Almost everyone who does great work toils in relative obscurity. Performance reviews are social fiction. How do people really advance through the corporate hierarchy?
When I initially read this I was rolling my eyes at the cynicism but I also found it hard to disagree with. A second read and I found it a refreshing take on the realities of working in a startup and with “idealists”. Everyone is optimising for how they look as individuals. We may not like it but it’s true. I made the mistake to assume otherwise but I’m Wiser now 😆.
This is a great take on how corporations work. It's depressing but I want to ask if there are any theories to why this is the default equilibrium of corporations and not something meritocratic that rewards high performers for their contributions. I would imagine the latter and more fair system would make the world a better place. Perhaps it's because most people are not competent, and therefore due to majority rule, this is the system that came out of it.
This is crushing. Have you read “Team of Teams” by General Stanley McChrystal? I don’t fetishize military lit at all. But this was an interesting model about keeping teams fluid and scrambling hierarchy. And a friend of mine who served under him attested to its effectiveness. I wonder if using a temporal team structure might do a better job airing this behavior out.
"If you ever carelessly imply that some team may be doing something poorly, you will make yourself a target for every opportunist in the company." - Can you expand on this, why does it make you a target?
Strong complement to the Gervais Principle (https://www.ribbonfarm.com/the-gervais-principle/)
When I initially read this I was rolling my eyes at the cynicism but I also found it hard to disagree with. A second read and I found it a refreshing take on the realities of working in a startup and with “idealists”. Everyone is optimising for how they look as individuals. We may not like it but it’s true. I made the mistake to assume otherwise but I’m Wiser now 😆.
Great post!
I fucking cried over it. Story of my life, I can relate to each sentence!
This is a great take on how corporations work. It's depressing but I want to ask if there are any theories to why this is the default equilibrium of corporations and not something meritocratic that rewards high performers for their contributions. I would imagine the latter and more fair system would make the world a better place. Perhaps it's because most people are not competent, and therefore due to majority rule, this is the system that came out of it.
This is crushing. Have you read “Team of Teams” by General Stanley McChrystal? I don’t fetishize military lit at all. But this was an interesting model about keeping teams fluid and scrambling hierarchy. And a friend of mine who served under him attested to its effectiveness. I wonder if using a temporal team structure might do a better job airing this behavior out.
"If you ever carelessly imply that some team may be doing something poorly, you will make yourself a target for every opportunist in the company." - Can you expand on this, why does it make you a target?