I think many of the problems come down to the different world executives live in. Different people in many ways. Most executives have little experience at the c

I think many of the problems come down to the different world executives live in. Different people in many ways. Most executives have little experience at the core operations of a business in a technical manner. They tend to climb from Sales and Marketing teams, or Accounting. So they may understand who they sell to, and what the markets/competition are like, but they rarely are good at understanding the fundamentals of managing and motivating people. And when they hire managers to take care of these details, they hire people they can identify with. People who are like them, but lower in status and experience. Yet people with the same goals towards climbing the corporate ladder. These managers (I lump anyone below C-Level Officer in this group) also lack hands on experience in the current environment, but they know how to play the game. They quickly find out who the decision makers are, what they want, and their vulnerabilities. This allows them to advance. Then these executives higher and promote people who do have current experience. They expect them to manage the workers/ICs. They base their hiring decisions on the same fallacious ideas that they believe in. And when a manager presents them with differing opinions, that challenge their world view, they both resent and dismiss these opinions. One because they don't understand the technical side of business, and two because they are threatened. So they try to exert control. For them, it's all about status and schmoozing; cronyism, nepotism, corrupting vendor relations, all cloaked in talk of "culture, collaboration, cooperation." When they reach out to employees with a satisfaction survey, bad results (less than high approval ratings) means that the lower status managers failed to impart the company line effectively. The parallels to the Soviet Union are unmistakable. When you view it in terms of Managers are from Mars, Workers are from Venus, you'll start to understand how status, power and privilege play a huge role in how workplaces are designed and managed.