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Marco Rogers Profile picture
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Feb 17 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Whew. Shit.
Get into this thread. Seriously.

People think I'm being an asshole or "punching down" when I try to talk about this stuff. I'm not. I'm trying to help people be more prepared to navigate the world around them. Even as we try to change it for the better.
I keep asking people. Are we talking about the way it should be or the way it is? Both of those are important. But if you only ever wanna talk about the first thing, then the second thing is gonna fuck you up.
Let me connect this with the other thread. Because they live in the same universe. Recognize when *you* are the person trying to "get rid" of someone in your department. You participate every time you talk about how they don't have as much "merit" as you.
I know a lot of us wanna tell ourselves we didn't mean to. But if you think people don't hear you when you point to another person and say they don't deserve promotion, you are mistaken. It may not get you your promotion, but it will absolutely impact them. Then what?
When that person is on their way out, and they're talking about "politics" in the org. They're talking about you. Obviously other people ultimately make final decisions. And you can put all of the blame on them if you want to. But your voice matters. For good or ill.

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More from @polotek

Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 17
People will not let go of objective “merit” as a baseline assumption for how people get promoted. No matter how many times you tell them that’s not how it works.
I understand why people *think* they want it to work that way. I also know that people don't *actually* want it to work that way. Because when you try to talk to individuals about their own “merit”, that shit gets wild real quick.
Folks only wanna talk about other people’s perceived “merit”. Meritocracy for thee, but not for me.
Read 8 tweets
Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 17
Once you truly accept that there is no magic, a lot of things get more frustrating. Because you start to see all of the ways that the humans in the system make excuses for not changing it. Almost all of them. Even many of the ones who actually want it to change.
I don't know how to talk about this yet. I'm still searching for the right words, the right framework.

I spend a lot of time trying to convince individual people in the system what they should try to do differently in order to be part of change. But they won't do it.
I know it's hard to do these things. I certainly haven't worked up to doing all of the things I could be doing. But choosing to start trying is the first step. Instead people like to rail against the system while acting like their words and actions are not part of it.
Read 9 tweets
Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 15
I wish I had more energy to talk about this tonight. There are a lot of questions to ask.
I assume a lot of people are going to react like this. It's understandable.
But what Breslow is describing is a very real problem in the tech startup ecosystem. And we have to pay attention. Because this particular mechanism is at the core of whether employees get to participate in the wealth that is generated by this industry.
Read 6 tweets
Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 12
The real hack for fewer meetings is to lean into them and make sure the reason you were invited actually happens. A lot of meetings are tedious because they're repeats. The last time you met, the thing that needed to happen didn't happen.
Dan's answer is 100% legit. All meetings aren't terrible. *Other* people's meetings are terrible. When you need something from somebody else, a meeting is just you doing your job. We can all do our part by helping other people's meetings be successful.
In a lot of corporate work environments. It's not always obvious *what* we need from each other. People call meetings to try to figure out what they need. It can feel wasteful, but there's actually no good way around it. Figuring out why we're meeting is a superpower.
Read 4 tweets
Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 8
Oh. marketwatch.com/story/feds-arr…
Some choice quotes from the article:

"When the hack occurred, the bitcoin was worth approximately $71 million. Today, it would be worth $4.5 billion, they said."

The level of speculation that has occurred around Bitcoin is wild.
"Prosecutors said they would ultimately move to return the seized money back to those it was stolen from in 2016."

Imagine getting $100 stolen from you and then 5 years later they return you $6500. That's more or less what this means.
Read 4 tweets
Marco Rogers Profile picture
Feb 8
This is a weird conversation. I get why people are having it, but I'm having a hard time with it. And I think it's mostly because my own politics have shifted a lot and no longer align with most mainstream thinking.
If I understand things right (I may not), the issue is half of the graduate degrees from American Universities go to international students. People view this as a problem. Presumably because that talent is not staying in the US to participate in our economy. I think I get that.
I think I'm having a hard time with it for 2 reasons.

1) In a bunch of other areas of economics, people keep saying that everything is globalized now, and that's a good thing.

2) I don't view education as a national asset that we should be guarding jealously.
Read 13 tweets

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