I was at a AAA++++ brand FAANG.
The politics, from the second I joined, were so over-the-top. It was like Wrestlemania. Everyone was smashing eachother and throwing elbows and it was like a spectator sport about who could club who first and the loudest.
I had just gotten out of a super toxic prior employer and had zero motivation to engage in corporate politics so I just decided to wait and watch and try to understand how to be effective.
I waited. And watched. And waited. And watched. And raised some ideas. All shot down. Finally I came to the realization that if I wanted to "play this game" I would need to get into the ring and start shutting people down, throwing elbows, telling other people their ideas suck etc.
After thinking about it a long time, I decided:
(a) I didn't want to do any of the above
(b) I cared about building things good for customers
(c) I hated the VPs involved and had nothing in common with them
(d) I didn't want their jobs, because it would require doing what they were doing
I ended up leaving for a startup.
It was a very good company. I still think about if it was the right thing to do. But I was not growing, not getting to do anything, it was antithetical to my personal and career growth, I wasn't learning. It was just a wrestling ring with morons yelling at eachother and acting out their insecurities loudly.
I couldn't do it.
Contrast to prior employer: EVeryone was political, but in a sneaky, underhanded way. It was all covert assassination.
At a startup, there was no bullshit. It was: There is the work, do the work. The end.
No politics.
With remote work: Politics is even worse in my opinion. Remote workers are at a huge disadvantage.
The politics, from the second I joined, were so over-the-top. It was like Wrestlemania. Everyone was smashing eachother and throwing elbows and it was like a spectator sport about who could club who first and the loudest.
I had just gotten out of a super toxic prior employer and had zero motivation to engage in corporate politics so I just decided to wait and watch and try to understand how to be effective.
I waited. And watched. And waited. And watched. And raised some ideas. All shot down. Finally I came to the realization that if I wanted to "play this game" I would need to get into the ring and start shutting people down, throwing elbows, telling other people their ideas suck etc.
After thinking about it a long time, I decided:
(a) I didn't want to do any of the above (b) I cared about building things good for customers (c) I hated the VPs involved and had nothing in common with them (d) I didn't want their jobs, because it would require doing what they were doing
I ended up leaving for a startup.
It was a very good company. I still think about if it was the right thing to do. But I was not growing, not getting to do anything, it was antithetical to my personal and career growth, I wasn't learning. It was just a wrestling ring with morons yelling at eachother and acting out their insecurities loudly.
I couldn't do it.
Contrast to prior employer: EVeryone was political, but in a sneaky, underhanded way. It was all covert assassination.
At a startup, there was no bullshit. It was: There is the work, do the work. The end.
No politics.
With remote work: Politics is even worse in my opinion. Remote workers are at a huge disadvantage.