I certainly do not intend to take Travis' side on anything, but sometimes genuine internal realizations are set off by external events (e.g. Spiderman and his Uncle getting shot, or in more seriousness, any number of reformed ex-cons). The problem is that it is largely impossible for an external observer to differentiate genuine internal realization and competency at public relations.
> ...it is largely impossible for an external observer to differentiate...
Not impossible at all. You do it by observing behavior before and after the supposed epiphany; time will reveal whether this particular leopard has truly managed to change his shorts.
It'll be interesting, in particular, to observe how he reacts when people directly challenge his fitness to discharge his role in ways he can't or won't ignore. I gather that in the past he's tended to react to such challenges precipitously and, where possible, punitively. If he's genuinely gained a new perspective on his behavior and its consequences, I would not expect that to continue.
Very fair. I meant to say that it is hard to tell in this moment, and agree with your assessment that behavior change over a future time interval (presumably with longer intervals resulting in better confidence) is a good test.
Unfortunately, I don't think any sort of epiphany will undo the damage that has been done.
Looking beyond the employees at Uber who have had to suffer through a toxic culture, I am troubled by the fact that the largest private company in the world has done some shady shit[1], and has largely been allowed to get away with it. I shudder to think of the founders out there who are thinking "Maybe it isn't so bad to be a dick. It seems to be a key component of Travis' success!".
The good news is that determining the truth of "internal realizations" is entirely irrelevant. Look at what people do, what they have done, not what they say.
On that account, Uber and Kalanick's track record is quite clear. We've gone through this apology ruse any number of times, and yet here we are again.
> We've gone through this apology ruse any number of times, and yet here we are again.
Not to this degree. He said he intends to get help. Companies don't change their culture without the CEO being involved in the process. A CEO saying this is a big deal.
I'm sorry, but its not. A "big deal" would have been not engaging in subprime lending that most likely put the driver in this desperate position, where he's recording the CEO in some last ditch effort to get the broader community to acknowledge his humanity. Or any of the other myriad atrocious things they've done to their customers and employees.
This is up against the wall PR BS. But the fact that people believe it explains a lot about how we got where we are with Uber.
> This is up against the wall PR BS. But the fact that people believe it explains a lot about how we got where we are with Uber.
Interesting. I'd say your unwillingness to accept someone who says they want help is what led us to having liars as CEOs. You want someone perfect, but, nobody is perfect.
This false binary you're pushing between Kalanick and perfect just doesn't hold water. There are plenty of CEOs whose values and track record I strongly disagree with, but don't hold in the same disregard(e.g. Zuckerberg).
When you're willing to send thugs to intimidate women who leak details about the prevalence of sexual assault at your company, it takes more than a blog post to climb back to credibility.
New companies don't develop a culture without the founder being a major influencer.
The idea that he has just now realized what was going on at "Boober" and is shocked, shocked! to learn about it and that it was bad, strains credulity well past the point of breaking.
This is him trying to say whatever he thinks will take the heat off for a while. Prediction: a year from now no substantive change whatsoever within Uber.
He doesn't sound shocked to me. The brevity of this post makes him sound pensive, like, oh my god, this is what I am, what have I done and how do I fix it?
You can't write much about that beyond what he did.
I'll make a counter prediction, that something does change. Nothing good comes from wishing for their failure.
