated about the company itself. Tarring everyone with the same brush is a very bad thing to do that will likely only make things worse as it will create resentment in the good employees, those who did appreciate working from home and did work hard at it - and those are the ones you don't want to lose!

[@Diomedes01]

Marissa was dead off the mark with this decision. As alluded to in the video, this was a management and performance issue. But rather than deal with it and those abusing the system, she chose the lazy management approach and just did a blanket edict.

[@codediporpal]

And why would you click on a link titled "Marissa Mayer and Yahoo's Management Issue" if you didn't know why you cared?

[@JosephStern]

Employees not productive ==> Management to blame. Fantastic logic, especially since employees working from home don't have management around overseeing their work habits.

[@greenjelly01]

At the same time, it is important to expose bad management techniques, so that other companies do not make the same mistake.

[@lllZeroIII]

where as i agree with you about not careing about yahoo i think the point was missed yahoo was the example used because its a company she is familiar with just like if i gave a big think presentation i would for my examples off things directly related to me since i would know about them the issues and how to fix them

[@torchkit]

Yahoo employees have to show up at a designated workplace and they don't like it? I'm sure the millions of people working on assembly lines will shed many tears over this.

[@stukas14]

Or Google just has no interest in unnecessarily censoring KZbin and the web in general?

[@jwheat65]

I'm sure a lot of people (maybe most?) don't really care what the management of Yahoo instruct their employees to do. As a brand it's never grabbed my attention, there's always been a better alternative.

[@giantmetfan06]

I'm sick of this age where we're actually criticizing a company for wanting their workers in an office, rather than at home. You know what's at home? distractions. There are a lot of jobs where you're in an office the majority of the time, and don't have flexibility. And if you're in a job that puts you on the road, they monitor you as well -- there is no flexibility anymore. This is how it always has been, and always will be. Get used to it.

[@MrVikson71]

I think people are looking at it the wrong way. Her credentials are not that she wrote a blog. No. She simply said that while emotional she wrote a blog. Big difference in my opinion.

[@exe_]

That's what is interesting actually, as a company we never care a lot, yet it's there, it has the capability to make himself big and create more, and as a user i would like to see great stuff from them, beacause they would compete with google and, in the end, the regular user gets the benefits of that.competition.

[@TheRationalHatter]

The idea that a work force should work 100% remote just doesn't work. You can show any number of anecdotal stories about people who are just as - if not more - productive at home. But the majority of people shouldn't be out of the office 100% of the time. Sure, work from home if your kid is sick or whatever. But 90% of the time workers should be at the job site. Anyone who leaves Yahoo over this is probably not going to land a 100% work from home gig. They are rare for a reason.

[@DeuteronomyBlunts]

What is "Yahoo"?

[@1337flite]

I bet there are 8000 middle managers in Yahoo that love this policy. Now they don't have to confront their teams. They can just say "it came from on high, I can't change it". And the blunt tool gives the CEO a quick fix. Assuming it does lead to *some* increased productivity. If they really do have significant numbers of people not logging on for significant periods of time I can see why this option my be attractive to the CEO. If.

[@heymrhimr]

Closest thing that exists to a 'traditional style' blog anymore is Tumblr. And it definitely isn't traditional blog style. More like image sharing and profile.

[@DirkDwipple]

Remember,if the company is doing great,That's managements fault.If the company is doing bad,its the employees fault.

[@JustDavidified]

You think management in a company does not need the obvious pointed out to them?

[@Turandot29]

I'm still pissed that Yahoo deep sixed their chat rooms a few months ago.

[@tsegreto]

Is BigThink going to have someone make commentary on the Kardashians next? Really getting hit or miss lately.

[@sparky7718]

A woman at my work bought a house, had a child, then moved an hour commute from the office. This led to chronic calling in sick, or the child being 'sick'. Which led to this woman doing work from home to meet deadlines, which led to the woman hardly ever coming in at all. Which led to the other 35 employess crying foul, understandably, and asking why they couldn't work from home. No shower, no makeup, no commute, no gas, no traffic, no supervisor. Bull..SHIT. GO TO WORK OR QUIT.

[@bunnieskitties293]

Because we also get Niel and Micho here.

[@DrumWild]

Now she's on the hook for firing male employees. She is a shameful excuse for a human being.

[@VisualiseTheFun]

DO A VIDEO ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A SHRINK RAY

[@Jake-Day]

The randomness of this is what made me enjoy it. I am serious.

[@GVilleAnarcho]

Yahoo sucks, but it would be a bigger disservice for a company to ignore their practices, faulty or not. It's a lot easier to learn from other people's mistakes. Watching somebody else fuck up is a great opportunity. And if you REALLY don't care, than I'm not sure why you watched this video in the first place.

[@bw0n6]

When growth drops the ratio of carrot to stick drops with it.

[@Jcole000123]

So ?????.... how about people who don't like the policy of Yahoo!'s CEO can work elsewhere ?

[@millat1m3]

What's yahoo?

[@Gerberbaby922]

No video on Big Think should start with the words "I wrote a blog" . . .

[@googlyg69]

Great video! thanks. Telecommuting fails when management fails to handle it properly. And Yahoo! has plenty of bad management. So cancelling telecommuting is going to solve nothing unless they improve the caliber of their managers.

[@Jayremy89]

Remove the few bad apples, get "idea people" in and those who aren't lazy and unappreciative, instead of the tenure or grandfather mentality so many industries seem to have. Have incentives to perform well in the company and make social atmosphere to help inspire them and get interested in collaboration. Too many people fail to understand what motivates people, hint: it isn't themselves. Too many force a sense of collaboration that is intrusive, or inhibiting while more don't support any.

[@theyarecomingforyou]

I'm surprised at the number of people critical of this video, particularly those dismissing it for lacking the grandeur of other subjects discussed here. This topic relates to the composition of society and the manner in which it is evolving, which should be of concern to everybody. Yahoo's decision to eliminate flexible working is socially regressive and a very poor solution to the company's obvious managerial and cultural issues.

[@LordOfTheDolls]

yahoo questions are the best. that's where you find the people who can't find their own country on a map.

[@BlissfulSl33p]

Is it more than mere coincidence that whenever a woman presents her ideas on Big Think there are far more dislikes on the video than on most male-presented videos?

[@MemfisRe]

Why?

[@tonixtonix]

Yahoo is so dysfunctional and failing right now; lets not treat it as some great company that suddenly decided to be "mean" to all their employees by *gasp* making them come into the office. Maybe when this company gets its feet back on the ground they can introduce flex schedules again, but for right now that place is going down the tubes and what they were previously doing was NOT WORKING. Sorry but telecommuting doesn't work for every organization, especially a FAILING one.

[@janviiic]

People bashing this video on the basis of Yahoo being a little less relevant today are the ones who should be ashamed of themselves and be recategorized to "smallThink" because you are CLEARLY missing the message she's trying to get across. Yahoo was a big thing some years ago, and how the mighty have fallen as they always do eventually. To save it, is Marissa Mayer doing the right thing? That's the question. Ellen's opinion is a clear "no, people need flexibility to give room for innovation"

[@cadude145]

On the one hand, yes she did state the obvious. On the other hand, it sounds Ms. Mayer needs to hear it because she did exactly what can be expected by and inexperienced manager - it is called a knee-jerk reaction. Ellen, is only explaining good management practice. Imagine that, lets find out what the problem really is then design a solution.

[@vidakmilacic]

This video should be recategorized to 'smallThink'

[@artistryartistry7239]

She didn't address that possibility because it's a stupid possibility not worth addressing.

[@paddleballmag]

Let's step back and look at this... Yahoo is suppose to be a cool company.. E-mail etc... how can you work at a job that makes things so serious... Good thing Google doesn't take their world serious!!!

[@neriumsuitedher]

I miss Michio Kaku.

[@HaploidCell]

It is very interesting that KZbin - owned by Google - hosts this video, since Google and Yahoo are obviously competing companies on the search engine market. Or it could be that YT has nothing to do with this and this was just an honest-to-god point of interest of the interviewers. Or very smart, aggressive marketing. Interesting nontheless.

[@erdwaenor]

I don't see any problem with blogging. I see problems with no blogging though.

[@afbarnes]

I wonder how many talented people are going to leave Yahoo?

[@AlasdairBoyd1]

What does Yahoo do? Seriously these guys were a search engine when the internet started and I remember them well. Them and altavista or something ... memories of the early days of the internet! But what do they do these days? Must be an American thing? Also I have worked from home (when I am not travelling or have meetings with customers) 4.5 out of 5 days for the last 7 years.... Way more productive I think than I would be if I went to the office - but definitely less beneficial interaction!

[@Lvl1_]

Did you actually listen for more than 30 seconds?

[@MrDandman]

i would have thought there would be less sexism on big think then this, she is talking about the way to create innovation by the way

[@eddiepoppyseed4834]

Yahoo and Msn two things that still exist that shouldn't.

[@sotijas]

msn is going away in like a week even tho it shouldnt there is no other messenger quite as good

[@filipfenix]

It's that point in history when Yahoo is a movie prop

[@artistryartistry7239]

and why is that?

[@Flip86x]

Why is it when a woman does a Big Think video there are always a shit ton of dislikes?

[@Doperooni]

People still work at yahoo? I thought yahoo shut down in like 2001.

[@Evadooker]

"i wrote a blog" all i need to hear to know when to leave

[@KalElKryptonsFinest]

Good call. Unless she is traditionally attractive, of course. Then you get "mmm, she pretty" responses. Which begs the question why bigthink has so many thoughtless subscribers.

[@Araizatriani]

This video exemplifies the trouble Yahoo is going through: boring and irrelevant. Come on Big Think! How does this video qualifies as an opinion of a big thinker? Better upload more videos of Mr. Kaku, Mr. Krauss or Mr. Tyson, those are Big Thinkers with great things to say!

[@luciddeception]

I'll be glad when Yahoo fails, and their inept CEO is out of the job, and stigmatized. It will serve as an example of "What not to do in the Internet industry"

[@TheUrbab]

Why talk about yahoo, it irrelevant , lets Talk about world problems, or ideologies. I'm 15 years and that's why I subscribed to Big Think. When will Slavoj Zizek host again?

[@scbtripwire]

You must be new to the Internet. 15 or so years ago they were a huge deal.

[@bobzone09]

Only during the day.

[@lanceseidman]

She's probably hoping they quit so they don't pay unemployment.

[@TheUrbab]

Im sorry but i can't ignore to say that there are more important stuff to talk about and perhaps solve than yahoo. For example the lack of ignorance some people got, just sayin

[@feelingweller]

Its good to learn what there doing wrong so you don't do the same thing

[@FlyingGospel]

Big Think? What the hell is this? Why?

[@artistryartistry7239]

Rockin that rockstar yellow leather jacket. You go girl.

[@Ansible2]

You don't say?

[@xxkiwimasterxx]

omg lol - now that statement was good for a chuckle - ty sir.

[@oEQjet]

tech industry is different. You need face time and you NEED alone time.

[@Minkus1342]

This is an interesting issue. More importantly, that is an awesome jacket.

[@The0Vivacious]

Love your thoughts, thank you for sharing them :)

[@Zxuma]

Why Yahoo here? Does she want to take over yahoo? Gallinsky? What her real name?

[@sushanalone]

Sky is colorless.

[@ATBatmanMALS31]

Such a common-sense idea, makes you wonder why it's on here....

[@minciNashu]

"lack of ignorance" really...

[@KalElKryptonsFinest]

Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya. You will be missed, no doubt.

[@caribbeanqueen1389]

wow.... she said to obvious. really, what is the point of this video?

[@gosucoaching]

I'll go yahoo "Marissa Mayer" now...

[@zhain0]

fuck that, i would have to use twitter of facebook if there was no msn lol

[@codediporpal]

You have no idea what you're talking about. Credentials mean nothing in software companies. It's all about what you are actually capable of doing, and no Walmart employee can write good software. Companies bend over backward to retain talented staff, and that's why they're not required to commute 2 hours a day if it's not necessary to the task at hand. That is reality. Yahoo may very well loose many valuable employees that can easily find another excellent job.

[@Snight101]

Msn is merging with Skype.

[@DavenH]

Why am I subscribed to this

[@mathor]

Err how does this drivel qualify for a channel with Tyson, Kruss, Kaku, Jillette and other insightful and entertaining people?

[@chorgin]

missis hindsight

[@TehNewV]

felxible spelling!

[@katawatenshu]

Who is Marissa Mayer and why should I care about Yahoo's management?

[@ocelotecpatl]

In other news, the sky is blue.

[@NoFeckingNamesLeft]

This channel has done nothing but disappoint

[@CosmicTurbo949]

I subscribed to this channel after watching Michio Kaku's video about the universe. It seems that everything else they do is drivel.

[@johnvega98cvb]

Michioo Kakuuuu!!!!!

[@NiceTubeAccount]

Open space is biggest shit ever made ;)

[@88franko]

I find this video very offensive. This is utter rubbish bigthink, you should be ashamed of posting this. If I could find a reason to flag it I would.