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Is my advice too mercenary?

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Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#91

Post by rmason »

There was a time in America a generation or two ago when you could give your all to a company. Here in Michigan there were a number of small towns where a single employer would dominate. If the town needed something, like a baseball park the owner would simply write a check. If a loyal employee had a health crisis that insurance didn't cover the company owner would write a check. When there were tough economic times the employees would rally to help the company knowing in better times it would have their back.

Then one of two things happened, the owner died with no capable heirs and the company was sold. Or after NAFTA the company wasn't competitive with low priced foreign labor and folded. If the company was sold a couple of MBA's came in to run the store and ruthlessly ran it exporting all the profits. Eventually the jobs would go overseas or to another part of America with lower wages like the South.

Either way the people eventually lost their jobs and entire towns would collapse. I have seen it here in Michigan happen over the past forty years again and again.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#92

Post by twblalock »

uoaei wrote: post #65
vmception wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Society is collaborative, the private sector of society is not. Its a flawed incentive model that most of society periodically navigates through. These are different things than society as a whole. It is aspirational to want something else and be in an environment to rely on different advice. You are either conflating society and the private sector or projecting something I have no idea about. (I dont really understa…

Innovation rate in a society is roughly proportional to the branching factor of the possible futures that that society engenders. One way to reduce the branching factor is to consume (or store) resources that others may use to innovate. "Taking up space" in society corresponds to collecting and storing resources beyond the share which makes you productive, such that an opportunity cost is incurred. Insofar as there i…

Seems like you've dug deep into the lexicon of grad-school postmodernism without saying anything that makes any sense.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#93

Post by AlwaysRock »

randrews wrote: post #63

One of the wisest pieces of career advice I ever heard was "you cannot change an organization by leaving it." It works both ways: if you're leaving in hopes that it'll be a wake-up call to management that a valuable person left, then it probably won't be. And, if you leave your workplace to improve your own life, you've also necessarily chosen not to try and improve the workplace. Leaving means giving up on trying to…

If they didnt listen to you when you were there, why would they when you are leaving? That is what it all boils down to for me.

If I didnt make issues clear while I was at a company then it was a failing on my part. If they didnt care or make any change when I shared about issues than its their fault.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#94

Post by brokencode »

syedkarim wrote: post #84
randrews wrote: post #63

One of the wisest pieces of career advice I ever heard was "you cannot change an organization by leaving it." It works both ways: if you're leaving in hopes that it'll be a wake-up call to management that a valuable person left, then it probably won't be. And, if you leave your workplace to improve your own life, you've also necessarily chosen not to try and improve the workplace. Leaving means giving up on trying to…

Why would you even want to change an organization?

If you have a chance to make things better where you are, then it’s good for everybody who works there. Also, you might not even have the option of getting a job elsewhere depending on where you live and what qualifications you have.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#95

Post by beaconstudios »

syedkarim wrote: post #84
randrews wrote: post #63

One of the wisest pieces of career advice I ever heard was "you cannot change an organization by leaving it." It works both ways: if you're leaving in hopes that it'll be a wake-up call to management that a valuable person left, then it probably won't be. And, if you leave your workplace to improve your own life, you've also necessarily chosen not to try and improve the workplace. Leaving means giving up on trying to…

Why would you even want to change an organization?

if it was a bad place for other people to work at.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#96

Post by ivoras »

> I think many people, especially those newer to the working world, underestimate just how ruthless and sociopathic our late-stage Capitalist working conditions really are. (I’m speaking mostly about the US here; that’s what I know.) Most employees have essentially no workplace protections; in most states you can be fired for no reason and no notice.

Non-US-dweller here: isn't that system entrenched since always? - i.e. that way of treating workers has been present in the US ever since there's been an "US"? Somehow Europeans managed to make life easier on themselves like mandatory vacation, a lot of sick leave, etc., but the US just didn't sign up for that.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#97

Post by hobs »

rmason wrote: post #91

There was a time in America a generation or two ago when you could give your all to a company. Here in Michigan there were a number of small towns where a single employer would dominate. If the town needed something, like a baseball park the owner would simply write a check. If a loyal employee had a health crisis that insurance didn't cover the company owner would write a check. When there were tough economic times…

Extremely true and it happened all over, my dad worked for a place for 40 years and the last 10 the MBAs moved in, they were profitable, had profit sharing, and a great company.

Today its a footnote in a merger, place is closing down.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#98

Post by beaconstudios »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #42
fellowniusmonk wrote: post #5

It truly is shocking that health insurance is tied to employment status. I really think this is a large part of the trend towards overt ruthlessness in the USA, no one has their back so they have no ones back, as people age and experience medical bankruptcy (or narrowly avoid it at great cost) they are realizing this ruthlessness in our system.

As an American who has worked closely with the Federal government, I'm significantly more afraid of the idea that the government would be responsible for my medical care.

doctors would be responsible for your medical care; taxes would foot the bill. The primary involvement of the government is the logistics involved in getting from A to B.

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#99

Post by [deleted] »

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF wrote: post #43
duxup wrote: post #22

I’m not inclined to do an exit interview because I’ve likely already expressed my opinions. I do think the “the company doesn’t care about you” type advice does require some nuance. Different companies make different choices and just because someone moves from mega corporation to mega corp doesn’t mean you shouldn’t trust anyone… There’s space in between giving your entire self to a company and imagining everyone is…

> I do think the “the company doesn’t care about you” type advice does require some nuance. Probably something like: The company doesn't care about you regardless of the individuals at the company who might care about you. (Unless one of those individuals is the CEO, I guess. More nuance!)

[deleted]

Re: Is my advice too mercenary?

#100

Post by epicureanideal »

randrews wrote: post #63

One of the wisest pieces of career advice I ever heard was "you cannot change an organization by leaving it." It works both ways: if you're leaving in hopes that it'll be a wake-up call to management that a valuable person left, then it probably won't be. And, if you leave your workplace to improve your own life, you've also necessarily chosen not to try and improve the workplace. Leaving means giving up on trying to…

But you can change it if many many people decide not to work there and they can’t hire a workforce.
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