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My Time Working at Stripe

jondlm.github.io

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Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#31

Post by DeathArrow »

>he asked the team, “for this meeting I’d like us to try and introduce ourselves a little differently. If you’re comfortable, I’d like us to try and be 10% more vulnerable than we normally would in a work setting.” I remember feeling a mix of anxiety and excitement rise in my chest. I sat pondering what I would share. I decided to go for more than 10%. I shared about how my marriage had almost collapsed a couple years prior and a taste of how painful it was. Some of my coworkers shared deeper things I’d never heard in a work setting. It was awkward. It was beautiful.

I'd rather not have my manager forcing me to do group therapy. I owe the company some work hours and they own me money.

If I want to have personal relations with someone from my work, befriend somebody, share personal things, that is my choice. My personal life is not the company business.

Of course I wouldn't say all that to the manager, but 'I'll put him on the list of people I should be careful about, and fake some confessions.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#32

Post by DeathArrow »

olivermuty wrote: post #9

What you are experiencing is the symptom of working in a large company where no matter how well you perform, you can not significantly move the needle yourself. Coupled with the fact that, as you yourself pointed out, there is a literal endless amount of work to do, forever. This is also due to the nature of the company being so big. All companies always has work to do, and no one is ever «done», but in a giga-enterp…

>What you are experiencing is the symptom of working in a large company where no matter how well you perform, you can not significantly move the needle yourself.

You can't move the needle unless you are part of management and learn how to do politics. Large companies mean lots of politics being done. And you want to position yourself on the part of the winning team.

Also, people skills always trumps technical skills. Being aware of that helped me immensely on my career, much more than anything else I could have done.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#33

Post by 9dev »

anal_reactor wrote: post #27
cobertos wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> motivated more by my work being MEANINGFUL Do you have any guiding star for what work gives you meaning? I thought getting closer to the users/customers would help me. After all, software is for humans. But I found the social aspects of that, handling bugs, setting expectations for features, was tiresome and not meaningful. The only happiness I did find was when I saw my client/users flourish without me with the so…

Work satisfaction is a meme. Yes, there are people satisfied with their work, but realistically, this is not going to happen to you. Stop giving a fuck about your work, slack off as much as possible, and look for coworkers with whom you can build real human connection, instead of corporate NPCs.

I don’t know if that’s sustainable. We’re all stuck with this work-thing being one third of our life for the foreseeable time, so spending 33% of like, everything I’ll ever experience on something I don’t give a fuck about seems like both a lot of dull time and a bad decision overall.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#34

Post by DeathArrow »

>motivated more by my work being MEANINGFUL

I quit trying to find meaning in my work long time ago. And work never depresses me. I work to have food on the table for me and my family. That is enough of a motivation.

If I want to do something meaningful, I either work on a personal project or contribute to one, outside work.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#35

Post by DeathArrow »

anal_reactor wrote: post #27
cobertos wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> motivated more by my work being MEANINGFUL Do you have any guiding star for what work gives you meaning? I thought getting closer to the users/customers would help me. After all, software is for humans. But I found the social aspects of that, handling bugs, setting expectations for features, was tiresome and not meaningful. The only happiness I did find was when I saw my client/users flourish without me with the so…

Work satisfaction is a meme. Yes, there are people satisfied with their work, but realistically, this is not going to happen to you. Stop giving a fuck about your work, slack off as much as possible, and look for coworkers with whom you can build real human connection, instead of corporate NPCs.

You still have to give people the impression you do a terrible good job and that you are working your ass out.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#36

Post by lifeisstillgood »

olivermuty wrote: post #9

What you are experiencing is the symptom of working in a large company where no matter how well you perform, you can not significantly move the needle yourself. Coupled with the fact that, as you yourself pointed out, there is a literal endless amount of work to do, forever. This is also due to the nature of the company being so big. All companies always has work to do, and no one is ever «done», but in a giga-enterp…

It’s taking me a long time to learn these lessons - thanks for the tip

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#37

Post by hinkley »

olivermuty wrote: post #9

What you are experiencing is the symptom of working in a large company where no matter how well you perform, you can not significantly move the needle yourself. Coupled with the fact that, as you yourself pointed out, there is a literal endless amount of work to do, forever. This is also due to the nature of the company being so big. All companies always has work to do, and no one is ever «done», but in a giga-enterp…

Or sometimes the needles you can move seem unimportant to the org, even if they have objective value. You get a few pats like OP but no real recognition.

Though maybe that’s why you can move those needles; nobody is guarding them jealously.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#38

Post by duggan »

foota wrote: post #14
keiferski wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah this is why I sometimes miss the jobs I had in my early 20s, working at bakeries/ice cream shops/etc. Obviously the pay wasn’t great and the working conditions subpar, but there is a genuine psychological benefit to making a simple thing, giving it to people, then finishing work at the end of the day and being done , without an ongoing to-do list, sprints, daily meetings, and all the other requirements of contem…

I couldn't find it after searching, but I remember reading about a company where they just relaxed and got done what they got done. To me, this would be the ideal workplace.

I’ve heard similar stories, but I think they tend to have some runaway hit cash cow in their rearview enabling it.

Companies that can kind of do anything and it’s fine. Like Google with AdWords. Whatever they do, AdWords goes to work every day and pays the bills.

Other companies get high on their own supply and invent things like “Holocracy” and claim it is responsible for their success.

Re: My Time Working at Stripe

#40

Post by DeathArrow »

I think the author had unrealistic expectations from working at a large company.

He expected doing something meaningful that will change the world. He expected to be applauded like a hero for his efforts.

But things don't work like that.

If you work your ass out, don't expect more than a pat on the back. Managers won't care about your efforts, your mental state or your sleepless nights. They care about looking good in front of their superiors.

So it's better to do just that is expected for you, enough to get a good evaluation.

If you come out with a brilliant idea that might help the company a lot don't just do it. Find some allies in the higher hierarchy, explain to them what is their advantage, do a POC or MVP, then let the top management know in a public meeting. That way you get a lot of credits and applause for doing great things for the company and fighting the good fight.

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