The Cult of We
I, a millennial, am aware of the Peoples’ Temple
The Cult of We by Eliot Brown and Maureen Farrell is a very detailed account of the rise and fall of WeWork and how it was tied to its "visionary," Adam Neumann. I was interested in this book because I had previously listened to the two episodes of Behind the Bastards on Neumann (Part 1 Part 2) and wanted more detailed content. This is a deep dive into Neumann and his effect on WeWork, so if you don't want all the nitty-gritty on the investments by SoftBank and Neumann's relationship with the Saudi Royal family, just listen to the podcast episodes.
The underlying theme of this book, as well as other books about the tech industry and adjacent businesses, is that the lie of meritocracy allows unhinged maniacs to accrue wealth and power on a sand foundation of "innovation." In that way, it is extremely depressing, especially when discussions on maternity leave and other necessary accommodations for working people – Neumann has called maternity leave "vacation" on multiple occasions and regularly demoted women after coming back from leave.
The details of the day-to-day atmosphere at WeWork seem to me almost too bananas to be true:
“A small subset of its staff, though, were wary. One former manager recalled being told to “drink the Kool-Aid,” in a positive way. He was confused: Did these millennials not know about the 1970s cult and ensuing mass suicide that had inspired the term?”
At this point, I would like to state that I, a millennial, am aware of the Peoples' Temple, Jim Jones, and the poisoned Flavor Aid (not Kool-Aid).
This book has the feel of a soap opera but is also deeply maddening. The bananas behavior of Adam Neumann is particularly maddening and I had to take breaks while reading. It's pretty clear that someone like Neumann should never have had this much influence in the first place – he suggested himself as the ideal candidate for the first president of the world – and that his reign at the head of WeWork did a lot of damage to a lot of people.
