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Very much agreed. I’ve found most large companies so dysfunctional that there really is no way to or reason to work hard. At the end of the day everything that

Very much agreed. I’ve found most large companies so dysfunctional that there really is no way to or reason to work hard. At the end of the day everything that matters is controlled by other people somewhere else who make strange decisions. These large companies rarely let you use your own judgement to decide what to work on and often don’t have their own ideas sorted out enough for you to work uninterrupted on. So while I find it significantly more satisfying to have actual work to work on, I don’t blame myself for being lasy when the real issue is the extreme amount of organisational dysfunction above that I have no control over.

zeusk 7mo ago
This is very spot on in my experience.
sublinear 7mo ago
> everything that matters is controlled by other people somewhere else who make strange decisions This is a very interesting take and I think you're on to something. Might all this friction simply be a matter of not understanding or not agreeing with the decisions being made?
- Gigachad 7mo ago
  At least in my experience. Most large companies have something that's working quite well and brings in all the money, which means your particular product or feature doesn't really matter. Plenty of times I've spent up to 6 months building a feature only for some upper management or disagreement somewhere result in the whole thing never being released. But it doesn't matter because my 6 months of wages don't really matter much in the companies big picture which is still on track. So I don't sweat about getting work out as fast as possible when immense waste happens that I don't have control over. If I was in a very small company where I had reason to care and control over things, I'd be far more incentivized to work harder.
  - samrus 7mo ago
    > If I was in a very small company where I had reason to care and control over things, I'd be far more incentivized to work harder. Exactly. This is the point being missed by the people saying that only some people want to work hard and they go to startups. Everyone would if they were closer to the stakes of their work (impact, decision making, accountability, authority etc)
- samrus 7mo ago
  Not being a stakeholder in them yeah. Which doesnt even necessitate power, but even just the right to be informed and kept abreast of them. The author makes this point in the article

zeusk 7mo ago

This is very spot on in my experience.

sublinear 7mo ago

> everything that matters is controlled by other people somewhere else who make strange decisions This is a very interesting take and I think you're on to something. Might all this friction simply be a matter of not understanding or not agreeing with the decisions being made?

Gigachad 7mo ago
At least in my experience. Most large companies have something that's working quite well and brings in all the money, which means your particular product or feature doesn't really matter. Plenty of times I've spent up to 6 months building a feature only for some upper management or disagreement somewhere result in the whole thing never being released. But it doesn't matter because my 6 months of wages don't really matter much in the companies big picture which is still on track. So I don't sweat about getting work out as fast as possible when immense waste happens that I don't have control over. If I was in a very small company where I had reason to care and control over things, I'd be far more incentivized to work harder.
- samrus 7mo ago
  > If I was in a very small company where I had reason to care and control over things, I'd be far more incentivized to work harder. Exactly. This is the point being missed by the people saying that only some people want to work hard and they go to startups. Everyone would if they were closer to the stakes of their work (impact, decision making, accountability, authority etc)
samrus 7mo ago
Not being a stakeholder in them yeah. Which doesnt even necessitate power, but even just the right to be informed and kept abreast of them. The author makes this point in the article