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Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
11–20 of 85 posts
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#12Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#13> Unfortunately, places with hard problems that haven’t been solved are also — inevitably — kind of dysfunctional. I disagree wholeheartedly. Many companies (from big tech to fast growing startups) have hard problems that need solving, and they needn't be dysfunctional. In fact some high performing organisations have plenty of hard problems, as solving hard problems usually yield even harder problems to solve. Sadly…
There are at least two types of having problems.
There's having a problem like having a jigsaw puzzle. It sits in front of you and is there to solve. Your organization's problem could be making a faster database or improving education outcomes in a neighborhood. An organization can remain functional in the face of these problems.
There's another type of having a problem which is like having a cold. It's in you and affects you. You organization's problem could be the front line employees don't trust leadership or you don't have enough resources. It's much harder to remain functional in the face of these types of problems. I think the author is referring more to this second type.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#14Cannot read medium without an account. Can we ban it already ?
Blocking cookies lets you read away without any problems. If you're using Chrome, go to the website, click the small padlock in the URL bar, select cookies, and then block all the ones for Medium.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#15> People who want to study earthquakes need to go where there are fault lines. People who want to solve hard problems need to go where those problems live.
People who want to study earthquakes don't get paid by the earthquakes.
Author works for a defense contractor.
I'd need a ton of evidence that this particular defense contractor has the goal of doing something inherently safe with AI before I'd read the author's analogy as anything other than the written equivalent of getting drunk at the local bar to cope with a dysfunctional marriage.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#16> Unfortunately, places with hard problems that haven’t been solved are also — inevitably — kind of dysfunctional. I disagree wholeheartedly. Many companies (from big tech to fast growing startups) have hard problems that need solving, and they needn't be dysfunctional. In fact some high performing organisations have plenty of hard problems, as solving hard problems usually yield even harder problems to solve. Sadly…
There are at least two types of having problems. There's having a problem like having a jigsaw puzzle. It sits in front of you and is there to solve. Your organization's problem could be making a faster database or improving education outcomes in a neighborhood. An organization can remain functional in the face of these problems. There's another type of having a problem which is like having a cold. It's in you and af…
As an engineer, one would want to solve the first kind but leave the second kind to MBAs
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#17You can’t conflate unsolved problems with unsolved organizational problems like that. If you are really into the politicking and people stuff, sure. But that’s why I love being an IC. I want to build stuff to solve our user’s problems. Sure, I have to navigate the org stuff to have big impact, but that’s the part where I want to spend the least focus. Which is a part of how I’d measure organizational dysfunction.
That said, I’m grateful for people who are really into the org stuff. I’ve worked for a savant at that stuff and it really did improve things. Thank you all who suffer the politics on behalf of the rest of us.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#18My favorite test of a workplace is to see how closely coworkers map to characters in the film Jurassic Park. The more obvious each casting choice is, the more dysfunctional the workplace.
I never heard this analogy. Mind to explain it further? What to look for, why these characters in this movie?
I would love to dive deeper into the analogy.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#19There’s really no good reason to stick your neck out at a dysfunctional place. It’s like that for a reason. You might get grit from the experience, but more likely you’ll just become a bitter cynical husk. I know, I worked at Oracle.
I worked at a similar place and to call it dysfunctional would be an understatement. It made me a stronger and more fearless person but I was already a bit obstinate and had a tendency to challenge authority so it was ultimately good for me. I can see where different personality types would be affected positively or negatively by such an environment. It's not for everyone.
Re: Work Somewhere Dysfunctional
#20Dysfunctional usually means I have to fight for permission to do the job I was hired to do. Been there, done that. No thanks.
This is what I was thinking too. That and "That's the way we've always done things" organisations where the default answer to anything is "no" even after hard proof of a better way of achieving something. It's exhausting when you can just work somewhere with more autonomy and less bureaucracy.
It's exhausting when you can just work somewhere with more autonomy and less bureaucracy.
And trust. Bi-directional even, but in my mind that’s implied.