What we’re reading (2/22)
“The Maze Is In The Mouse” (Praveen Seshadri). “Google has 175,000+ capable and well-compensated employees who get very little done quarter over quarter, year over year. Like mice, they are trapped in a maze of approvals, launch processes, legal reviews, performance reviews, exec reviews, documents, meetings, bug reports, triage, OKRs, H1 plans followed by H2 plans, all-hands summits, and inevitable reorgs. The mice are regularly fed their “cheese” (promotions, bonuses, fancy food, fancier perks) and despite many wanting to experience personal satisfaction and impact from their work, the system trains them to quell these inappropriate desires and learn what it actually means to be ‘Googley’ — just don’t rock the boat. As Deepak Malhotra put it in his excellent business fable, at some point the problem is no longer that the mouse is in a maze. The problem is that ‘the maze is in the mouse’.”
“BlackRock US ESG Flows Fall On Tech Rout, Anti-Green Backlash” (Bloomberg). “Cash flows into US sustainable funds plummeted last year as the broader market took a beating and anti-ESG crusaders targeted money managers including BlackRock Inc. for ‘woke capitalism.’”
“Rising Bond Yields Rattle 2023 Stock Rally” (Wall Street Journal). “Last year’s markets boogeyman is back. U.S. government debt has reversed its early-year rally, sending Treasury yields higher than where they finished 2022. That is threatening to end a brief reprieve for stocks and riskier types of bonds, which both languished last year as yields climbed rapidly.”
“Millions Of Millennials Could Soon Enter A Midlife Crisis. But They're Going To Spend And Divorce Less — And Value Experiences More — Than Prior Generations.” (Insider). “Millions of millennials — whose ages range between 27 and 42 — will turn 40 this year, with many more following them in the years to come. And while there's nothing inherently treacherous about this milestone, there's reason to believe many of them could experience some form of a midlife crisis as they reach middle-age.”
“Cyberattack On Food Giant Dole Temporarily Shuts Down North America Production, Company Memo Says” (CNN Business). “A cyberattack earlier this month forced produce giant Dole to temporarily shut down production plants in North America and halt food shipments to grocery stores, according to a company memo about the incident obtained by CNN.”
