Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really disagree with this idea, we shouldn't normalize every workplace being full of back-stabbers and retaliatory jerk managers. Nor is horrible red tape a given, although some bureaucracy is of course required. None of this has been my experience at fairly large, well-known companies, although I'm definitely aware of cases where it has happened to friends.
It’s not an idea - it’s just a perspective that some people forget: the world is volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, and our organisations are a reflection of that. I know that it’s fashionable to talk about not normalising things, but the reality doesn’t change. I don’t like it either, but I can’t really do much about it. If you realise you’re in a difficult organisation, you can at least start to take actio…
What's funny is that the guy agreed with everything I thought, he saw the problems that were hamstringing me (and everyone else), he had complete authority to fix the problems.. and so far as I can tell, he wasn't having any luck with it
The best fix seems to be to tell people to quit being jerks to each other and focus on making good products and making customers happy, but good luck getting that to happen.
One of the main criteria for performance reviews was suddenly something along the lines of "Teamwork" that captured what a non-toxic, non-Ballmerized good person you were. Of course, all that happened is that the best backstabbers and the weaseliest scumbags manipulated their way into high "Teamwork" scores, and anyone who sat down and focused on productive work/helping others got screwed on that score just like everything else.