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I'd be interested in hearing from former service members who have also worked in "tech" companies: Which is more authoritarian? I'm guessing the answer is tech

I'd be interested in hearing from former service members who have also worked in "tech" companies: Which is more authoritarian? I'm guessing the answer is tech companies, esp. the modern version of such. Modern military officers tend to give a lot of leeway & empowerment to subordinates so that mission-building can be more opportunistic and adjustable. Tech companies tend to eviscerate anyone who dares contradict someone of higher rank.

rawgabbit 2y ago
In my experience, tech suffers from short term thinking and is not concerned about long term consequences. In the military it is a privilege to be given responsibility over a group of men and women. At least for me, I was very aware of these issues. I was a believer in the “God” camp. There is a noticeable contingent of US military who wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves. It is complicated but at least for me, morality occupied my mind all the time.
psunavy03 2y ago
I've seen plenty of bureaucratic stupidity and shenanigans in 20 years of active and reserve service. But in my personal experience, corporate America is even more hidebound, top-down, and unimaginative than everyone in it thinks the military is. Disclaimer: I don't work for a "tech" company; I work in tech for a non-"tech" company. Even in peacetime, the Navy will launch 25 jets off an aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego. They will be expected to go practice an opposed strike on a target in a range complex east of Reno, including multiple aerial refuelings and navigating the civilian airspace system. They will be expected to hit their target within seconds of the planned time. And they will be expected to come back and land on an aircraft carrier, at night, on the first pass. And all the details of this kind of operation, from weapons planning to fuel planning to "who talks to whom on what radio net for what purposes" to flat-out "how do we simulate combat without anyone being killed in a midair collision" take place under the aegis of a bunch of twentysomething and thirtysomething junior officers led by a few thirtysomething (or maybe fortysomething) middle managers. Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief. Like a Scrum shop, except the iterations are 24 hours long and the penalty for sloppiness could potentially involve flames, wreckage, and death.

rawgabbit 2y ago

In my experience, tech suffers from short term thinking and is not concerned about long term consequences. In the military it is a privilege to be given responsibility over a group of men and women. At least for me, I was very aware of these issues. I was a believer in the “God” camp. There is a noticeable contingent of US military who wear their religious beliefs on their sleeves. It is complicated but at least for me, morality occupied my mind all the time.

psunavy03 2y ago

I've seen plenty of bureaucratic stupidity and shenanigans in 20 years of active and reserve service. But in my personal experience, corporate America is even more hidebound, top-down, and unimaginative than everyone in it thinks the military is. Disclaimer: I don't work for a "tech" company; I work in tech for a non-"tech" company. Even in peacetime, the Navy will launch 25 jets off an aircraft carrier off the coast of San Diego. They will be expected to go practice an opposed strike on a target in a range complex east of Reno, including multiple aerial refuelings and navigating the civilian airspace system. They will be expected to hit their target within seconds of the planned time. And they will be expected to come back and land on an aircraft carrier, at night, on the first pass. And all the details of this kind of operation, from weapons planning to fuel planning to "who talks to whom on what radio net for what purposes" to flat-out "how do we simulate combat without anyone being killed in a midair collision" take place under the aegis of a bunch of twentysomething and thirtysomething junior officers led by a few thirtysomething (or maybe fortysomething) middle managers. Plan-Brief-Execute-Debrief. Like a Scrum shop, except the iterations are 24 hours long and the penalty for sloppiness could potentially involve flames, wreckage, and death.