Re:My Angry Letter to My Ex-Employer
by cookiecaper on Friday September 25, 2009 @03:07AM
(#843053)
Thanks for this post, I like it a lot and generally agree with it.
But, it wasn't possible in my circumstance. I did try to talk to the super-high-level bosses (the bosses this letter was addressed to) once, and my immediate superior (Rocky in the letter) requested a meeting for me and the boss said "Absolutely not", and Rocky warned that I would be terminated by super-huge-boss if I pressed the issue further. This is the way they governed -- they had no care for what the peons thought and strongly believed in chain-of-command. Huge boss called us in one day to basically demand that we never address him and always go through Rocky.
As such, I was scared to talk to the major bosses the whole time. They know what Rocky is like; they deal with him every day, too. I just don't know that they understand that overall impact it has on the quality of their product.
I let Rocky know the issues as they materialized, of course, but as mentioned in the letter, as my favor with him waned my influence was eventually diminished to nothingness.
The bosses just like to get in and out -- they run it as a business should be run, that is, with some amount of autonomy, but they also do a really, really bad job of keeping personnel informed, controlled, and happy. Everyone there, even the VPs with whom they interact daily, is scared of them, and this leads to bad business decisions because the subordinates do what they can to make things appear better than they are out of fear of retribution, not to mention all of the negative effects of bad morale.
I did ultimately leave on principle and refusal to submit to disrespect and scare tactics, unlike everyone still there, and everyone who's been there for years.
I'm starting my own thing now, and it's getting some traction and clients, and that makes me immensely happy. I'm hoping that it can stick so that I can be free of all of these petty concerns, and if I get a job that turns south, I can just blow it according to my will and dictates without any concern about how I'm going to look after my pregnant wife's physical needs.
Independence is my real goal in the money-and-career part of life. It'd be great to be super rich and able to start programs and groups and schools and companies to promote peace, love, kindness, intelligence, reason, and so on, but that is all just a perk on top of the ability to not be held hostage by my employer. I must amass enough money that I can be a free person, and can choose who I work for, and not be forced to torture myself for months on end as described in this letter.
If anyone would like to help me meet this end, my consulting firm is happy to hook you up with programming services, etc. [email protected] . : )
But, it wasn't possible in my circumstance. I did try to talk to the super-high-level bosses (the bosses this letter was addressed to) once, and my immediate superior (Rocky in the letter) requested a meeting for me and the boss said "Absolutely not", and Rocky warned that I would be terminated by super-huge-boss if I pressed the issue further. This is the way they governed -- they had no care for what the peons thought and strongly believed in chain-of-command. Huge boss called us in one day to basically demand that we never address him and always go through Rocky.
As such, I was scared to talk to the major bosses the whole time. They know what Rocky is like; they deal with him every day, too. I just don't know that they understand that overall impact it has on the quality of their product.
I let Rocky know the issues as they materialized, of course, but as mentioned in the letter, as my favor with him waned my influence was eventually diminished to nothingness.
The bosses just like to get in and out -- they run it as a business should be run, that is, with some amount of autonomy, but they also do a really, really bad job of keeping personnel informed, controlled, and happy. Everyone there, even the VPs with whom they interact daily, is scared of them, and this leads to bad business decisions because the subordinates do what they can to make things appear better than they are out of fear of retribution, not to mention all of the negative effects of bad morale.
I did ultimately leave on principle and refusal to submit to disrespect and scare tactics, unlike everyone still there, and everyone who's been there for years.
I'm starting my own thing now, and it's getting some traction and clients, and that makes me immensely happy. I'm hoping that it can stick so that I can be free of all of these petty concerns, and if I get a job that turns south, I can just blow it according to my will and dictates without any concern about how I'm going to look after my pregnant wife's physical needs.
Independence is my real goal in the money-and-career part of life. It'd be great to be super rich and able to start programs and groups and schools and companies to promote peace, love, kindness, intelligence, reason, and so on, but that is all just a perk on top of the ability to not be held hostage by my employer. I must amass enough money that I can be a free person, and can choose who I work for, and not be forced to torture myself for months on end as described in this letter.
If anyone would like to help me meet this end, my consulting firm is happy to hook you up with programming services, etc. [email protected] . : )