Apple Emulates the Timnit Gebru Method
October 26, 2021
Remember Dr. Timnit Gebru. This individual was the researcher who apparently did not go along with the tension flow related to Google’s approach to snorkeling. (Don’t get the snorkel thing? Yeah, too bad.) The solution was to exit Dr. Gebru and move in a Googley manner forward.
Now the Apple “we care about privacy” outfit appears to have reached a “me too moment” in management tactics.
Two quick examples:
First, the very Silicon Valley Verge published “Apple Just Fired a Leader of the #AppleToo Movement.” I am not sure what the AppleToo thing encompasses, but it obviously sparked the Timnit option. The write up says:
Apple has fired Janneke Parrish, a leader of the #AppleToo movement, amid a broad crackdown on leaks and worker organizing. Parrish, a program manager on Apple Maps, was terminated for deleting files off of her work devices during an internal investigation — an action Apple categorized as “non-compliance,” according to people familiar with the situation.
Okay, deletes are bad. I figured that out when Apple elected to get rid of the backspace key.
Second, Gizmodo, another Silicon Valley information service, revealed “Apple Wanted Her Fired. It Settled on an Absurd Excuse.” The write up reports:
The next email said she’d been fired. Among the reasons Apple provided, she’d “failed to cooperate” with what the company called its “investigatory process.”
Hasta la vista, Ashley Gjøvik.
Observations:
- The Timnit method appears to work well when females are involved in certain activities which run contrary to the Apple way. (Note that the Apple way includes flexibility in responding to certain requests from nation states like China.)
- The lack of information about the incidents is apparently part of the disappearing method. Transparency? Yeah, not so much in Harrod’s Creek.
- The one-two disappearing punch is fascinating. Instead of letting the dust settle, do the bang-bang thing.
Net net: Google’s management methods appear to be viral at least in certain management circles.
Stephen E Arnold, October 26, 2021
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