Intel management yell profanities?

March 31, 2007 6:43 PM

Once heard a story about Intel executives going through some kind of management/communication training in which they were encouraged to swear (yell profanities) at one another...

Had something to do with letting go of airs and overcoming reluctance to speak openly/honestly with each other I think. Anyhoo, I'm trying to verify this occurred, and hopefully find a written description of the session, who ran it, for what exact purpose, etc.

Any help hive? Thank you.

posted by pallen123 to Human Relations (7 answers total)

Verbal assault to encourage communication? Hmmm. I highly doubt it, I just Googled quite a few possible keywords and nothing came up. But, like you, if they did do something like this - I'd love to hear the rationale.

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posted by Gerard Sorme at 7:36 PM on March 31, 2007

Take a look at this article about Fernando Flores. It describes a communication training session at an unnamed company where managers are made to speak openly and honestly to each other.
posted by needled at 8:15 PM on March 31, 2007

That doesn't sound like Andy Grove's style.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 9:21 PM on March 31, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks, the Fernando Flores article is interesting. I also did google searches and found nothing specifically bout Intel and this type of seminar.

I'm trying to research the landscape of consultants/academics/coaches using language and how people communicate with each other at work, to improve results. The Intel example was going to serve as a landscape milestone at the far end of conventional.

Any other references, like the Flores one, are greatly appreciated!
posted by pallen123 at 2:20 PM on April 1, 2007

Well, on the opposite of the spectrum there's M. Scott Peck's book "A World Waiting to be Born", where he explores how people interact and can interact better and more effectively.

On a side note, it's interesting that one's personal life isn't always reflectd in their writings or vice versa. I was really surprised by his book "In Search of Stones".
posted by lysdexic at 2:42 PM on April 1, 2007

The book Absolute Absolute Honesty: Building a Corporate Culture That Values Straight Talk and Rewards Integrity talks a bit about practices at Intel, such as constructive confrontation. I don't remember the details too much.
posted by needled at 6:09 PM on April 1, 2007

Oddly enough, I've taken the management training courses at Intel back in the mid-90's. I recall a course that had us do mock presentations for each other, video taping them. Intel does have several 'concepts' for contstructive dissonances, like 'disagree and commit', where you formally agree to disagree, but also formally agree on what the compromise is. I don't recall any actual yelling courses though.
posted by nomisxid at 7:30 PM on April 1, 2007