/Tech1d ago

Engineer Admits Own Change Caused Major Outage in Learning Culture

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Mike Schroepfer@schrep#870inTech

3/ But here's what actually made it work: when something broke, we didn't ask "who did this?"

We asked "why was this even possible, and how do we make it impossible going forward?"

That's a learning culture, not a blame culture.

Mike Schroepfer@schrep

2/ At Meta, we built around iteration speed. The line everyone quotes was actually shortened.

The real phrase was "move fast and don't be afraid to break things."

The goal was never to break things. The goal was learning rate.

4:37 PM · Jun 23, 2026 · 384 Views

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Positive users praise Meta's non-blaming approach to outages as proof of genuine psychological safety that speeds fixes, while negative users pivot to racist attacks blaming diversity for harming company culture.

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Mike Schroepfer@schrep

6/ Most leaders describe their culture's strengths. The ones who actually understand it can tell you what it costs.

Thanks to @molly_g for the conversation on the WorkLife podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cwt_rMXOoU&list=PLAWu34VO7OtJTX1ycOMYsMbkhslhWv-OE

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Mike Schroepfer@schrep

4/ One story stays with me. Major site outage. Millions of dollars a minute, the whole team scrambling.

Mid-chaos, an engineer linked to a diff and said: "I think it might be this." It was their own change.

That only happens when you already know what comes next isn't blame. It's "thank you, you just got us back up faster."

Mike Schroepfer@schrep

3/ But here's what actually made it work: when something broke, we didn't ask "who did this?"

We asked "why was this even possible, and how do we make it impossible going forward?"

That's a learning culture, not a blame culture.

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Mike Schroepfer@schrep

5/ That moment probably saved us hours. But more than that, it proved the culture was real.

Psychological safety isn't a soft concept. It's how you win, because no one is sitting on the fix, too afraid to speak up.

Mike Schroepfer@schrep

4/ One story stays with me. Major site outage. Millions of dollars a minute, the whole team scrambling.

Mid-chaos, an engineer linked to a diff and said: "I think it might be this." It was their own change.

That only happens when you already know what comes next isn't blame. It's "thank you, you just got us back up faster."

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Kristine Arzumanian@tinakriisss

Sorry for contacting you directly, but I’m in a very difficult situation and I’m trying to find any possible help.

My Instagram account, @tinakriisss, with over 200,000 followers, was disabled/suspended by mistake around 20 days ago. The account is very important for my work — I have paid collaborations, clients and ongoing business connected to it. I have already contacted Meta support, but the case is still under review and nothing has been resolved yet.

I wanted to ask if there is any chance you could help me or point me to someone who might be able to assist with this situation. Of course, I’m willing to pay for your time and help.

Thank you in advance.

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William Schwandt@neoconbill

@schrep You know what kills a company culture worse than anything?

An entire datacenter full of third world Africans who speak every language imaginable and hate white people.

If your workers can't even share a joke then your company has no culture.

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APTUNCYBER@ap_tun

@tinakriisss @schrep Kindly send a DM for help

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