Some people think they can make and omelette without breaking some eggs. . . with the inmates running the asylum, we are so past this type of public arbitration.
It seems like you are torn on what you really want to do. Is it a battle for fitness, or is it all for the likes. If the goal is for more subscribers, that sounds a lot like the opposite of the pursuit of excellence.
The fact that they won’t bring Hiller on board, won’t give him a media pass, and continue to prove his points with their actions just shows their unwillingness to admit that they’re at fault. CrossFit will die out if HQ doesn’t change their ways.
Excellent take - a few thoughts. CFHQ’s response to Hiller is a symptom of emotional immaturity at the top. CFHQ is clearly trying to make CF profitable and a valuable commodity. Instead of reaching out to Hiller and having a direct conversation, CFHQ has chosen to try to discredit Hiller. Problem is, you can’t discredit Hiller when you actively acknowledge you haven’t watched Hiller’s videos. It comes across publicly as petty and damages the CF brand. Hiller is trying to help CFHQ understand the methodology and pointing out when they do things that aren’t in line with the methodology.
Balanced and fair - as I knew you would be. We need more of you around, John. Thank you for all you do - but I know you do it because you love CF and the community and what it originally stood for so much.
Lot of good points here. But what you said at the end- Don is a great leader. Let’s be clear on the situation. Don doesn’t work for CrossFit. He works for the PE firm that owns CrossFit. That’s a big difference and influences all of his decisions. The biggest point I took away from Pedro’s interview was that Don doesn’t think spending money on media is worth it. Is that a decision to help CrossFit? No. Is it a decision to save money to help the bottom line to eventually sell the company? Yes.
The sale is inevitable so you could argue that initially not investing in media so you can invest in the infrastructure is exactly what a leader does to get a company on the right footing in order to sell it to the right person who will want to use media.
@@constantlyvariedconversationswell that’s my point. Who is he a good leader for? CrossFit and the community? Or Berkshire? He definitely is the right guy for Berkshire…. But does that also mean he’s the right guy for CrossFit?
Very well said and put together. However the bigger problem is Castro has went out of his way to now defend the hiring of a person who is professional race victim. Victim hood is atrocious and will stain the company, hiring and mindset. HQ will dig their heals in and back Annette even though the affiliate members largely don’t agree with her social and political beliefs. Hiller did not attack anyone. He is pointing out what we the members want to know. CFHQ will torpedo their own ship.
Thank you for posting this today. I agree that hq could lesrn a lot from Hiller. Can you shsre a few points on why do you think Don's a good leader? I trust your judgement because of your experience in business/with senior level management. I can't see his leadership from here unless it's in a generic way. He's running a corporation. It could be selling widgets for that matter. Thank you for your insight.
Agreed with everything you said until you said Don Faul is a terrific leader. Under his "leadership," CrossFit has had more issue, problems, morale concerns and controversies than the previous 10 years combined. Plus, if anyone thinks Faul did not sign off on disrespecting Sean by not communicating with him on his calling the Games, they need to lower than creatine intake. (I have no idea what the connection between creatine and decision making is, but you get my point.) Otherwise, great podcast.
Don has only run the company for 18-24 months. I called him a terrific leader because he is transparent and taking on the issues left to him by a disastrous tenure of Eric Roza. I honestly dont think he signed off on Sean but only because Sean told me so
Good points. I disagree about the poorly worded tweet though. It was an expertly worded tweet, and it becomes more clear how right he was as time goes on. The problem is people were either too stupid or worked up in their emotions to understand it.
I don’t disagree but I worded it that way because when it comes to brand perception in social media it doesn’t matter if you’re right. It matters how it’s interpreted and reacted to…
I've been meaningto look up your channel for a while now, finally did. GREAT take. I have a pretty intense allergy to Hiller (haven't watched anything from him since summer 2023), and if *I* were the guy getting his criticism, I expect I'd ... ummm ... struggle to accept it, no matter how well founded. OTOH, maybe Hiller just needed a "peace translator", so thanks! (BTW, how on god's green earth does the meme guy turn out to be the grownup in the room? The internet's done for.)
CrossFit is the parent that will talk shit about there “family” but when a stranger says the same thing they said or thought. CrossFit then gets all mommy bear and puff the chest and says “you can’t talk about my family like that”
I think Hiller says exactly what he sees. 20 years ago it would be either normal or a must see. Nowadays it’s considered mean or personal or something. Btw where did you get your background? Cool 😎
Why TF would CrossFit HQ listen to Hiller and make decisions based on his opinion? What other sport, at CrossFit's level or higher, has something like that occurred where you have a company CEO or HQ taking advice from a RU-vid personality? Look, I'm sorry Hillers feelings get hurt when HQ does something he doesn't specifically agree with, but guess what....HQ answers to other people, and have a business plan to follow. No one is required to agree with every decision HQ makes. I simply have no patience for people who are constantly offended by things, continually complain, and no matter what will never be satisfied/happy.
Well the title was really just clickbait. You’re right. They don’t have to listen to anyone but I was pointing out he showed them a critical problem in their hiring practices that a CEO should be very concerned with and they are ignoring it out of spite or stubbornness.
You’re right in that HQ does not have to listen to popular well-known CF media content creators. But HQ’s leadership is devaluing the brand-and Hiller’s insight offers solutions to problems that are tanking the company. As John points out, just as Sevan and others point out, attention to those problems would likely lead to a more successful company. But yes, HQ can ignore all that.
@@2ElizabethAnne The only problem with all that is, your definition of "successful" and HQ's, Don's, and the owner's of definitions of "successful" may be slightly or even completely different.
While I'm sure the hurt feelings and egos of people like Castro play a role, the bigger issue is that Crossfit HQ is no longer capable for incorporating criticism from people like Hiller. Crossfit HQ is trying to become a publicly traded company. This has been the pursued goal of the Crossfit executives ever since the departure of Greg Glassman. The investment firm, Berkshire Partners, was the finance that bought it after Glassman sold. Big finance doesn't like people like Glassman and, in the same vein, Hiller. They want publicly sanitized, kid friendly products to market and trade on wall street. The same thing happens in basically every industry that finance entities dominate. Compare the WWE and UFC before and after they were publicly traded on the stock market While its hardly set in stone (at least in the public sphere), the general rumor mill continues to highlight that Crossfit seeks to announce its IPO (initial public offering) sometime before the end of this year, with the most likely period being shortly after the conclusion of the Crossfit Games when public attention is higher. Consequently, they'll never actually deal with Hiller or his criticisms in good faith. He represents the Glassman vision of Crossfit, and they want the Wall Street version of Crossfit. The people making the decisions for Crossfit HQ now aren't doing it for the sake of fitness or health.
Id be shocked if they tried to take CF public but never say never. Also Greg didn’t handle media criticism much better than current HQ. I remember when Armen Hammer was kicked out of the CF Games for much less than Hiller has done
@@constantlyvariedconversations Very true. From a corporate restructuring analysis, Crossfit HQ is very much trying to lay the foundation for an IPO. It may very well not happen this year, but its definitely their eventual goal. Guys like @hillerfit disrupt that goal, and thus accounts the decision making from the executives.
Sometimes people use the term “ morally right” in the wrong context. CFHQ is broken and inconsistent in messaging and judging. The decision CFHQ has made over the past year have been stupefying. I see little to no “Morally right”. In regards to lack of growth they have decided to increase franchise fees by 50%, which a large number of boxes have directly past onto the members along with their own price rises. In this economy that will create a death spiral. What Glassman did well was inspire franchises, the community, and had an effective media team. There was little fat, as everyone knew what they were doing. Drug testing has been silly, and not in line with ANY professional sport. Particularly silly when you ban someone that entered the Open well outside of the top 500, for not turning up to a “drug test”. Don is looking at making CrossFit look like a cash cow business, for an exit strategy. So great leader? Please!
I think if we don’t see a revamp by fall cf will be sold off in 2025 and fade away into oblivion . There will be university students learning about this in future years 😅
People such as myself find it annoying that dogs bark ! 🫨😬 We do not tolerate the sound that is only expressed as constant alarm of an untrained or uneducated source of expression . 😊 Grow up and shut up ! 👍🏽😎
