- While the goal of where the company wants to be in the future is known, the means to get there is plagued with business units working in silos with either competing priorities or complete disregard of how their decisions affect other groups. - The plan of reaching future goals for portfolio transformation is Leadership saying, “Here’s where we need to be, here’s what we purchased/signed an agreement for, which may or may not meet any company standards, to start moving in that direction; I have confidence the team can make it work.” - Loss of employment may be a minimal risk but career advancement is definitely an area sorely in need of improvement. The sure fire way to advance in most cases is to be the one person in the entire company that possesses the expertise in the area you work to the extent where either the company, or person in the hierarchy above you (aka the person you make look good to their boss) would be exposed if you were to leave. Even then, there’s no guarantee. - Do not expect the company to be cutting edge or a pioneer in just about anything. Most of the awareness dedicated to keeping up with industry trends is just to make sure the company is in fact just doing that; keeping up. It’s kind of like the saying, “You don’t have to outrun the charging bear, you just have to outrun the person running next to you.” - There’s never a lack of opportunities to learn because in the last few years, head count has been down virtually across the company. - Bottom up communication is rarely considered by leadership. In most cases, if you have an issue with something “it’s most likely something you’re doing wrong” or “isn’t a theme that been identified among a significant number of employees.” This eventually teaches employees to not bother surfacing legitimate concerns. - Leaders will say that customers have a positive opinion of the company. The volume of complaints to the public service commission suggests otherwise.