Mark Zuckerberg’s Memo Isn’t Leadership
It was recently reported that Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg released a letter dealing with intolerant behavior on behalf of his employees. Apparently, within Facebook HQ has a wall where employees are encouraged to share thoughts, ideas or general musings for public consumption. “Black Lives Matters”, the hashtag turned social movement, was among the material written on the wall. Unfortunately to some faction of Facebook employees this was not well received and the words were either erased or replaced with the demeaning counter argument of “All Lives Matter”. Mr. Zuckerberg having already released an internal memo to deal with and denounce these incidents only to have them continue upped the ante in a tersely worded letter to employees. You can read it in full here.
The letter was positively received as evidence of Mark Zuckerberg “getting it”. He was applauded for his clear and unequivocal support for a tolerant work place environment. He also scored points by making a concise case for Black Lives Matter and its relevance given the historical and current social climate. All of these things are good but they are not positions to be lauded. Nor are they examples of visionary leadership.
Peter F. Drucker sums it up perfectly “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
What Mr. Zuckerberg demonstrates is good managerial skills (with a healthy dose of understanding the power of public relations), nothing more and nothing less. As the Founder and CEO of one of the most highly visible companies in the world it is Managerial 101 to confront any issues of workplace intolerance head on. In this respect he does 100% the correct thing. His messaging is clear and leaves no grey area for the offending employees. But, this is NOT an example of leadership, least of all visionary leadership as many have cited. In short, Mr. Zuckerberg is doing what he is “supposed to do” and as Chris Rock says I can’t give him too much credit for that. Facebook exists within an industry that has rightly come under fire for its shocking lack of diversity. Only 2% of the Facebook total workforce is African American and 4% is Hispanic. Leadership in this context would be an aggressive push to diversify Facebook ranks throughout the organization. Recruiting, hiring and retaining a diverse workforce would prove that Facebook is inclusive in both word and action. The right thing, the visionary leadership thing, is to put forth actionable plans designed to upend the status quo. It is no longer enough to give lip service to diversity while not making concerted efforts to address inclusion. Mr. Zuckerberg is a great manager but we’re still waiting for the leader to emerge as it pertains to diversity and inclusion.
The Deep Dive
- Episode 223: Words as Violence w/ Alia Dastagir May 8, 2025Philip welcomes journalist Alia Dastagir, author of To Those Who Have Confused You to Be a Person: Words as Violence and Stories of Women’s Resistance Online. In their conversation, they discuss the harm and violence that women encounter online and how it effects our digital and cultural spaces. The Drop – The segment of the […]
- Episode 222: Making Futures Work w/ Phil Balagtas May 1, 2025Philip welcomes “fellow Phil” Phil Balagtas, author of Making Futures Work to the show. In their conversation, they discuss the myriad ways in which Futures has evolved as a discipline, what role strategy plays in future making and why are we fascinated by flying cars? The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip […]
- Episode 221: Everyday Habits and Radical Engagement w/ Adam Kahane April 24, 2025Philip welcomes Adam Kahane, author of Everyday Habits for Transforming Systems. In their conversation, they discuss how transformation rarely works the way most people assume and how building on everyday habits can create systemic change. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and his guest share tasty morsels of intellectual goodness and […]
- Episode 220: Research for Designers w/ Gjoko Muratovski April 17, 2025Philip welcomes Gjoko Muratovski, editor of Research for Designers: A Guide to Methods and Practices (3rd Edition). In their conversation they discuss how design has changed over the decades and how effective it is when confronting the worlds most intractable problems. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and his guest share […]
- Episode 219: The Rise of the Alt-Reich w/ Nafeez Ahmed March 27, 2025Philip welcomes Nafeez Ahmed, author of Alt Reich: The Network War to Destroy the West From Within to the show. In their conversation they discuss the rise of the modern right and how the legacy of fascism forms the foundation for their ideology. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and his […]
- Episode 218: The Dao of Complexity w/Dr. Jean Boulton March 20, 2025Philip welcomes Dr. Jean Boulton, author of The Dao of Complexity to the show. In this episode they discuss the myriad ways in which the philosophy of Dao connects to complexity. In their wide ranging conversation, they tackle physics, philosophy and how as beings we are more than any singular “thing” The Drop – The […]
- Episode 217: Complexity & Organizations w/ Chris Mowles March 13, 2025Philip welcomes Chris Mowles, author of Complexity: A Key Idea for Business and Society and editor of Complexity and Organizations to the show. In their conversation, they trace the origins of complexity as a discipline, explain why “complexity is having a moment’ and what does it mean to apply it our organized world. The Drop […]
- Episode 216: Collapse, Trauma and Solidarity w/Ginie Servant-Miklos & Pamela Armitage March 6, 2025Philip welcomes Ginie Servant-Miklos author of Pedagogies of Collapse and Pamela Armitage, Chief Impact Officer at Studium Violentiae and Violence Prevention, Trauma and Defense Educator to the show to discuss the specific ways that trauma acts on and reinforces challenges to solidarity. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and his guest […]
- Episode 215: Just Enough Is Not The Minimum w/Erika Hall February 27, 2025Philip welcomes back designer and author of “Just Enough Research” Erika Hall to the show to discuss how “just enough” is a bigger concept than you think and how design and research play pivotal roles in how we shape and think about the world. The Drop – The segment of the show where Philip and […]
- Episode 214: Survival is a Promise w/Alexis Pauline Gumbs February 20, 2025Philip welcomes poet/writer Alexis Pauline Gumbs to the show to discuss her book Survival Is A Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde, a biography of poet, writer, educatpr Audre Lorde. In their conversation, they explore Audre Lorde’s like, work and legacy and the incredible resonance she continues to have to generations of thinkers and […]