Pros
So many fun challenges of a growing business, there are some real interesting problems to solve.
Cons
SNEI does not provide an environment where creativity, out of the box thinking and intelligence is rewarded. In fact, it's the opposite. People with mediocre technical and management skills but great political skills are rewarded, and change is highly discouraged. No one manages downward, everyone is managing upwards, and the mediocre managers are terrified that people will discover their lack of technical understanding and lack of management skills, this fuels a fear-driven culture. Good people get thrown under the bus all the time and they just leave. If you decide to do something that's good for the business, watch your back. Sadly, SNEI's approach to address the lack of collaboration is by introducing heaps and heaps of process/bureaucracy. Meetings are sad, no one listens to one another, people are just on their computers, not paying attention. I've seen executive VPs watch Youtube videos on their mobile phones during meetings. Upper management is so far removed from the daily layers of execution it's no surprise. It's as if there's no one at the helm of the ship. With all that said, there are pockets of solid teams under very competent managers that really work to create a collaborative environment, but they still seem to be the minority and in all cases these are managers that were hired from other companies.
