We (as a collective) spend a third of our lifetime at work. For many people, those are definitional terms; “what I do… ” Most of the literature tells you about great places to work, top 10 employers, and most successful brands. But, what about the other side of the tracks, surely there are lessons to learn there too?
There is no there, there
We’re stepping into the part of organizational anatomy that HR would call “inappropriate for internal circulation.” Organizational “stability,” in the way a ghost town is stable. It looks calm, … because it is; dead calm. Hollowing is when a company becomes a shell. There is a stage, just no actors, audience, directors, or script.
Two groups leave first: A. The high performers They spot the rot early. They can work anywhere. B. The deeply frustrated mid-performers who realize the game is rigged against them and quietly edge towards the exit. Who stays? Skilled, but comfortably insulated lifers, political operators, new hires who don’t know what they don’t know, people waiting for severance and drive-by seditionists (the type who steal office supplies, or toilet paper, and carry a permanent marker for no apparent reason). Take a look at the receptionist; does it seem that they like it there?
Risk aversion
A company stops taking risks, but increases the number of risk officers. A hollow firm becomes hyper conservative. Innovation programs exist only on PowerPoint. “Pilots” never scale. New ideas trigger fear, not excitement. Entire teams exist to say why something can’t be done. Compliance expands in inverse ratio to creativity. The company is a museum.
Coordination castes
Real work gets subcontracted when internal staff become a “coordination caste.” People don’t do, only interface. External contractors cover actual production. A growing “shadow company” exists outside, where the real value is built. IIf you remove the contractors for 30 days, the company flatlines and files for bankruptcy.
Participation Medals
Once a month the company celebrates improv theatre; Dashboards blink green, while reality glows red. KPIs are redefined when numbers don’t match. That familiar spotlight of a seance, where, behind billowing smoke, the host asks; Is the number 4 in the room? Meetings and “townhalls”resemble staged press briefings about non-existent events, which is exactly what they are.
What do dat got-ta do wiv me?
You’re asking yourself; What has an understanding of company culture got to do with IoT projects? It takes from 6 months to a year to get “greenlit,” another 6 -12 months to build, test and deploy infrastructure. Add multiple meetings with non decision making layers, procurement documentation and long, complex, email threads. You get the basic idea – time is money | Money is Time.
Once you have those metrics, you know why it is critically important to invest in companies with purpose, vision, integrity and industry leadership, both as a worker and as a vendor.
