Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his resignation the next day

Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by draw_down on Thursday March 17, 2016 @03:44PM (#11307014)

Yes, it's too bad. But this is how business functions, this person sounds either naive or maybe just fed up. We all know it but don't want to think about it, or for those who are on the gravy train, don't want it discussed.

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by AndyNemmity on Thursday March 17, 2016 @04:06PM (#11307161)

This is how business functions, and perhaps I haven't realized how much insight I get into this. I just consider all of this normal, but the reaction of HackerNews commenters is making me think that people honestly don't realize this is standard operation procedure in all verticals.

What I heard was a completely benign, candid analysis of the situation.

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by draw_down on Thursday March 17, 2016 @04:22PM (#11307293)

It's candid, but not benign because the truth isn't benign. People in this person's position are not supposed to say the truth about the intersection of the government and his business. We're supposed to pretend it's all competitive or whatever.

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by PhantomGremlin on Thursday March 17, 2016 @04:39PM (#11307413)

It's candid, but not benign because the truth isn't benign.

You're quite correct.

not supposed to say the truth ... supposed to pretend

But in the above you're missing a key word in two places:

not supposed to publicly say the truth ... supposed to publicly pretend

And that is the essence of the problem. Any business that wants to survive must have ongoing internal discussions based on reality. However, their public face should necessarily be quite different. This was explained in Bull Durham:

   Crash Davis: It's time to work on your interviews.

   Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: My interviews? What do I gotta do?

   Crash Davis: You're gonna have to learn your clichés.
   You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to
   know them. They're your friends. Write this down:
   "We gotta play it one day at a time."

   Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: Got to play... it's pretty boring.

   Crash Davis: 'Course it's boring, that's the point.
   Write it down.

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by draw_down on Thursday March 17, 2016 @04:45PM (#11307455)

I disagree somewhat, plausible deniability is the key. You acknowledge reality in internal discussions, but it is still coded in a way that is plausibly deniable and full of euphemism.

This is covered in V. Rao's "The Gervais Principle", specifically the section on "Powertalk" http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/11/11/the-gervais-principle-i...

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by PhantomGremlin on Thursday March 17, 2016 @05:10PM (#11307637)

Excellent link!

My engineer Loser brain is about to explode. Those are secrets of management Sociopaths. It's anathema to me, but maybe I'm just Clueless. :)

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by RachelF on Thursday March 17, 2016 @08:12PM (#11308779)

That is a mind-blowing link. The world of managers is all perception management, while us engineers live in a real world of things.

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Re:Recording of aerospace executive's speech leads to his re... by AndyNemmity on Thursday March 17, 2016 @04:30PM (#11307354)

Fundamentally I think we're in agreement here.

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