I once considered Elon Musk as my inspiration. But not anymore.
He is now what I really hate about everything in a company/organization. I feel this way after all the news I read about him on the internet (I’m explicitly saying, not just news, but his words by word - also not deep fake - with evidence.) I know he is completely against news media and it is understandable.
He is not a friendly manager. I don’t think he even knows what a healthy organization is. He just types/respond to what comes to his mind. Doesn't even think about the psychological effects on the people at the receiving end.
The reason behind his influence extends beyond just his wealth. He has a cult following of supporters who are willing to protect or criticize anyone who disagrees with him. I just don't even understand why people praise or make billionaires their point of reflection. Most of them are arrogant and crooked. I fear these kinds of people more than religious fanatics. Now I’ll explain why I’m writing about him.
I read this news today and it’s absolutely shocking.
In short check the below image.
Imagine being fired or getting an “exit interview” like this. Yep, that’s enough internet for today. I’d rather work any other job than like this. I don't want to work for/with a person like this, never - ever.
The person named “Halli” is the founder of the Ueno agency. I hope all the designers who have experience of 8+ years know this agency.
Which was later acquired by Twitter and he described why in his post above.
Below paragraphs are quoted from BBC
The Iceland-based entrepreneur had sold his company, Ueno, a creative design agency, to Twitter in early 2021 - after founding the firm in Reykjavik in 2014.
As part of the acquisition he became a full-time employee at Twitter.
"I decided to sell for a few reasons but one of them is that I have muscular dystrophy and my body is slowly but surely failing me," he told the BBC.
"I have a few good work years left in me so this was a way to wrap up my company, and set up myself and my family for years when I won't be able to do as much."
Mr Thorleifsson is worried that Mr Musk will not honour the contract he signed with Twitter when he sold them his company.
"This is extremely stressful. This is my retirement fund, a way to take care of myself and my family as my disease progresses. Having the richest man in the world on the other end of this, potentially refusing to stand by contracts is not easy for me to accept," he said.
A → B
Now, you know a lot of managers out there who are looking for things like this, so that they can follow this with less or without noise. His way of doing and people normalizing these processes will definitely encourage them to act like this publically. Here are two examples;
All big tech corporations started to lay off employees after he did at Twitter. But all heat was only towards Elon even Sundar Pichai escaped.
Zuck started to roll out the so-called “blue tick” for a monthly subscription after Elon did this at Twitter. Now everyone will follow this - because it became an opportunity. Now anyone can spread misinformation with a verification mark.
See, I like Elon only for his space and Tesla-related topics. And I know someone will ask “he was like this at those companies, and look where those companies stand…”
Well, I have only one answer to this and please don't compare Apples to Oranges.
The probability of Elon fixing Twitter is 70 - 80% because after all this noise people stay there because there is no direct competition or replica for Twitter. It’s difficult to generate big profits from platforms like this. As a designer, I can't change the way something works regularly or instantly. We will lose users or customer support will get a lot of angry emails. But he doesn't care, he can do whatever he wants because he has backup. But we can't. There is a difference. And frankly, we can’t afford his business practice or his reinvention.
Twitter is like a mental asylum, I tried and but no thanks. I need my mental peace. It will give you more problems than anything.
People will stay at their intentionally stressful jobs for only two things and that is money and the idea of supporting their family.
I’ll write more sooner or later. Now I’m tired of all this negativity.
Update 08 March 2023
