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For black CEOs in Silicon Valley, humiliation is a part of doing business

(www.bloomberg.com)
677 points saeedjabbar | 2 comments | 16 Jun 20 15:19 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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busterarm ◴[17 Jun 20 00:04 UTC] No.23545943[source]▶
I used to work for a regional ILEC and everyone in the company was required to do regular ridealongs with the installers to get a better understanding of the customer base and their needs.

Me (a white guy) would frequently do ridealongs with some of our black installers and I would see this kind of treatment from customers regularly. I wasn't dressed like I was doing install work (business casual) and was clearly younger and would tell the customer in advance that I worked in X department and was just learning from the installer.

People would talk to me like the installer wasn't there. It really didn't matter what demographic either, it was pretty universal. Except for one older lady. She didn't even want me in her house if I wasn't there to physically work on her service. I liked her.

replies(1): >>23546733 #
1. gowld ◴[17 Jun 20 01:39 UTC] No.23546733[source]▶
Did you learn anything from the customers? Isn't it obvious what phone customers want when they ask for phone service? It's not a complicated custom product for the user.
replies(1): >>23547154 #
2. busterarm ◴[17 Jun 20 02:47 UTC] No.23547154[source]▶
It's not about learning from the customers.

It's about learning the disconnect between what the customers report and what the actual problem is. It's about learning what the field technicians have to deal with and how the service actually works.

Cable, DSL & Fiber internet are much more complicated services than anyone gives them credit for.