Googles CEO has the very hard task of trying to calm the crying ones, punish the ones stirring the pot, all while not making others stomp off because they think the whole thing is unfair.
Source: I'm a Googler.
And the CEO keeps reacting. At some point, he needs to ask those who aren't aligned with business deliverables, and wallow in externalities to walk away - they aren't just unproductive themselves, but drag the whole company into the mud in the press
For other issues, it’s realky variable as to what needs to “be taken care of as soon as it comes up.”
The tough part is that so many people have so many topics they could focus on rather than build mission stuff.
Are you ok with a decent chunk of the workforce forcing abortion restriction be taken care of because they are pro-life? Or anarchists demanding that no government be supported?
Recent press has shown Google all over the place on topics of various importance. As an outsider, I’m not sure what is a priority for Google or what its values are that allow for firing sexual harassers, but not reporting privacy breaches.
It seems to me that the CEO makes statements once the outrage gets loud enough.
If it's not illegal, perhaps it's time to change the law?
A company shouldn't be policing it's employees like this. The police should do it. That's why they're called the police.
I take GP's comment to be more in general, that the CEO is operating in a high-noise/distraction environment, rather than throwing shade on the particular instances in the article.
The noise can make it difficult to have a consistent and clear set of decisions while still remaining responsive to the population.