Notes on spaces seen through windows
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| Recluse reflections: Microsoft snubs the "Creative Class" Notes on spaces seen through windows |
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Monday, April 25, 2005 Microsoft snubs the "Creative Class"
When it changed its official position on Washington's relatively simple anti-discrimination law from support to "neutral", Microsoft demonstrated why it has consistently had trouble with the "creativity thing". The company is notorious for following the pack of high-tech innovators without ever joining them. The company makes great software, but rarely do they make highly innovative software.But what does any of that have to do with their corporate position on a bit of local gay-rights legislation? In a widely-circulated letter to employees, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer argued that the company needed to focus on its core values and that something like an anti-discrimination law is not among the things that are important to the company's business. He notes, "As long as I am CEO, Microsoft is going to be a company that is hard-core about diversity, a company that is absolutely rigorous about having a non-discriminatory environment, and a company that treats every employee fairly." After expressing his personal support for the state anti-discrimiation law, Ballmer notes that "I am also adamant that I want Microsoft to be a place where every employee feels respected, and where every employee feels like they belong. I don't want the company to be in the position of appearing to dismiss the deeply-held beliefs of any employee, by picking sides on social policy issues." In his email, Ballmer seems to be arguing that Microsoft has many employees and stockholders who support discrimination for some groups of people and whose intolerance is rooted in "deeply-held beliefs". That's no doubt true. Microsoft has always welcomed a diverse work force that includes people with a wide range of viewpoints on virtually all issues. That diverse workforce clearly includes some who are intolerant of the very kind of diversity that Microsoft has, in the past, welcomed. In his letter, Ballmer essentially argues that the views of those intolerant employees and stockholders must be respected. By shifting from official support to official neutrality on the state's recent anti-discrimination legislation, Microsoft has shown its respect for the kind of intolerance promoted widely by the anti-gay preacher who met twice with Microsoft executives. Can diversity co-exist with the kind of intolerance that Microsoft now feels it must respect? That's doubtful. Those who opposed the anti-discrimination law felt that discrimination against this particular group should be allowed in the state of Washington. Can any company truly embrace diversity as Ballmer insists Microsoft is committed to doing if it feels the need to respect an intolerant views of a minority of employees? Can intolerance and diversity co-exist? That is one of the great problems that has always faced diverse societies. In general, the rule seems to be that intolerance must be tolerated, but not respected or encouraged. How could Microsoft's support for defacto discrimination and its support for an intolerant group of employees and stockholders affect its core mission? Richard Florida, an urban-planner/academic who has spoken frequently in Seattle, has argued that the creative class on which Microsoft and other high-tech companies depend for their employee base is nurtured by diversity and stifled by the very kind of intolerance that Microsoft now feels it must respect. Diversity has become a politically charged buzzword. To some it is an ideal and rallying cry, to others a Trojan-horse concept that has brought us affirmative action and other liberal abominations. The Creative Class people I study use the word a lot, but not to press any political hot buttons. Diversity is simply something they value in all its manifistations. This is spoken of so often, and so matter-of-factly, that I take it to be a fundamental marker of Creative Class values.... See this page. Despite its back-pedaling on the state anti-discrimination bill, Microsoft stills offers benefits to same-sex couples and includes strong diversity-enhancing rules in its own hiring policies. But the company's refusal to continue to actively support a state law that would codify the very kind of non-discriminatory practices that Microsoft claims to practice seems to indicate a weak embrace of diversity. Ballmer argues that the company must show respect for intolerance among its employees. One might guess that this new respect for intolerance among employees will have a long-term chilling effect on diversity at the company. If Florida is right about the importance of diversity to potential employees, then Microsoft risks losing more than a few of those potential "creative class" creatures by this very public demonstration disdain for diversity. That can't be much good for the core mission of the company. Technorati tags: Microsoft Diversity Intolerance Gay Richard Florida posted by WebWrangler | 10:12 AM | Link | 0 comments
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