Here's the best explanation I've seen. It's from https://twitter.com/oliverbcampbell/status/15934343291532451...

I'm going to explain what Elon Musk is likely doing over there at Twitter. This is not a discussion on whether it's RIGHT OR WRONG; just what's happening.

If I'm wrong, I'm sure he'll pop up and say so.

What Elon is engaged in is something called "Whaling and Culling."

First, the "Whaling":

It's a common refrain that you've probably heard at some point or another "10% of people do 90% of the work." That's what that tight 2 week deadline for Twitter Blue was for; he was perfectly aware that it was an unrealistic time frame. It was a test.

By pushing for such an extremely tight deadline, Elon got to see who is actually doing work and who is resting on their laurels. Furthermore, it proved who could actually perform under extreme pressure.

You know, the whole "get this done or you're fired" level of pressure.

Hence, Elon was looking for the whales at the company. The heavy hitting, actually producing and hard people who have been there for a while. When the whales don't have to carry dead weight, they perform like the equivalent of 10 people.

Second is the "Culling." When you've got 90% of the people not performing, they're actually negatively impacting the 10% who ARE performing above and beyond. And that's why the layoffs happened. Paraphrased, 'shit is gonna change around here, get on board or get out'

So by culling unproductive staff, he actually untied the hands of the PRODUCTIVE staff. Fewer obstacles to getting in the way of getting things done. It also revealed to him who was there to make Twitter a better product, versus who was there to be 'activists'.

So now you've chopped your workforce down to people who actually perform, but they're not enough to run everything.

This is why after all those people are let go, there's going to be a surprise hiring of a new bunch of people. Why?

Because the productive people actually know WHAT THEY NEED to get things done. Don't be surprised if the people that are left get to be part of the interviewing process for the new people. They'll be looking for efficiency and people who don't make THEIR jobs more difficult.

So, when you continually slice away the bad portions of something, all that you're left with is 1 of 2 potential outcomes:

1) Nothing usable. It was rotten at the core.

2) Some substantially good bits you can salvage and build on.

Elon is gambling on 2.

This is what he was talking about with 'Twitter 2.0.' It's likely not a 'new twitter.' Not for us. It's a new Twitter INTERNALLY. How things get done, how things get rolled out, rebuilding the company with productive and more efficient people.

What I'm saying is, take a look at the reactions: The people that are staying at twitter are hunkering down and working. The people he let go are the ones calling doom and gloom. And they're not wrong. The way "things were done" is OVER at Twitter.

So, from the outside, this looks like a giant cluster.

But it what's going to surprise you is that a great number of businesses are run exactly like this.

There's a reason layoffs happens every single year across the world. Whaling and culling. Elon is just being VERY VOCAL.

And like I said at the START OF THIS POST. I didn't say this is RIGHT OR WRONG. Just what is likely happening.

But if you never thought about it before, now you have something to think about.