Stuart Crabb of Facebook #ASTDTK12

My live notes from the general session at ASTD TK12 on Thursday.

Humans have been collaborating since the dawn of time. Facebook didn’t invent that, just created a great tool.

What does it mean to be social? It’s not new. (Cave drawings from 32,000 BC – telling a story, sharing with those around them). We’ve been doing social networking for millions of years.

(He’s using Facebook timeline to tell the story).

Middle ages the Guttenberg Press – huge advance in mass communication. Mass distribution of thoughts and ideas.

1970 Marshall McLuhan ‘the medium is the message’

1995 The Internet

2004 Facebook and the social graph – the social layer of the internet which allows people to connect and share. People want the opportunity to share and connect – this is why it’s taken off, not because Facebook created this amazing product…

Newsfeed – sharing the story of what your friends are doing.

YOU are the censor of your own social graph. You are at the heart, the center of your social graph.

Who is Facebook?

Huge potential to push out content at scale within organizations.

Five Values:

1. focus on impact
2. move fast
3. be bold
4. be open (everyone needs to be able to challenge things throughout the company)
5. build trust (need the trust of our users)

How do you motivate the Facebook generation?

www.trendera.com – research on generations. Danger in talking about stereotypes and in assuming these are absolutes.

Characteristics

Boomers: strong work ethic, respectful, loyalty, hours equals output

Xers (1964-78): independent, skeptical, job change drives worth, work/life balance

Ys: values driven, need to know why (offspring of helicopter mom’s), many career changes, very peer oriented (more concerned with what peers say than managers.

Motivation:

Boomers: moving up ladder

xers: flex, control of work/life

Y: need & expect praise (feedback systems in orgs need to change), flexibility in life, co-worker recognition matters

Y generation is more connected to technology and the social platform than any before them.

 

Need to challenge assumptions about our performance culture.

Five insights gained at Facebook – found through trial and error – to create a performance culture that speaks to this generation:

Not “I can learn most from those with more experience than me” – but “I want to learn from those around me”.

• Not “Excellence is defined by what I know and what I do well” – instead “Excellence is defined by my strengths and what I ship” (so no more competency framework – instead a strengths based partnership)
• Not “Progression in my career is vertical & logical” – instead “career development is like a jungle gym” (propogate the notion of people moving all over the jungle gym – to give opp to do something cool that plays to strenghts)
• Not “effective learning is in the class and rooted in books” – but “small bites of real-time learning on the job are the most powerful.” (FB subscribes to the 70, 20, 10 model – 10 % formal learning, 70% on the job, 20% coaching/mentoring)
• Not “The performance review helps me stay on track and grow” – let’s take performance reviews out to the back shed and shoot it -- "instead “constant real-time feedback helps me get better everyday and know what’s next” – this allows people to course correct very quickly. (FB has an internal platform to record feedback and share it –it’s social – anyone can give feedback to anyone else).

Traversing the jungle gym is not about title, hierarchy, level or compensation (roles) but strengths, learning, self-improvement (experiences) – there are amazing opps in front of you but you have to earn that.

70% of Facebook were born after 1979.

Extrinsic things, to create alignment:

• No office or cubes
• fighting to keep a small culture as they grow
• one job title “engineer” (common job roles)
• Food is free at facebook, take care of dry cleaning, fitness center (want to create an environment where it’s easy to come to work and there’s no great friction getting there – they can focus on task at hand)
• Reward for impact and execution – all reward decisions are based on peer calibration

Intrinsic factors:

• everyone is an owner – we tell people when they come in the door “don’t be a douchebag” –
• We sprint and pause – you have to own that
• we give thanks – built a tool to give people recognition and thanks. give a clear signal that you did something right.
• We are hackers

In a survey, 83% said they value feedback from their peers.

It’s not about the hours, it’s about output

He shows a four minute video of interviews with new employees:

• “move fast and break stuff”
• “it’s about making mistakes and learning from them”
• “be super ambitious the moment you walk in the door”
• “I’m amazed at how many lives it touches every day”
• “everyone believes we are changing the world”

Join the conversation.Don’t block it!

Use the FB platform to build apps…

Learning needs to be a social experience. Communities of practice – built on authenticity, social by design.

It’s a jungle gym out there. Opportunity based career experiences – shift conversation from structure to opportunity.

Set your organization free from traditional career development!

Be an architect of change.