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When you join a small firm, you are joining the firm. When you join a large firm, you are joining the team. I asked a US Marine who he was loyal to, and he sa

When you join a small firm, you are joining the firm. When you join a large firm, you are joining the team. I asked a US Marine who he was loyal to, and he said his unit. Not his country or the military. The same happens at schools and universities: you might know your classmates on your course, but you don't know all the people at a university. Same goes if you're a sports fan. You might be a supporter, but your experience depends a lot on who you're sat with. Ultras, those kinds of hardcore groups are rarely huge mobs.

pclmulqdq 4y ago
"unit, corps, god, country" My first job out of college was at a ~100 person firm that quickly grew to 200, when I left. The culture I was hoping to join was notably different when I got there (at 120 people) and especially when I left (at ~200). That culture change, and the different expectations, really surprised me at the time.
dheera 4y ago
> When you join a large firm, you are joining the team. Yes I think to a great degree because if you join a <100 person company you will interact with the founders regularly, face-to-face, and get to know them. If <20 people, you also get to know them outside work. Beyond about 100-200 people the CEO is just a face on a webpage that takes credit for what you do (and you're happy with that as long as you're getting paid fairly for it).
wankle 4y ago
> I asked a US Marine who he was loyal to, and he said his unit. Not his country or the military. Did they say that they were specifically not loyal to country or was it simply omitted in their answer?
- lordnacho 4y ago
  Yeah he did. "I care about the actual guys I am around, not the idea of the Marines or America. Those are too abstract."
  - 0xbadcafebee 4y ago
    You need reinforced values/mission to care about the bigger things. You may not care about your company as a whole. But if your company's strength helps it, say, reduce climate change, and you care about climate change, now you can care about your company.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
dalbasal 4y ago
The key point here is loyalty, or solidarity perhaps, if we're go with the military analogy. "Google cares deeply about making xyz more ABC." We know this is, at best, flowery language. "Google" can't care about xyz any more than an inanimate object can. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I do think personifying an organisation to a think that "wants," "loves," or "believes" is disingenuous. That's not the case, necessarily, for a smaller group.

pclmulqdq 4y ago

"unit, corps, god, country" My first job out of college was at a ~100 person firm that quickly grew to 200, when I left. The culture I was hoping to join was notably different when I got there (at 120 people) and especially when I left (at ~200). That culture change, and the different expectations, really surprised me at the time.

dheera 4y ago

> When you join a large firm, you are joining the team. Yes I think to a great degree because if you join a <100 person company you will interact with the founders regularly, face-to-face, and get to know them. If <20 people, you also get to know them outside work. Beyond about 100-200 people the CEO is just a face on a webpage that takes credit for what you do (and you're happy with that as long as you're getting paid fairly for it).

wankle 4y ago

> I asked a US Marine who he was loyal to, and he said his unit. Not his country or the military. Did they say that they were specifically not loyal to country or was it simply omitted in their answer?

lordnacho 4y ago
Yeah he did. "I care about the actual guys I am around, not the idea of the Marines or America. Those are too abstract."
- 0xbadcafebee 4y ago
  You need reinforced values/mission to care about the bigger things. You may not care about your company as a whole. But if your company's strength helps it, say, reduce climate change, and you care about climate change, now you can care about your company.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

dalbasal 4y ago

The key point here is loyalty, or solidarity perhaps, if we're go with the military analogy. "Google cares deeply about making xyz more ABC." We know this is, at best, flowery language. "Google" can't care about xyz any more than an inanimate object can. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I do think personifying an organisation to a think that "wants," "loves," or "believes" is disingenuous. That's not the case, necessarily, for a smaller group.