3 ms·

There is an argument to be made that the busy work and good pay of megacorps is basically designed to keep talent in place that could otherwise run off and pote

There is an argument to be made that the busy work and good pay of megacorps is basically designed to keep talent in place that could otherwise run off and potentially make a competitor.

mydude 4y ago
The more time I spend working at FAANG, the more I think there's no grand conspiracy to keep us from competing, it's just bad incentives all around. Want to get promoted as an engineer? Work on something BIG (even if no one asked for it). Want to get promoted as a manager? Get more people on your team (even if you don't need them). Want to get promoted as VP? Better re-org everything so people know you exist (even if re-orgs happen every year). And this problem gets compounded by the fact that the people who are best at playing this game end up making decisions that impact everyone else. I often wonder if something can be done about this, or is it like a natural law when it comes to big corporations. If only we had metrics to solve this!
- scottLobster 4y ago
  It's what happens when business majors/MBAs take over, and I'm not being cliche. Such people prioritize the "business" and see the products as a means to a monetary end, whereas IMO it should be the reverse. The business is part distribution infrastructure part funding mechanism for the products, nothing more.
- pm90 4y ago
  I suspect part of the motivation for this is an environment that expects everyone to "work on something BIG" (as you say) all the time and a hyper focus on the short term. Ambitious people who recognize the game will play it to advance their career regardless of how it might affect the long term prospect of the company or products. Generally, a company culture that is more focused on delivering tangible value, and ability to recognize and fix behaviors that optimize for short term/career gaining behavior will succeed in keeping this in check. This gets much more difficult to do in larger companies and organizations though. Maybe its some kind of "scale disease"; some natural law that will make larger companies incapable of innovation the bigger they get.

There is an argument to be made that the busy work and good pay of megacorps is basically designed to keep talent in place that could otherwise run off and potentially make a competitor.

mydude 4y ago

The more time I spend working at FAANG, the more I think there's no grand conspiracy to keep us from competing, it's just bad incentives all around. Want to get promoted as an engineer? Work on something BIG (even if no one asked for it). Want to get promoted as a manager? Get more people on your team (even if you don't need them). Want to get promoted as VP? Better re-org everything so people know you exist (even if re-orgs happen every year). And this problem gets compounded by the fact that the people who are best at playing this game end up making decisions that impact everyone else. I often wonder if something can be done about this, or is it like a natural law when it comes to big corporations. If only we had metrics to solve this!

scottLobster 4y ago
It's what happens when business majors/MBAs take over, and I'm not being cliche. Such people prioritize the "business" and see the products as a means to a monetary end, whereas IMO it should be the reverse. The business is part distribution infrastructure part funding mechanism for the products, nothing more.
pm90 4y ago
I suspect part of the motivation for this is an environment that expects everyone to "work on something BIG" (as you say) all the time and a hyper focus on the short term. Ambitious people who recognize the game will play it to advance their career regardless of how it might affect the long term prospect of the company or products. Generally, a company culture that is more focused on delivering tangible value, and ability to recognize and fix behaviors that optimize for short term/career gaining behavior will succeed in keeping this in check. This gets much more difficult to do in larger companies and organizations though. Maybe its some kind of "scale disease"; some natural law that will make larger companies incapable of innovation the bigger they get.