Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo’s SVP responsible for some of the largest pieces of the Yahoo family (mail, IM, Yahoo’s front page), wrote an email memo – a “state of the union” manifesto document – to his staff. This memo was leaked to the Wall Street Journal and is available in its entirety here (all typos included).
In it, he calls for a full on overhaul of the organization, selling off non-core and redundant businesses, restoring accountability within management (“heads must roll”), and a 15-20% reduction in headcount.
He manages to do all of this while building a strong case for the moves and keeping strong motivation for building the business. Most Yahoo employees stopped reading at the 15-20% reduction line, but he still tries to paint the picture and inspire confidence for the road ahead. Well worth a read.
