(2006-11-19) Yahoo Garlinghouse Shakeup Memo

An internal Yahoo memo by Brad Garlinghouse was leaked to the Wall St Journal. This is Yahoo's dirty laundry spread all over the world for everyone to see, and it voices a frustration that suggests CEO Terry Semel's chief lieutenants are restless and frustrated... "I've heard our strategy described as spreading peanut butter across the myriad opportunities that continue to evolve in the online world. The result: a thin layer of investment spread across everything we do and thus we focus on nothing in particular. I hate peanut butter. We all should." (this is known as the Peanut Butter Manifesto.) (BigCo messiness.)

One recommendation some people have is to combine the acquired A-List brands like FlickR into the higher-traffic "mainstream" products like YahooPhotos. Doc Searls would not like that.

Dec05 update: ReOrg announced - will it matter?

2013: Brad's update: If a business has to be told that it needs more focus, accountability and decisiveness, there is a bigger problem at hand. Truly successful businesses encourage these qualities innately by creating and fostering a culture that inspires each individual to perform at their peak and rewards passion and results without peanut buttering the end of year bonus.