3 ms·
The best example of why large organizations are like this was Engels writing on "the state": “The state is, therefore, by no means a power forced on society fr
by lbotos 4y ago
The best example of why large organizations are like this was Engels writing on "the state":
“The state is, therefore, by no means a power forced on society from without; just as little is it ’the reality of the ethical idea’, ’the image and reality of reason’, as Hegel maintains. Rather, it is a product of society at a certain stage of development; it is the admission that this society has become entangled in an insoluble contradiction with itself, that it has split into irreconcilable antagonisms which it is powerless to dispel. But in order that these antagonisms, these classes with conflicting economic interests, might not consume themselves and society in fruitless struggle, it became necessary to have a power, seemingly standing above society, that would alleviate the conflict and keep it within the bounds of ’order’; and this power, arisen out of society but placing itself above it, and alienating itself more and more from it, is the state."
Replace state with "management". The answer for "reduced politics" and "real engineering" is smaller organizations. These are often early stage startups.
There are two types of startups:
- Those that will find product market fit and sell things
- Those that are pushing the vanguard of tech
Sometimes, a startup may do both, but it's rare. If you are financially stable and skilled, you can jump to a startup doing "tech advancement" but you won't have job stability. If you want reduced politics but are down to make your 5th a crud app, then a startup that is finding product market fit and selling things should give you less politics.
- karamanolev 4y agoI've seen many a "startup within a corporation", but the benefits of that are almost never, what what I've seen, realized. I wonder what gives. Why can't anyone figure out how to make that work?
- AlexandrB 4y agoWhen I've heard of this kind of thing working it's almost always informal and not pushed down from upper management. That also makes it very fragile as losing a few key people means the "startup" just gets absorbed into the larger culture.
- scottyah 4y agoIn my experience, they just get absorbed quickly and the label of “startup within a corporation” gets dropped, becoming so-and-so’s org/team
- jjav 4y ago> Why can't anyone figure out how to make that work? A "startup within a corporation" can never work because it's not legally a startup. You're still an employee of BigCo, so they can't grant you tons of shares for a penny so the culture will never be the same. And even if they manage to keep the group outside of most corporate politics, you're still ultimately employees so you'll be bound by HR and security policies because they have to. The way to make it work which is fairly common is for the BigCo to fund a new startup which is a completely separate corporation and let it go its own way. If it fails let it fail or if it succeeds then they can acquihire it back in some future.