Not all workplaces are the same. Some places are exciting, motivating and supporting – a home and a family with an exit potential. Other places are tedious and stressful with deranged and backstabbing employees. The difference can be as subtle as one toxic manager in a central position in a small startup. There are stories to be told. I will tell some. You can read more here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
The story of Atari
Recently I saw a documentary about the video game companies. The main star of the documentary was Atari, the company that almost singlehandedly created the video game industry. Atari was a silicon valley startup that was acquired by Warner, a huge east cost company. There were several stages in the life of the company.
There was a garage stage, when nothing really happened as the enterprenuers were looking for the idea and the market.
Once the company started manufactirng Pong, it was an instant success. The company was the best place to work in. Corporate decisions were made in jaccusi. Everybody smoked grass. New technologies were released every month, and everybody was hyper-creative.
Then the company was acquired and a new CEO was placed into it. The new CEO was from the textile industry. There were heated arguments with the enterprenuers. The creative progress was on-hold. The employees were confused. They started to dress conservatively.
Eventually the enterprenuers left. The best talants demanded a share in the success, were refused and also left. New products were bad, and the market was saturated. Everybody was depressed. The company went down, taking with it the entire video game market for almost half a decade.
Productivity gap
Ideas are cheap. Creative people come with a dozen of good ideas per day, and thousands of bad ideas. Not sure they know to filter. Execution is difficult. It requires teamwork, and this teamwork required the right corporate culture. When the coworkers do not trust each other or do not trust the direction taken by the management, the performance is poor.
The difference between productive and not productive department is huge. In one of the companies I worked the story took place a year before I arrived. There were two divisions. They were about 50 people each. Software and hardware. They were given 6 months and two parts of a project. The hardware division completed its task in time. The software did not go beyond a specification document. The entire software division was fired. (This could also be stemming from a lack of serious growth mindset training.)
The hardware division’s firmware team completed the software in two weeks and the project was launched to become a commercial success. The firmare team of the hadware division formed a new software division which I joined.
The productivity gap between working teams and toxic workplaces is huge. I am not sure how huge. More than x10. And the issue is often the corporate culture.
Who sets the corporate culture
The corporate culture is set by the management. The enterprenuers are usually too busy with clients and technologies. The corporate culture is ensured by hired managers. These managers usually do not fit the original culture and need to learn and grow.
- Executives raised from within the companies need to scale their activities and acquire systematic management tools.
- People brought from other markets do not understand the market specifics. They need to change emphasis: be it prototyping speed, rigourous QA, complex development cycles or rapid response teams.
- Those who come from big companies tend to bring beaurocracy and a sort of impotance. They need to get stimulated and inspired, with hands on can do attitude.
- There are those with more specific issues, like cultural issues if the executive is from another country. Or psychological issues, if the executive is very capable but psychologically or morally unstable.
Even when everything works, there may be additional clashes between egos or rivalry between departments.
These things tend to be toxic. In a small company every employee can generate toxic culture of mistrust and pessimism. In a bigger company, every decision making process may generate a toxic backlash.
What to do when your company goes toxic?
Any company may become toxic. A new manager may be hired. The charismatic leader taking care of everything may leave. The company may be acquired or controlled via an entity with a very different culture. Egos may clash over a VP position or less. A customer may require new protocols.
So any workplace can become toxic. Any workplace can also remove the toxic elements. For example, the enterprenuers may notice and remove a manager that ruins the corporate culture. Bad protocols may be modified. New, experienced and more vigorous employees can be hired.
If your workplace goes toxic you probably have around 6 months to react. During that time, the company may expel the offending element. If that does not happen fast, there is no way to know that the change is temporary. Consider your options. Some options involve horizontal shift to another department within the same company. Other options involve moving to some other company.
Learning as the key element for mobility
If you want to move within the company, or move to another company, it is bets to have the skills required for such a move. For example, AI is a relatively new subject for those of us who are 40+. Yet, AI skills are typically highly required on a job market. Every year something else may be needed, and it is best to have the relevant knowledge.
Moving between technological and marketing silos may require dual education, for example BEng in technology and MBA in management. The more skills and heterogeneous experience you have, the better are your chances.
Certain jobs are better suited for young people. Other jobs work better for experienced players. You probably do not want to be underqualified or overqualified for your next job. And you need to have as much prior experience as you can get, to improve your chances to succeed.
Champions within the company
A management shift may present you with an opportunity to become a champion in the company. This is basically your chance to change the corporate culture for the better. When does it happen? Usually when your mentor asks you to step in.
It is best to be prepared for this opportunity as much as you can. Try to have some actionable ideas for the change. Learn your industry and its best practices. Try to understand which aspects do not work.
I had a strange experience with one of my managers. He was a bully, and it was very uncomfortable. So I asked him for a personal meeting and proposed sensitivity coaching – no strings attached. This was actually bothering him too, and he was glad to recieve my coaching. As a result, the company became more fun to work in. The change happened within less than one month!
Communicate your perspectives
Quite likely that you do not understand some critical aspects of your bosses’ work. So their approach may look strange and not very perspective. Maybe they do not understand key aspects of your approach.
Once I had an employee who was suggesting very complex solutions I did not understand, so I moved him to the solutions that worked for sure. He was not happy. So he asked me what hurts in the current product, and how I plan to improve it. I was happy to explain. I did not see him for a week. After a week he brought me a functional prototype of something I evaluated as a man-year of work. Simply he knew tools I was not aware of, and everything worked out-of-the-box. I gave the guy my place in management with all the perks and moved to the next challenge…
Maybe you know something your boss does not know. More likely just the opposite. We are all people. We make mistakes and learn from them. Maybe we are stubborn because of the mistakes we made. Open communication is a viable solution.
Reframing the problems
Not every problem is a problem. Maybe it is a chance to grow. A toxic person working with you may be in dire need of some guidance. Impossible goals placed my management may be just the challenge you need to be creative. Being acquired by a big company may be your chance to work and communicate in a more organized way, and possibly make a bigger impact.
A problem requires us act differently. Some people learn new things, others move to new positions. It may hurt in the short run, but be a blessing in the long run. You can play “what if” games all day long, but eventually only very few options can be fully explored.
Do not try to force your way around a different corporate culture. Instead, try to find a new perspective, a leverage you previously missed. Any great company has very diverse employees working together just fine.
Beyond diversity
Our workplaces are profoundly multinational and multicultural. We may claim that we welcome diversity, but this is not really true. Israeli managers shout in the conference room and this is a friendly brainstorming. Someone from India may quietly say “yes” to everything, but think something profoundly different. A Chinese employee will work very hard, but will not ask an extra question when he has no idea what you are trying to say. An American manager will call your solution “nice” and really think that you should replace everything. Working with other people from other cultures is profoundly difficult.
The thing that usually work is a cultural immersion. Go to another country, maybe even as a tourist, observe with an open mind, and try to love the culture and the people. Spend time together as friends with people from the other culture. Then you will be more open to the particular people that work with you, and you will be able to separate personal issues vs cultural barriers.
You probably noticed that learning is my favorite remedy, only each time a present a slightly different form of learning. The possibilities are infinine. Why not explore some of them?
Take a vacation
All of the solutions I offered require patience, energy and freshness. If your workplace is toxic, these are the things you do not really have. So my suggestion is simple: take a two week vacation before you make your move. Your biases may be removed, and your approach will probably be more positive. There are always great places for vacation, no matter what season. Beaches in summer, ski resorts in winter, Japan in spring and autumn, and good old Europe any time of the year. Enjoy and come back with new energies.