Not Going Anywhere

2022.04.27

In light of the recent events, many Twitter employees are fearing a brain drain. Well, guess what, we get to decide that collectively — and as far as I’m concerned, I’m not going anywhere. (Plus, I don’t carry a whole lot of brains in the first place.)

I know I am not the type of employee who has the most to fear from any potential incoming changes, and I’m very privileged in many ways. Still, what makes the company’s culture is 100% us. If we’re not going anywhere, neither is the culture. And because people like me may be in a relatively more secure position, I feel like it’s our job to speak out to say that 1) we’re not going anywhere, and 2) if there are disruptive changes coming our way, we will look out for teammates who may not be as privileged.

I spent a bunch of years studying physics, and one of the phenomena that has always fascinated me is the process of state changes. The way molecules are both intrinsically self-contained and deeply connected to their neighbors. The way tiny irregularities on the container’s surface can facilitate the forming of a “seed” of molecules deciding to switch, say, from a liquid state to gas, and how that can quickly spread. The way each molecule is influenced by its neighbors in deciding whether, and when, to change states.

Well, I’m not evaporating into anything. And even though I haven’t been at the company long enough to claim that I’m part of the culture, if I can contribute to holding the fort, I’ll be doing that with my heart and soul. Okay, that sounded overdramatic, especially since all I can do is speak and type on a keyboard. Let’s say I’ll be doing that with my voice and all ten fingers.