I used to distinctly not look forward to most formal 1:1's with my management. Upon reflection, this may in good part have been because in that setting, I could not simply ignore and tune out the bullshit that was being shoveled at me.
Real meetings -- fine. Mandated 1:1's. Propaganda. All the sadder when both parties know this but -- for legal reasons if no other -- have to talk around it.
I'm sure it's different in other workplaces. Some workplaces.
P.S. In my last corporate gig, 1:1's were very much about establishing a formal record for HR purposes. After you'd been through a few, and watched any substantive comments and feedback you made go nowhere, you figured it out.
P.P.S. Reading through it now, the OP post seems very self-contradictory. E.g.
Me: “Well, let me explain. I came to work, because it’s personally very important to me that Opsware be a good company. It’s important to me that the people who spend 12 to 16 hours/day here, which is most of their waking life, have a good life. It’s why I come to work.”
...
“In a poor organization, on the other hand, people spend much of their time fighting organizational boundaries, infighting and broken processes. They are not even clear on what their jobs are, so there is no way to know if they are getting the job done or not. In the miracle case that they work ridiculous hours and get the job done, they have no idea what it means for the company or their careers. To make it all much worse and rub salt in the wound, when they finally work up the courage to tell management how fucked up their situation is, management denies there is a problem, then defends the status quo, then ignores the problem.”
Explain to me the value of cramming one more meeting into the day of an employee who's already working "12 - 16 hours"?
And, after six months, if "Tim's" department hasn't 'blown up', maybe your first question (to self, to Tim) should be "Why?". Maybe Tim knows something you don't.
When was your last 1:1 with Tim?
What did you discuss in your last 1:1 with Tim's manager.
Per the OP post, Ben has been very successful. ("If it was about the money, couldn’t I sell the company tomorrow and have more money than I ever wanted?")
Well, there are a lot of successful assholes out there.
Well, let me explain. I came to work, because it’s personally very important to me that Opsware be a good company.
Why? And how do you define that, when you are working people 12 - 16 hours per day?
I don't know Ben, and circumstances could differ from the following, but one way to read this post is as being stuffed full of ego.
Real meetings -- fine. Mandated 1:1's. Propaganda. All the sadder when both parties know this but -- for legal reasons if no other -- have to talk around it.
I'm sure it's different in other workplaces. Some workplaces.
P.S. In my last corporate gig, 1:1's were very much about establishing a formal record for HR purposes. After you'd been through a few, and watched any substantive comments and feedback you made go nowhere, you figured it out.
P.P.S. Reading through it now, the OP post seems very self-contradictory. E.g.
Me: “Well, let me explain. I came to work, because it’s personally very important to me that Opsware be a good company. It’s important to me that the people who spend 12 to 16 hours/day here, which is most of their waking life, have a good life. It’s why I come to work.”
...
“In a poor organization, on the other hand, people spend much of their time fighting organizational boundaries, infighting and broken processes. They are not even clear on what their jobs are, so there is no way to know if they are getting the job done or not. In the miracle case that they work ridiculous hours and get the job done, they have no idea what it means for the company or their careers. To make it all much worse and rub salt in the wound, when they finally work up the courage to tell management how fucked up their situation is, management denies there is a problem, then defends the status quo, then ignores the problem.”
Explain to me the value of cramming one more meeting into the day of an employee who's already working "12 - 16 hours"?
And, after six months, if "Tim's" department hasn't 'blown up', maybe your first question (to self, to Tim) should be "Why?". Maybe Tim knows something you don't.
When was your last 1:1 with Tim?
What did you discuss in your last 1:1 with Tim's manager.
Per the OP post, Ben has been very successful. ("If it was about the money, couldn’t I sell the company tomorrow and have more money than I ever wanted?")
Well, there are a lot of successful assholes out there.
Well, let me explain. I came to work, because it’s personally very important to me that Opsware be a good company.
Why? And how do you define that, when you are working people 12 - 16 hours per day?
I don't know Ben, and circumstances could differ from the following, but one way to read this post is as being stuffed full of ego.