A Question of Judgment and Learning at Yahoo!

Kathy Savitt and Marissa Mayer

As Ms. Savitt works to rebuild Yahoo's image, she also hopes to turn around her own career following the failure of her social commerce startup, Lockerz Inc. The Seattle company, which rewarded visitors with iPads and other freebies in exchange for watching ads, burned through more than $50 million in venture capital funding over three years as it struggled to attract users and advertisers. Ms. Savitt left for Yahoo in September 2012, and last month Lockerz was sold to Chinese e-commerce player Light In The Box Ltd. for a fraction of the money investors put in, rendering the shares held by most employees and early backers worthless. 

Through Yahoo and her recent friendship with Ms. Mayer, Ms. Savitt has a second chance to accomplish what she failed to do with Lockerz: Build a cool online brand with youth appeal.

Reference: Marketing Chief Kathy Savitt's Star Rises at Yahoo (emphasis, added).

I do not begrudge Savitt her second chance, and no one ought to, either.  But there are a few things from this Wall Street Journal report that is concerning about her rise at Yahoo! 

How well is Mayer actually able to spot talent and to make the right decision vis-à-vis the talent Yahoo! needs?  

The fiasco with Henrique de Castro may not quite be resolved, if she didn't tease out crucial lessons learned and honed-in on skills gaps in her leadership repertoire.  The fact that she elevated a friend, however, suggests that her judgment may still be compromised.        

How much does Savitt understand the crucial factors for her previous successes and failures?  

It's a parallel learning and development effort to that of Mayer.  She clearly succeeded at forging relationships and climbing the corporate ladder. But she may, or may not, have the stuff required to help turn around Yahoo!  Also, I hope that there is a saving grace to her departure from Lockerz, but from the sounds of the Wall Street Journal report, she was the captain who jumped her sinking ship first.  So besides competency, there is a question of character squarely on her.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD