Slack and Its Ilk Shine a Light on Organizational Problems. Be Thankful.

Ellen Cushing's recent piece in The Atlantic "Slackers of the World, Unite!" is garnering quite the buzz. Cushing tells the tale of Andela, a company that helps identify African software developers. From the article:

The maker of the chat software had recently become one of San Francisco’s trendiest new companies, based on a promise to make work communication more transparent and fluid. And at Andela, it did. As the company grew, Slack became its central nervous system, the place where business was conducted and where the company’s culture was formed.

Over time, it also became the site of a workplace revolt, as the company’s fellows—engineers in training—began to agree that they were being mistreated. The complaints started in private messaging groups, where they’d discuss priorities before big meetings, in order to act as a sort of bloc in front of senior leadership. But when the fellows stopped being invited to those meetings, they created a private Slack channel where they’d air their grievances, especially about pay. (The author cites ASU's 140,000 individual Slack accounts. If more than 20 percent of them are active, lunch is on me.)

I encourage you to read the whole thing.

Why Many Executives Fear Slack and Its Ilk