Lack of growth due to politics. Many directors are incompetent and technically illiterate.
A classic example is the director(now promoted to a senior director's role) Sapna Balan who is driven by ego and nepotism. Technically poor - last time we spoke, she didn't understand that python can't run on tomcat, thinks .Net is like Java only simpler, believes and insists a docker container shouldn't die when the running process is killed. These are just some examples. To add to this, imagine a person who is technically poor and arrogant at the same time. An individual that refuses to accept plausible technical solutions and insists on ludicrous approaches to a problem. A security issue related to IP whitelisting and individuals such as these suggest that we use DNS instead.
If you try explaining how these technologies work and provide network 101 inputs, you're called insubordinate and any chance of a promotion is thrown out the window.
Desperate to grow? Learn the art of buttering someone up.
Imagine the toxicity when a director has a slide in her townhall presentation which states working hours and doesn't want people working remotely even when they have late night calls. A product company with seasoned professionals deserve better.
Such hiring gaffes have severely affected many a team in Walmart India and productivity on the whole.
Directors need not be technically sound but a good leader must be a good listener, admit that they lack in certain areas and learn from individuals who know technology. Arrogance and ignorance are the worst combination in a leader and Walmart India has too many of these.
I left this toxic team/environment because of the above mentioned director and moved on to a leadership role in one of the top Product firms in the industry.
