Intro
When trying to figure out what to talk about for this week’s blog post, I kept coming back to when Greg, and most recently Sean, discussed Silicon Valley and the culture that surrounds the tech hub. These conversations, along with watching the HBO show Silicon Valley, have led me to write about the absurdity of Silicon Valley culture, which almost sounds too ridiculous to be true. Silicon Valley is known for being on the cutting edge of workplace practices, offering a progressive workplace culture with an abundance of young people. Sean, our most recent speaker, emphasized the extreme difference he found going from Synovus to SVB. This sizable difference has garnered lots of positives but it doesn’t come without downfalls. I will be using the show Silicon Valley to display some of these consequences and the absurdity of it all. I will be comparing real-life accounts to the show’s satirical accounts, but I will try to leave out spoilers.
Negatives
In the show, there are several characters from a rival company that often belittle and make fun of the main character, all while using tech lingo and displaying their large egos. This trope is known as a “tech bro” and apparently is surprisingly accurate to many who work at start-ups in Silicon Valley. I’m sure we’ve all heard this joke term but this tech start-up archetype has become well known to contribute to misogynistic cultures at some tech startups. An example is Uber which has been the subject of many lawsuits surrounding its “misogynistic” culture. With only 20% of the industry being women this idea is further perpetuated. This trope is used a lot throughout the show and usually exaggerates their antics, however I do believe the culture and principles of Silicon Valley, like long hours and over-dedication to technology, may perpetuate this type of person in many companies. The showrunners describe the philosophy of Silicon Valley as “hippie culture that has run headlong into rampant capitalism.” The show does a good job of displaying this idea by creating a fictional Google called “Hooli.” The show uses Hooli as a way to poke fun at the ridiculousness of the tech giants by displaying the Hooli offices with weirdly phrased signs and a comical amount of food stations. This idea of tech companies having lots of perks seems almost like a contest to attract talent. While I’m sure working on these campuses is enjoyable, it also leads to another issue in Silicon Valley culture, the blending of work-life balance. It is commonplace in SV for employees to work long hours and even be shamed for only working the normal 40 hours a week. This idea of companies offering perks becomes a bit weird because it’s as if they are blending all aspects of someone’s life at their workplace. I’ve even seen reports that some companies are offering laundry, entertainment, and healthcare. While this may seem like the future of the workplace it may lead to higher rates of burnout because SV companies expect more hours from their average employee due to their “perks”. Other companies are adopting this progressive work environment but it originated from Silicon Valley culture.
Positives
Silicon Valley’s culture has positives as well that shouldn’t be overlooked. There is a reason that it became the hub of innovation and technology. The casual culture that Silicon Valley fosters creates a good environment for genuine collaboration and teamwork. I believe this to be the driving force behind the innovation that is all over Silicon Valley. The show displays this idea too with the main characters being part of an “incubator” which in the show is a house where they all work on their own projects. While this incubator idea is exaggerated in the show they do exist in real life but focus more on guidance and overall teaching rather than a place to live. Another positive that I think drives innovation is the competitiveness of the area. So many companies and only so many opportunities drive companies to be better and more efficient. The show displays this in an extreme sense where the main villain of the first two seasons is a cutthroat and savvy business leader that tries to steal ideas. That level of competition could be bad but also could foster higher levels of innovation in the industry.
Conclusion
Overall Silicon Valley seems to have a very odd culture attached to it and I feel as if the show does a great job of not only describing but making fun of it. Bill Gates has even said the show is “fairly accurate” with its depiction of the industry. I urge anyone to watch the show because not only is it very funny, but it is also very well-researched and is about topics we learn in this class.
