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>Is this how it's like at all large companies? Not all, but a lot. >What should I do? Short term: Mentally check out. Embrace the Zen of just doing what's a

>Is this how it's like at all large companies? Not all, but a lot. >What should I do? Short term: Mentally check out. Embrace the Zen of just doing what's asked of you. It's not your job to be a go-getter anymore. Half because of institutional complexity/inertia, and half because in a tall organization hierarchy the middle managers don't want anyone below them swimming outside their lane (even if it would be to their unit's benefit and they can take every ounce of credit). You'll notice that many people in this thread explaining why you shouldn't expect this or that from other teams. And they're not wrong, but none of them are acknowledging or explaining why those reasons weren't automatically communicated in your conversation with those teams. You're not only not seen as a problem solver anymore, you're also too low on the totem pole to be owed an explanation. So follow the official processes to adapt their system to your product, and your product to their system. Keep your management in the loop about the time cost of both options, it's their problem to fix, not yours. Pour your mental energy into something outside work. Long term: Decide if you like being checked out or want a new job.

korijn 5y ago
To add to this, something that helped me accept this change: your acquisition marked the achievement of your startup goal. You're done now, you can now stop living for your work, and start working to live.
- yawnxyz 5y ago
  or pick up a new hobby that occupies the mind! Or start the next thing!
- altdataseller 5y ago
  I think OP was an employee at a startup got acquired. Which may or may not mean they got a huge financial windfall from it
  - korijn 5y ago
    I get where you are coming from, but even if you don't get huge financial windfall, there is just no point in sacrificing yourself anymore. It's not going to make as big of a difference anymore.
    - obstacle1 5y ago
      If you don't get a huge financial windfall, there was never a point in sacrificing yourself.
      - sillysaurusx 5y ago
        And the truth comes out. Unless you're employee ~3, you're probably not going to make a huge financial windfall. The only counterexample I've seen was from an employee who invested in startups themselves. (Apparently he even "investment sniped" one that later became a YC co, which I found pretty impressive.) Suffice to say, he knew how to play the game. I think lots of people work at startups because they like to work. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't be too surprised at the end of it when you walk with a total comp of less than you'd have made at $bigco. People work at $bigco for the money because it sucks -- that' why it pays $bigcash -- and OP's story shows the kind of pain you're avoiding by taking a pay cut. OP, I wish you all the best. If this is your first experience with a big company, well... Just know that it's far worse at big banks. :) You're lucky in that sense.
  - jacobr1 5y ago
    Then this is the time that the OP needs to join a startup as founder or early employee and get meaningful equity in exchange.
    - mike_d 5y ago
      You mean in 5 years when they have saved up a nest egg using that stupid big company money and stock options that are actually worth something. When you win the lotto you don't toss away the ticket so you can play again. Even if OP didn't cash out founder style - they still get essentially a multi-year paid vacation.
      - garmaine 5y ago
        I really doubt he saw a large compensation increase with the acquisition.
        ornornor 5y ago
        When $snallstartup I was an employee at got acquired by $hugemultinational, all we got was a big fat juicy 1000$ „bonus“, an attaboy, and those who had been grossly underpaid for years were brought up to market pay. And that’s it.
        garmaine 5y ago
        And "market pay" being HR's idea of the going rate, not what a good engineer with niche knowledge and startup experience could command at a big tech company.
- matwood 5y ago
  Bingo. I've been through a similar situation, and what helped was realizing I 'won'. Unfortunately not a unicorn type win, but a win nonetheless. Relax, recharge, and then look for the next opportunity. I think a lot the advice in this thread about navigating large company politics is missing the point a bit. I've heard entrepreneurs and people who like to work at start ups describe they don't do so because they necessarily like to, but because they have to. They are either bad at, or can't/refuse to deal with large company politics so head in a different direction.
JamesBarney 5y ago
This. I call this achieving Enterprise Zen. You have to let go of your attachment to productivity and ponder on kohns such as "If a task is accomplished but no one sees it on a report, was that task accomplished?"
- datavirtue 5y ago
  If this work doesn't show up on a report, should I do it. Not unless you want your hand smacked.
- beaconstudios 5y ago
  Ugh, the management visibility dance might be the worst part of enterprise work.
- dimitrios1 5y ago
  And this is only beauty of JIRA and sprint reports being a KPI in an org. I wouldn't so much as even lift a finger unless it had a ticket assigned to it.
- atmosx 5y ago
  we call this :PASOK:
  - selimthegrim 5y ago
    Aren’t they out of office?
bink 5y ago
Completely agree. I would add, though, that there is no reason not to recommend improvements if you can think of them. You don't have to just accept that things take forever, are broken, and everyone hates life. It's not all that rare to find a good manager even at a big Org that wants to help improve things where they can. But if they reject your suggestions then the Zen approach is by far the best.
tejohnso 5y ago
Exactly. There are environments where individual proactive efficiency is highly rewarded and respected, but not all. Sometimes you just need to settle down into the same flow as others. Trying to swim faster than the current just doesn't pay and can also breed resentment toward those who have mastered the coasting mentality and seem to be doing better off financially and mentally.
jrmg 5y ago
Short term: Mentally check out. Embrace the Zen of just doing what's asked of you. It's not your job to be a go-getter anymore. Half because of institutional complexity/inertia, and half because in a tall organization hierarchy the middle managers don't want anyone below them swimming outside their lane (even if it would be to their unit's benefit and they can take every ounce of credit). Or, more usefully, find (or ask your management to help you find) something else useful to do while you're waiting on the other team.
pavon 5y ago
External blockers can be a frustration if they are blocking what you want to get done, but they can be blessing if they are blocking work you don't care about. So you can't move to the corporate VM for at least a quarter. Great! More time to do more interesting work instead! Keep your corporate integrations on the periphery so you can develop, test and ideally deploy the core code without dependencies on other departments. I mean this in both the code-architecture and org-chart senses. Accept that those integrations will move at the speed of bureaucracy, don't put them in the critical path, and continue to enjoy developing the core. If this isn't possible, then move on.
codeduck 5y ago
"Care enough, but no more."
jeffrallen 5y ago
Also: consider the possibility that bigco bought your littleco not to nuture/integrate/leverage it, as they said in the press release, but to kill it. Help your new corporate masters achieve their nefarious goal by taking their paycheck until you find something better and then split. It's stupid, but are you really willing to try to solve all of the world's stupidity?

korijn 5y ago

To add to this, something that helped me accept this change: your acquisition marked the achievement of your startup goal. You're done now, you can now stop living for your work, and start working to live.

yawnxyz 5y ago
or pick up a new hobby that occupies the mind! Or start the next thing!
altdataseller 5y ago
I think OP was an employee at a startup got acquired. Which may or may not mean they got a huge financial windfall from it
- korijn 5y ago
  I get where you are coming from, but even if you don't get huge financial windfall, there is just no point in sacrificing yourself anymore. It's not going to make as big of a difference anymore.
  - obstacle1 5y ago
    If you don't get a huge financial windfall, there was never a point in sacrificing yourself.
    - sillysaurusx 5y ago
      And the truth comes out. Unless you're employee ~3, you're probably not going to make a huge financial windfall. The only counterexample I've seen was from an employee who invested in startups themselves. (Apparently he even "investment sniped" one that later became a YC co, which I found pretty impressive.) Suffice to say, he knew how to play the game. I think lots of people work at startups because they like to work. There's nothing wrong with that. But don't be too surprised at the end of it when you walk with a total comp of less than you'd have made at $bigco. People work at $bigco for the money because it sucks -- that' why it pays $bigcash -- and OP's story shows the kind of pain you're avoiding by taking a pay cut. OP, I wish you all the best. If this is your first experience with a big company, well... Just know that it's far worse at big banks. :) You're lucky in that sense.
- jacobr1 5y ago
  Then this is the time that the OP needs to join a startup as founder or early employee and get meaningful equity in exchange.
  - mike_d 5y ago
    You mean in 5 years when they have saved up a nest egg using that stupid big company money and stock options that are actually worth something. When you win the lotto you don't toss away the ticket so you can play again. Even if OP didn't cash out founder style - they still get essentially a multi-year paid vacation.
    - garmaine 5y ago
      I really doubt he saw a large compensation increase with the acquisition.
      - ornornor 5y ago
        When $snallstartup I was an employee at got acquired by $hugemultinational, all we got was a big fat juicy 1000$ „bonus“, an attaboy, and those who had been grossly underpaid for years were brought up to market pay. And that’s it.
        garmaine 5y ago
        And "market pay" being HR's idea of the going rate, not what a good engineer with niche knowledge and startup experience could command at a big tech company.
matwood 5y ago
Bingo. I've been through a similar situation, and what helped was realizing I 'won'. Unfortunately not a unicorn type win, but a win nonetheless. Relax, recharge, and then look for the next opportunity. I think a lot the advice in this thread about navigating large company politics is missing the point a bit. I've heard entrepreneurs and people who like to work at start ups describe they don't do so because they necessarily like to, but because they have to. They are either bad at, or can't/refuse to deal with large company politics so head in a different direction.

JamesBarney 5y ago

This. I call this achieving Enterprise Zen. You have to let go of your attachment to productivity and ponder on kohns such as "If a task is accomplished but no one sees it on a report, was that task accomplished?"

datavirtue 5y ago
If this work doesn't show up on a report, should I do it. Not unless you want your hand smacked.
beaconstudios 5y ago
Ugh, the management visibility dance might be the worst part of enterprise work.
dimitrios1 5y ago
And this is only beauty of JIRA and sprint reports being a KPI in an org. I wouldn't so much as even lift a finger unless it had a ticket assigned to it.
atmosx 5y ago
we call this :PASOK:
- selimthegrim 5y ago
  Aren’t they out of office?

bink 5y ago

Completely agree. I would add, though, that there is no reason not to recommend improvements if you can think of them. You don't have to just accept that things take forever, are broken, and everyone hates life. It's not all that rare to find a good manager even at a big Org that wants to help improve things where they can. But if they reject your suggestions then the Zen approach is by far the best.

tejohnso 5y ago

Exactly. There are environments where individual proactive efficiency is highly rewarded and respected, but not all. Sometimes you just need to settle down into the same flow as others. Trying to swim faster than the current just doesn't pay and can also breed resentment toward those who have mastered the coasting mentality and seem to be doing better off financially and mentally.

jrmg 5y ago

Short term: Mentally check out. Embrace the Zen of just doing what's asked of you. It's not your job to be a go-getter anymore. Half because of institutional complexity/inertia, and half because in a tall organization hierarchy the middle managers don't want anyone below them swimming outside their lane (even if it would be to their unit's benefit and they can take every ounce of credit). Or, more usefully, find (or ask your management to help you find) something else useful to do while you're waiting on the other team.

pavon 5y ago

External blockers can be a frustration if they are blocking what you want to get done, but they can be blessing if they are blocking work you don't care about. So you can't move to the corporate VM for at least a quarter. Great! More time to do more interesting work instead! Keep your corporate integrations on the periphery so you can develop, test and ideally deploy the core code without dependencies on other departments. I mean this in both the code-architecture and org-chart senses. Accept that those integrations will move at the speed of bureaucracy, don't put them in the critical path, and continue to enjoy developing the core. If this isn't possible, then move on.

codeduck 5y ago

"Care enough, but no more."

jeffrallen 5y ago

Also: consider the possibility that bigco bought your littleco not to nuture/integrate/leverage it, as they said in the press release, but to kill it. Help your new corporate masters achieve their nefarious goal by taking their paycheck until you find something better and then split. It's stupid, but are you really willing to try to solve all of the world's stupidity?