I was very fortunate to work for a corporation with a heavy-duty moral backbone. That was one of the reasons that I stayed, as long as I did.
There were plenty of weasels* there, and it got worse —much worse— towards the end, but the corporation, itself, was one of the oldest Japanese tech companies, with a 100-year history of insane levels of Quality. It was truly a signal Honor to work there.
It was not an environment a lot of folks here would like, but that moral infrastructure was crucial to me. For reasons that aren’t really ones that I’ll go into, I have lived a highly moral life, and I was grateful to have the support.
I’m not competitive, for moral reasons, and I really enjoyed the way that the Japanese valued teamwork.
Sadly, it seems to elicit scorn, from folks in tech. Either folks think I’m being “snobby,” or they think I’m stupid and weak-willed.
*One of my favorite books is Scott Adams’ The Way of the Weasel.
I have a thing for these structures too. And a lot of people frown upon my ways of operating, it's super weird.
That said, there were a few instances of Japanese management techniques that would make amazon warehouse managers feel at home :) (someone recently told he was asked why he went to the toilet 3 times that day)
Oh yeah. I was glad I wasn’t in Japan. I once watched a manager drive one of his employees to tears. I don’t know what he said, but it obviously had an emotional impact.
There were plenty of weasels* there, and it got worse —much worse— towards the end, but the corporation, itself, was one of the oldest Japanese tech companies, with a 100-year history of insane levels of Quality. It was truly a signal Honor to work there.
It was not an environment a lot of folks here would like, but that moral infrastructure was crucial to me. For reasons that aren’t really ones that I’ll go into, I have lived a highly moral life, and I was grateful to have the support.
I’m not competitive, for moral reasons, and I really enjoyed the way that the Japanese valued teamwork.
Sadly, it seems to elicit scorn, from folks in tech. Either folks think I’m being “snobby,” or they think I’m stupid and weak-willed.
*One of my favorite books is Scott Adams’ The Way of the Weasel.