Is it better to take risks? Yes, of course it is. No, wait. I’ve changed my mind. It isn’t. Okay, some risks are good to take. Some, maybe not so much.
Corporate America is full of risk takers. I worked with several women that I would consider trailblazers. Women who weren’t afraid to challenge the system, to do things a new and different way, and to believe that risks should be taken.
Marissa Mayer is a risk taker
There are some executives that take risks that may not need to be taken. Like Marissa Mayer’s recent decision to have all of the Yahoo! employees work together in one big ol’ office building. While she says that it’s what is best for Yahoo! at this time, she appears to be unaware of the negative impact this will have on the lives of many of her employees. It may actually reduce productivity and increase corporate expenses. Employees will now be spending time commuting, instead of jumping on their computers before they’ve finished their first cup of coffee. The Texan often has his laptop open while eating breakfast, checking email and responding to co-worker’s and client’s questions. When he was commuting to Boston, he lost four hours each day that he could have been adding to the company’s bottom line.
Yahoo! claims that this is the right choice for their company, and perhaps it is. It turns out many of the yahoos working for Yahoo! weren’t working at all. But, for those who were working and doing what was expected of them, they’re losing a privilege and huge chunks of their lives. The work life balance is being challenged. I feel for those Yahoo! employees who will now be forced to return to the office, to spend money on lunches, fuel, and dry cleaning.
Though I may not agree with her, I do admire her for making such a gutsy move. She is blazing her own trail and doing what she believes is best for the future of Yahoo!. I will be watching this story unfold and wondering what it would be like to be an employee where the entire corporate culture experiences such a major overhaul in a fairly short amount of time.
Do you think Marissa Mayer is a risk taker? How would you feel if you were a Yahoo! employee?
This post was written as part of BlogHer’s NaBloPoMo March 2013 challenge. Today’s prompt was “Do you think it’s better to play it safe or to take risks?” Sign ups to participate in this month’s Blog Roll are open through March 5. You can still check out the participating bloggers and the daily prompts. Daily writing prompts can often become a great source of inspiration and encourage you to write about things you haven’t previously explored.
No, I don’t think she is a risk taker. I think she is just doing what other companies used to do a long time ago. It is easy to make a decision like that when you have no skin in the game. She can hire a full time nanny if it wasn’t because she created a nursery in her office to take her baby to work with her.
I think a gutsier move would have been to actually fire those people who are not really working and keep those who are. We have come to a point in corporate America where we have to cover our behinds under three or four warnings before firing certain people. Although I am all in favor of giving people a chance, I think a lot of people play the system to stay employed longer than they have to. I think the rules should be simple, if you are not working, you don’t need to work for this company.
I guess going file by file, figuring out who is really dong what and firing those who were not would take too much time and that is why it is easier to create a rule that essentially punishes the good with the bad.
So no, I don’t think she has guts. I think she is taking us back to the inflexible offices of old.
With out a doubt she is a risk taker. I think what she did was what was best for the company. Unfortunately there are people out there that don’t do the job they are being paid to do. In an industry like that I think it helps when you have other people around to bounce ideas off of. I think it will upset some people but they will either step up to the plate or go find a new job. I applaud her for taking a stand and sticking to her guns.
Definitely a risk taker, I don’t really ;like it, I think it is a waste to have some people having to commute so far and I feel it will lead to burn out
I can’t imagine what a shock this was to all of the employees who were actually WORKING from home. It does lead to burn out – The Texan used to commute 2 hours in each direction 5 days a week. It took a toll on him, and our family. I’m so happy that he works from home now. Not only is he happier, but it is a huge savings in terms of fuel, dry cleaning, and meals out!
If I were a Yahoo employee I would quit if I were expected to commute four hours to work. It’s a waste of EVERYones time and a terrible waste of resources and money. Another example of the richer getting richer, and the poor staying poor because they are too worried about their “bottom line” and not the wellbeing of their employees. The poor feel like they HAVE to work at these jobs because there’s not a whole lot out there, and without a job their family life suffers. The rich just keep sitting back and figuring out new and easier ways to make money instead of improving the live of the OTHER people in this world. One of our downfalls as a society, and one of the reason a lot of people have stopped caring, because they feel stuck in impossible situations such as these set forth by Yahoo. Just my opinion though 🙂 I don’t expect people to agree, but just wanted to share.
My husband used to have a four hour commute…it was AWFUL! For him, and our family. When he was laid off, it was the best thing to happen to him.
I’ve thought a lot about Marissa Mayer’s decision, and I wonder – if she used software to determine that people weren’t really working, why didn’t she just fire those people?!
I can see both sides of the coin- if they are having workers who aren’t being productive, however, I think I would have started with requiring THEM to make the commute- not those wit hthe higher productivity.
I have thought of that as well. If she knows who is slacking, why not focus on those “bad apples”? Oh the corporate world, I do not miss it!