Issendai

This is right out of the playbook. See this article for some very candid advice about how companies retain great employees. [1]: https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

I can't help but wonder why just about every company has terrible hiring/HR/management practices. At least with startups, I think money is too cheap and is flowing to underqualified people, managementwise. The VCs see a business person and a tech person, call it a startup and try to eke out a real company. Meanwhile, employees learn the meaning of shit flowing downhill and how culture comes from the top. Anyway, these cheap-money bosses are more often than not predictably bad at org-charting. Just add "flat hierarchy" and 3rd party HR, and 90% of the time it'll be a shitshow that at best elicits a chuckle when you mention how you work. [exaggerated for effect] Obligatory "sick systems" reference: https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

Also worth reading: Sick Systems: How to Keep Someone With You Forever: http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

I subscribe to the apostrophe / boing methodology[0] so "reboinglyeh". [0] http://issendai.livejournal.com/429293.html

> He tells me he has to justify our "team"'s existance to his dad whenever he sees him. Okay, so I don't want to go off at the deep end here, but I think the general consensus is correct: this isn't healthy and you're best bet is to leave. It seems to me that his dad bullies him and he in turn bullies you. Also, if they really thought you don't add value to the company, they would fire you. Clearly you do, so they are just jerking your chain and making you feel dependant on them. They are lying. They have you in what has been called a sick system [1]. [1] http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

I loved this series so much. It is a nice companion to this guide on creating a sick system: http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

Quit and join campus activities that actually interest you. You will have a much better college experience if you say, join the Campus Radio because you like music and everyone else is there because they like music. In most greek fraternities, there is usually zero shared interest why you're there. It's an institution with no core purpose or function other than guaranteeing its own survival by luring in more freshmen. At least the large monolithic bureaucratic organizations in our society exist to fulfill some purpose, however inefficiently. In business, you choose your associates carefully and don't spend time with people who bring down your focus and energy. Rushing a fraternity is the opposite of choosing your associates carefully. It's taking a big risk on who your going to be stuck with for the next 4 years and gambling away your identity. When you commit yourself to a time intensive organization or social group, it becomes your identity to everyone else (like it or not). If you want to live a self-aware life, only commit your time and identity to organizations whose function and purpose you passionately believe in. If you are doing it to party, rest assured other campus organizations will party just as much. If you are doing it to meet girls, do community service instead. Trust me, hot girls LOVE doing community service. edit: thanks for the downvotes, br0s. Challenge to any fraternity members: How are Greek Fraternities not the exact definition of a "sick system"…

> That I'm too valuable to lose, but that I'm deserving of a less than average rating. Good that you noticed the paradox! It is surprisingly easy to believe each half of that sentence separately, without noticing how they contradict each other. You simply believe one part in one context (trying to leave), and the other part in another context (asking for a raise or better working conditions). Here is the pattern explained: https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

Some insight here: (just scan the bold headings) https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

Don’t forget about these https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

i'm not able to answer your question, but the first thing i think of when i read "toxic" on hackernews* is this: Iseendai's "Sick systems: How to keep someone with you forever" post: https://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html which is about abusive and exploitative relationships / organisations / businesses / cults . probably a bit of a tangent, but perhaps a more useful one to read and think about. * probably as a result of mentally associating hackernews ~ software jobs ~ bad software jobs ~ abusive/exploitative workplaces ~ toxic relationships ~ "toxic"

A lot of what affects the NYC subway is the principle of the "Sick System." http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html The system is too essential for a stop-the-world overhaul, but so far gone, that only a stop-the-world overhaul can part the clouds. Without a hard flush of antiquated mission critical infrastructure, millions of turbulent eddies and vortices will ensure that the system is always afflicted by parasitic equipment and debris.

Re: the abusive relationship, that's exactly how a lot of bad employment situations work. The parallels are pretty much perfect. This post really opened my eyes about how this kind of situation is set up: http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html

If you liked the article, you should also read this blog post: "How to keep someone with you forever" - http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html It's written from the opposite point of view and goes into more details - ie if you were a manager, you can do X, Y and Z to encourage Stockholm Syndrome and keep your employees emotionally bound to you. It's a pretty scary 'how-to' guide!

This is almost a perfect example of "sick system" (or how to keep people in abusive work/personal relationships): Rule 1: Keep them too busy to think. Rule 2: Keep them tired. Rule 3: Keep them emotionally involved. Rule 4: Reward intermittently. http://issendai.livejournal.com/572510.html