No, this wasn't some misunderstanding, or even a disagreement. It was control. Those that didn't play the game were ostracized. Where possible they were set up

No, this wasn't some misunderstanding, or even a disagreement. It was control. Those that didn't play the game were ostracized. Where possible they were set up to fail, and were generally made miserable. Ego driven? Certainly. I don't think there was any fear of newcomers, but was more about loyalty. Many of these people had worked together previously, and would coordinate to enforce what they wanted. Eventually they moved in mass to another company, killing our eng department. They rinsed and repeated at the new company. I had an HR rep tell me they felt like there was little they could do, because of their culture of silence, and how profitable they were.