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Wow. I can literally feel my neck and shoulders bunching up just _reading_ this. If I wanted to live in a fear-based culture every day, I'd join the armed force

by Arubis 8y ago

Wow. I can literally feel my neck and shoulders bunching up just _reading_ this. If I wanted to live in a fear-based culture every day, I'd join the armed forces--at least that way I could shoot back.

dunpeal 8y ago
Also, I don't think after you get KIA in the armed forces, they hold a special funeral where your commanding officer tells your entire battalion that you were a coward and a poor soldier so justifiably you got shot.
- jhall1468 8y ago
  Pretty sure you don't die when you get fired from Netflix. You go work for a different FANG for a lower base salary. Little bit much with that analogy.
  - dunpeal 8y ago
    I didn't choose this analogy, GP did. That said, I do think it conveys - somewhat hyperbolically - the premise that your own managers and teammates are encouraged - as a matter of policy - to disparage you and your performance once you are forced out of the outfit.
omegaham 8y ago
Also, the military has pretty great job security, with the only genuine cutoff happening between E5 and E6. I worried about a lot of things during my time in, but getting fired was not one of them.
- Jagat 8y ago
  He's not talking about being fired. He's talking about getting killed/injured in action.
abritinthebay 8y ago
If it was a fear based culture I would agree with you - I’ve worked in those & left as fast as I could. Netflix is not even close to that in my experience, nor have I seen any evidence of that in the engineering teams around me. Of course some teams may be different-and it certainly is different to how many companies operate-but the article seems to be unfairly characterizing the culture based on grumbling from a few disgruntled ex employees.
type_enthusiast 8y ago
FWIW, "culture of fear" hasn't been my experience at all, and as far as I know it isn't the experience of the people I work with. I can't speak for other teams/orgs (I work in the ML org) but in the years I've been here I could count on one hand the number of folks (at least among those I knew) who were let go. I don't worry or think about my job security; I think about building better software (and from what I can tell, the same could be said for my colleagues). The article really sensationalizes the culture deck for dramatic effect, IMHO. It's intimidating at first, but if you're good at your role and treat your colleagues with respect then (at least IME) you have nothing to worry about. The mood is collaborative, not confrontational – and I've never witnessed anyone being treated with anything but dignity and respect. Again, maybe different teams have their own "microclimates" – but that's been my experience. So yeah, my two cents is that the article sensationalizes things and deliberately leaves context out of other things. I really wanted to keep my distance from this thread, but it makes me really sad to see how successful the WSJ was in getting people to buy in to the picture they set out to paint. I'll say one more thing (at the risk of sounding like a mouthpiece, which I'm not): Netflix has been hands-down the best workplace I've experienced in my career so far. On the other hand, I've learned that I should view other "culture take-down" articles about tech companies with a degree of skepticism.
- smt88 8y ago
  Even if the scary culture deck isn't followed, a scary culture deck is an indicator of a bad culture...
  - type_enthusiast 8y ago
    I wouldn't say the culture deck isn't followed. Just that it doesn't say what people in this thread seem to think it says. Have you looked at it? I wouldn't call it "scary". There's one section that's a little bit intimidating for a humble person who doesn't think of him/herself as a "rock star". I think that can cause impostor syndrome in many new hires. But it passes (at least for me), and the ability to trust any given colleague to do great work (and for them to trust you to do the same) is extraordinarily refreshing.
- 8y ago
jki275 8y ago
Oddly enough, the military actually does stack rankings with the same predictable results. You just can't get fired right away easily in the military, but a supervisor who doesn't like you can easily make you impossible to promote for the rest of your career.
throw2016 8y ago
There seems to be a deep fundamental contradiction between current corporate culture and this relentless drive for efficiency. [1] Some get untold wealth even for failing and land perfectly after. The system does not seem to be coherent. [1] https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/26/containing-ceo-pay/ https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/26/containing-ceo-pay/

by Arubis 8y ago

dunpeal 8y ago

Also, I don't think after you get KIA in the armed forces, they hold a special funeral where your commanding officer tells your entire battalion that you were a coward and a poor soldier so justifiably you got shot.

jhall1468 8y ago
Pretty sure you don't die when you get fired from Netflix. You go work for a different FANG for a lower base salary. Little bit much with that analogy.
- dunpeal 8y ago
  I didn't choose this analogy, GP did. That said, I do think it conveys - somewhat hyperbolically - the premise that your own managers and teammates are encouraged - as a matter of policy - to disparage you and your performance once you are forced out of the outfit.

omegaham 8y ago

Also, the military has pretty great job security, with the only genuine cutoff happening between E5 and E6. I worried about a lot of things during my time in, but getting fired was not one of them.

Jagat 8y ago
He's not talking about being fired. He's talking about getting killed/injured in action.

abritinthebay 8y ago

If it was a fear based culture I would agree with you - I’ve worked in those & left as fast as I could. Netflix is not even close to that in my experience, nor have I seen any evidence of that in the engineering teams around me. Of course some teams may be different-and it certainly is different to how many companies operate-but the article seems to be unfairly characterizing the culture based on grumbling from a few disgruntled ex employees.

type_enthusiast 8y ago

FWIW, "culture of fear" hasn't been my experience at all, and as far as I know it isn't the experience of the people I work with. I can't speak for other teams/orgs (I work in the ML org) but in the years I've been here I could count on one hand the number of folks (at least among those I knew) who were let go. I don't worry or think about my job security; I think about building better software (and from what I can tell, the same could be said for my colleagues). The article really sensationalizes the culture deck for dramatic effect, IMHO. It's intimidating at first, but if you're good at your role and treat your colleagues with respect then (at least IME) you have nothing to worry about. The mood is collaborative, not confrontational – and I've never witnessed anyone being treated with anything but dignity and respect. Again, maybe different teams have their own "microclimates" – but that's been my experience. So yeah, my two cents is that the article sensationalizes things and deliberately leaves context out of other things. I really wanted to keep my distance from this thread, but it makes me really sad to see how successful the WSJ was in getting people to buy in to the picture they set out to paint. I'll say one more thing (at the risk of sounding like a mouthpiece, which I'm not): Netflix has been hands-down the best workplace I've experienced in my career so far. On the other hand, I've learned that I should view other "culture take-down" articles about tech companies with a degree of skepticism.

smt88 8y ago
Even if the scary culture deck isn't followed, a scary culture deck is an indicator of a bad culture...
- type_enthusiast 8y ago
  I wouldn't say the culture deck isn't followed. Just that it doesn't say what people in this thread seem to think it says. Have you looked at it? I wouldn't call it "scary". There's one section that's a little bit intimidating for a humble person who doesn't think of him/herself as a "rock star". I think that can cause impostor syndrome in many new hires. But it passes (at least for me), and the ability to trust any given colleague to do great work (and for them to trust you to do the same) is extraordinarily refreshing.
8y ago

jki275 8y ago

Oddly enough, the military actually does stack rankings with the same predictable results. You just can't get fired right away easily in the military, but a supervisor who doesn't like you can easily make you impossible to promote for the rest of your career.

throw2016 8y ago

There seems to be a deep fundamental contradiction between current corporate culture and this relentless drive for efficiency. [1] Some get untold wealth even for failing and land perfectly after. The system does not seem to be coherent. [1] https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/26/containing-ceo-pay/ https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/10/26/containing-ceo-pay/