4 ms·

"Amazon hires intelligent people, and they retain the sociopaths" That is a damning statement that unfortunately has the ring of truth to me.

buckbova 11y ago
To me this also rings of "I'm too morally superior to engage in corporate politics." Suck it up and kiss ass, suppress information when necessary, make allegiances, and whatever else is if you want to move up in that structure. If all this is beneath you, then time to work for yourself.
- angersock 11y ago
  If deceit, politics, and treachery are what's required to "get ahead" in a company, it should be no surprise that anybody who has an alternative (e.g., put skill points into engineering instead of sociopath biz bro) will look elsewhere.
- dmourati 11y ago
  Agree, ya. I have a hard time kissing ass but I realized what I needed to do to advance was a little different. In my case, the key was to stop actively pissing people off. Maybe just a change of perspective but it has helped me a good deal. People who say they don't play politics just reveal themselves as unable to perceive and react to the daily goings on.
- fapjacks 11y ago
  ... Which perhaps is a big part of what's wrong with that structure, culture, and way of life. Not the least of which is that it consists of sociopaths.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
irl_zebra 11y ago
Sounds just like the world of large law firms, actually. They hire top people from top schools, most burn out within 2-3 years and leave, occasionally someone is sociopathic enough to make it to about year 7 where they're made partner. No efforts are made to retain the people, they're just worked crazy hours until they either crack or, rarely, make partner. Even the incentives are kind of the same: Great pay and looks great on a resume. The latter allows one to move over to things with much more reasonable hours if desires, albeit for lower (but still very decent) pay. Not sure how interesting the work is for an entry level position at Amazon, but I can say at large firms, the work for first years is mind-numbing and useless, basically reviewing documents for minor things.

buckbova 11y ago

To me this also rings of "I'm too morally superior to engage in corporate politics." Suck it up and kiss ass, suppress information when necessary, make allegiances, and whatever else is if you want to move up in that structure. If all this is beneath you, then time to work for yourself.

angersock 11y ago
If deceit, politics, and treachery are what's required to "get ahead" in a company, it should be no surprise that anybody who has an alternative (e.g., put skill points into engineering instead of sociopath biz bro) will look elsewhere.
dmourati 11y ago
Agree, ya. I have a hard time kissing ass but I realized what I needed to do to advance was a little different. In my case, the key was to stop actively pissing people off. Maybe just a change of perspective but it has helped me a good deal. People who say they don't play politics just reveal themselves as unable to perceive and react to the daily goings on.
fapjacks 11y ago
... Which perhaps is a big part of what's wrong with that structure, culture, and way of life. Not the least of which is that it consists of sociopaths.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]

irl_zebra 11y ago

Sounds just like the world of large law firms, actually. They hire top people from top schools, most burn out within 2-3 years and leave, occasionally someone is sociopathic enough to make it to about year 7 where they're made partner. No efforts are made to retain the people, they're just worked crazy hours until they either crack or, rarely, make partner. Even the incentives are kind of the same: Great pay and looks great on a resume. The latter allows one to move over to things with much more reasonable hours if desires, albeit for lower (but still very decent) pay. Not sure how interesting the work is for an entry level position at Amazon, but I can say at large firms, the work for first years is mind-numbing and useless, basically reviewing documents for minor things.