In October, Facebook’s internal documents were leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen. The documents were a crystal clear indication of the Company being aware of a variety of societal harms ranging from the destabilization of democracies all over the world to its impact on teenagers' mental health. The problem arose when it failed to bring a change.
The data leaked paints a unique and in-depth picture of Facebook culture. Workhouse is an in-house workspace of Facebook that is accessible for its employees only. While posting on Workhouse, any employee can write about his thoughts on different issues that according to their considerations are worth mentioning. Additionally, other employees can also engage, comment, discuss and collaborate. Majority of posts on Workhouse highlight the issue of the Company being plagued not only by blurred visions and shifting priorities but also by resource scarcity along with constant reconstruction. Following this, a great number of workers are frustrated, burnt out, and disappointed seeing Facebook in a state of absolute failure.
Even on the eve of its 13th anniversary, in the September of 2020, Facebook couldn’t manage to spare itself from being targeted by its self-described manager. He was vocal about this that working in Facebook and succeeding in the internal culture is just like playing Chess with an Alien who keeps on swapping boards and is never satisfied with any of them.
The employee who is known to write the “Alien Chess” memo described the internal structure and procedure to be a painful one. He went on by witnessing the bummer as failed projects, hiring and disqualifying of workers, vague and failed projects dominated by technical shifts, regulation, criticism, and societal pressure, and at the same time the Company growing to 160 times.
Initially, the worker enjoyed playing the Chess game against a grandmaster, until he realized that playing it in four different dimensions was not his cup of tea. The person after several failed attempts realized that he is playing “Alien Chess” instead of just playing “Chess.”
He went on by explaining how it works: you are all comfortable sitting at a table with a chessboard, making your fancy moves. The problem arrives when a light green alien swoops in to swap your Chessboard. Once you hunker down and play that for a while; be you the opposite color pieces, or you have a new board, the Alien takes no time in whisking that one away too. The author was optimistic that this realization assisted them in polishing their management skills.
Source: Insider.
Read next: Facebook Published A Content Report For Q3 2021, Detailing What Content Gets Traction
The data leaked paints a unique and in-depth picture of Facebook culture. Workhouse is an in-house workspace of Facebook that is accessible for its employees only. While posting on Workhouse, any employee can write about his thoughts on different issues that according to their considerations are worth mentioning. Additionally, other employees can also engage, comment, discuss and collaborate. Majority of posts on Workhouse highlight the issue of the Company being plagued not only by blurred visions and shifting priorities but also by resource scarcity along with constant reconstruction. Following this, a great number of workers are frustrated, burnt out, and disappointed seeing Facebook in a state of absolute failure.
Even on the eve of its 13th anniversary, in the September of 2020, Facebook couldn’t manage to spare itself from being targeted by its self-described manager. He was vocal about this that working in Facebook and succeeding in the internal culture is just like playing Chess with an Alien who keeps on swapping boards and is never satisfied with any of them.
The employee who is known to write the “Alien Chess” memo described the internal structure and procedure to be a painful one. He went on by witnessing the bummer as failed projects, hiring and disqualifying of workers, vague and failed projects dominated by technical shifts, regulation, criticism, and societal pressure, and at the same time the Company growing to 160 times.
Initially, the worker enjoyed playing the Chess game against a grandmaster, until he realized that playing it in four different dimensions was not his cup of tea. The person after several failed attempts realized that he is playing “Alien Chess” instead of just playing “Chess.”
He went on by explaining how it works: you are all comfortable sitting at a table with a chessboard, making your fancy moves. The problem arrives when a light green alien swoops in to swap your Chessboard. Once you hunker down and play that for a while; be you the opposite color pieces, or you have a new board, the Alien takes no time in whisking that one away too. The author was optimistic that this realization assisted them in polishing their management skills.
Source: Insider.
Read next: Facebook Published A Content Report For Q3 2021, Detailing What Content Gets Traction
