#culture

A granfalloon is a "proud and meaningless association of human beings," a term coined by Kurt Vonnegut in his novel Cat's Cradle. It refers to a group of people who believe they share a significant connection, but this association is based on little to no real substance or shared purpose, such as being from the same town or having a common hobby

For those that work at Gartner they know that if you are put on a plan for success then that means you are being quietly being shown the door. It’s impossible to complete that formal program under the current economic environment. There is a push from leadership to meet metrics, but how can anyone do that when Gartner consulting has a terrible pipeline at the moment and an even worse one going into 2026. Things will get better but they will get much worse before that. Leadership is sitting on their thrones making impossible demands of staff whilst taking no accountability and providing no support to the people who have dedicated themselves to providing exceptional client work. I wish Gartner would stop pretending that things are great and be transparent and let people know that there are more layoffs to come. So disappointed at the company. They are ruthless.

architects are the most talented people in fidelity..offlate we are being targeted for no reason.. please respect us

So the new tech leader has been here over 18 months and still no strategy. Counting keystrokes and butts in seats? Those are tactics you use when you don’t have ideas. Come up with some d-mb stat like “our average productivity score went from 6.7 to 8.3!” Yeah, sure. “We shortened some arbitrary date by three weeks!” If all else fails, talk up AI from the videos you watch. Meanwhile the actual things that need to be done are just kind of floating. I get it that it’s hard to admit when you aren’t up to the job but come on. Just take the golden parachute. Why is it so hard to get a good tech leader at WF?!?

Stock at the lowest levels at management continues to abuse employees with rampant racism in abundance

What did you all think of Dave’s town hall yesterday? It was good overall, but still left some areas unclear. It’s interesting that some of the old DPA team members seem to have transitioned into stronger leadership roles instead of being impacted. I’m also not sure what the Tech Venturing and Innovation team actually delivers — based on my experience, they’ve created more disruption than value, yet manage to position their work as impactful. Their approach feels more suited for marketing than for a technology function. I’m surprised Dave is allowing this structure — his org already feels too top-heavy with overlapping roles. Hopefully, they’ll revisit the organization design soon.

The sh-t people left at intel is staggering, senior manager screaming at others in a meeting today while his direct reports present. This place is a horror show, InfoSec in for an awakening with the HR complaints.

This last leadership in action call with JF was pretty comical. They had the usually "woke" testimonials from the usual suspects. Talked about wanting to build a "culture" at State Farm but were also basically bragging about all the people they have run off or in their words this was "not for them". Happy for them that they moved on. LOL! You can tell these are clueless re--rds living in Bloomington that don't fight the traffic, crime, and ghetto workforce that we all have to tolerate. That is the "culture" we have now. JF and his cronies are putzsss! The day this company shuts the doors the better of we the world will be.

How long before offshoring and forced ratings finally break what’s left of morale? Every round of “efficiency” moves chips away at tr ust, replacing experience with cheaper labor and arbitrary rankings. At some point, it’s not just people leaving... it’s the company’s culture and expertise walking out the door too.

Do you think the rebrand actualy changes anything for customers, or just distracts Wall Street? It feels frivolous to millions spent to tweak colors and slogans while service, pricing, and morale keep sliding. Isn’t it just lipstick on the same old network......

I pull into the parking lot and finish my cup of coffee and the news.
I grab two very strong THC gummies and eat them.
I veg out at work all day. I log in to meeting after meeting where leadership and contractors or offshore employees repeat themselves, repeat their questions, and once again ask me to repeat my detailed instructions to the, I smile like i’m stoned but nobody knows. I am in a low iq twilight zone. After my meetings I get started on real work and am constantly interrupted by more low iq employees or new ones that had no business being hired. I enjoy two more THC gummies and smile my way to 4 and skate out the door. I enjoy RTO, i really do.

Resorting to low attacks bc why not, but did we think we’d be safe when the incoming CEO can’t even tell the abomination that is his horrible balding pattern? Targets doomed if the incoming CEO can’t even see the problems directly in front of him.

This week I had to travel between three office locations. I’ve never seen morale so low across the organization. I found employees to be shockingly unrestrained in their criticism of management. WF has a real problem brewing, and I hope they are prepared for the inevitable fallout.

Just know that if you’re feeling squeezed by the new mandates, you are not alone.

I genuinely believe Target generated the wrath of too many people, and this caused its downfall, unfortunately innocent people who have not been involved in these terrible decisions end up suffering. As an ex employee, my treatment was absolutely horrendous and nobody on my team spoke up. I came to Target, thinking I was working for a really positive, forward looking company when in reality it’s an organization filled with yes people who are scared to speak up because the status quo will not allow it. As soon as you speak up you become a targeted individual that has no career path. I genuinely hope a new group of leadership can take over and make things right as the current leadership cannot do this. Rinse and repeat will not save Target. Investors have already signaled this, but of course why not continuing ignoring them.

Work smarter or let the id--ts do the works. Razor focus on getting richer than the id--ts next to you working harder.

"What does the following article have to do with layoffs?" You might ask. It shows we have lots of room for improvement. Plenty of trash to take out...

If a visitor parked in a way that blocked all of your reserved parking spots instead of parking in one visitor parking spot, what would you do?

Would you let them park there and park in a visitor spot, or would you find a way to make them pay for breaking the rules?

In this story, one homeowner is furious when a fiber company parks their digger in a way that blocks all of their home’s private parking spots.

Keep reading to see how they handle the situation.

Sort the parking out? Ok, let me know if this works for you company with V in their name.
Back in the heyday of a fiber company with the letter V in their name, they were jamming fiber into the ground as fast as they could, they came to our townhouse village.

We got notice that they would be starting the next Monday and that they would be going along the inside edge of the sidewalks to set primary fibers and if we wanted it to come to the house to paste this orange sign on our front doors.

Ok, I was happy with the current provider, so no orange for me.

The digger guy didn’t care about making sense.

Parking is tight, with spaces for residents (marked) and some for visitors (marked).

I was surprised to come home on Friday to see a DitchWitch (cable digging / insertion machine) across the three spaces my family normally used.

I said to the workman that they were in my spaces, and they were across them.

Why not move to the visitor spot next spot over and rather than being across them, just put the machine in the spot like it was a car.

That way it would take one spot not three.

Digger guy goes “I already set it there, I have other work, you can sort out the parking” and drove off.

Ok fine.

They’re going to make it the digger guy’s problem.

So I park my car as close as I can get to the machine (using the visitors spot).

When next car arrives, we place it as close to the machine in the space on the other side.

Next car goes across the three spaces parallel to the machine. This blocks it in on three sides, can’t get out the 4th since there are the concrete bumpers.

Plus lack of wiggle room.

Others make alternate plans to get to work, I stay home to watch the action.

Digger guy shows up. Sees that he’s blocked in and is very sad. Stomps around the digger, around the cars, around the digger, another pass around the cars.

They go to the first town house. No answer. Second, third, fourth all at work. Gets to me.

The digger guy seemed to think they’d just move the cars if asked.

“Those your cars?”

“Yep, parked in my spot”

“You need to move them.”

“Nope, busy with other work” and I close the door.

Bang, bang, bang. “You can’t block me in, you can’t park there.”

“I can park there and look at them I already did. You said for me to sort my parking out on Friday and I did”.

“I’m going to call the police.”

“Go for it” and I closed the door.

This time, the site engineer thinks he can get the cars moved.

About an hour passed, knock at the door. “I’m the site engineer for a company with V in their name, are those cars yours?”

“Yep”

“You need to move them”.

“No, when your work drone dropped the machine off, I suggested rather than take up three spaces, they take up one. They said I should sort my own parking out. I did and I have other work to do.”

Closed the door. More knocking that I ignored.

By now there is a crowd of workpeople milling around.

We’re going even higher up the food chain.

Another hour passes, new knocking. “I’m the Senior project engineer for a company with V in their name, are those cars yours?”

“Yep”

“You need to move them”.

“No, when your work drone dropped the machine off, I suggested rather than take up three spaces, they take up one. They said I should sort my own parking out. I did and I have other work to do.”

“We’ll call the police”

“You do that” close the door.

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Finally, the police arrive.

While finishing lunch, knock at the door. “This is the police”.

Open up, and ask how I can help. Get told by Office Obie to move my car or they would be towed.

I pointed to the “Private Property” sign and said “This is a private parking lot, you don’t have jurisdiction, in fact when we have complained about issues, your Chief has said you don’t have jurisdiction. So you can’t call the tow, you need to deal with the homeowners association.”

Some splutter by Officer Obie but acknowledged they don’t have jurisdiction to call a tow and left.

Now, the HOA gets involved.

Late afternoon knock at the door. “Hey Kilted, this is member of the HOA.”

I open up, we go out, I explain the situation (sorry no 8×10 color glossies with circles and paragraphs on the back) to them.

HOA yells at people from Company that has V in their name.

Company people looks sad.

They reach an agreeement.

HOA member asks how can we solve this?

I go, “Well illegal parking is a $100 fine, they are across three spaces, so that would be $300 fine, they pay that we can call it a day (winking at HOA member.)

“That works, I fine you $300 per day company with V in their name”

Senior engineer with a company with V in their name goes “Ok, we will pay it, move the cars. “

Not so fast.

I go “They look like they will pull a runner on you, I’d get payment first.”

“Good idea, you can pay me the fine since I’m the HOA.”

“I can’t get you a check today.”

“When you get the check, you can start. Otherwise, there is a bank down the street, cash will work.”

Senior engineer slinks away.

Now they understand what the visitor spot is for.

HOA member and I chat outside while worker drones mill around. Senior engineer returns, hands cash to the HOA member and goes “OK, now move your cars”.

I comply putting cars in other slots. When I come back from moving the last car, I see the digger parked in the visitor spot, correctly like a car. “What’s with that HOA member?”

“Well they decided that they had wasted the entire day and would start again tomorrow.”

They came and did the wires the next three days, each day the digger was returned to it’s spot. Oddly, I never saw the guy that wanted me to “sort my own parking out” again.

I wonder if the digger guy got fired. Regardless, this is a rare story where the HOA is the good guy.

Is there any chatter about other locations or teams?

Perhaps, I'm emotionally immature or just not used to toxic work culture.

Fido manager seem to dump last min work items on you and react in a way they own you.

And worse part, they let someone who fricking can't even understand anything remotely technical to present your hard work.

In what way is this healthy??? They make you do all the dirty work while someone less deserving steals all the credit with no appreciation for your slogging.

Were the vibes as bad as last year?

Are there any consequences if you coffee badge or don’t hit your numbers? Are they giving exemptions due to bad weather?

“Bridging the digital divide”

“No job is so important, and no service is so urgent, that we cannot take the time to perform our work safely.”

I miss the good old days when it felt like AT&T served a higher purpose. Now that I know it’s all a facade and AT&T doesn’t care one bit, I see people drive 10+ over the speed limit in the parking lots, park in handicapped, EV, or fire lanes because Plano doesn’t have parking and work from the cafe until they collect their 6 hours because we have a desk shortage.

Additionally, I contacted property management to tell them of the desk and parking shortage. They told me it’s already been addressed?

Fu-k safety, the digital divide, and others under the new AT&T.

There is criticism, and some of it is justified.

But we should never forget that SAP is still much, much better than Microsoft, Oracle or any other competitor.

I think we can be grateful.

As I reflect on the town hall from yesterday I can’t help but wonder who defines growth? They say associates ask for this but don’t ask what associates mean when they ask for this. Instead they highlight trainings and lateral. Maybe this isn’t what people mean. Beyond this when people apply for lateral roles often there is automatic responses there is not enough experience. This feels like a facade. Do people want more trainings on top of increased responsibilities? Or are people asking for opportunities for more pay and higher title levels?

It feels more like influencers company at this point. We spend so much marketing dollars on something that doesnt benefit the brand in the long term

I’ve been here just over 10 years since graduating college, and in that time I’ve seen it all. The broken promises, the bad decisions, and the constant spin from leadership. Through it all, I stayed because I truly like my job, the work I do, and the people I work with. I take pride in what I do and I’m good at it.

But this five-day RTO has crossed the line. If it doesn’t change before next year, I’ll be gone. And I’m not alone. So many of us who’ve stuck through every mess and every round of “transformation” are already looking elsewhere. It makes no sense to stay when other companies offer better pay, better benefits, and the flexibility we need to actually live our lives.

It’s time to face reality. The experienced people are leaving, the older generation is retiring, and the younger workforce won’t tolerate this outdated model. Keep pushing this policy and you’ll be left with empty offices and a hollow company.

RTO needs to be rolled back before it’s too late. The message is clear, even if leadership refuses to hear it.

Stop! Just Stop!

We are all just complaining way too much about friggin’ everything.

Hug your spouse or partner. Hug your child. Sh1t, hug a stranger and you should feel better about it.

RTO - I know many of you were f&ck3d, but you gotta get over it already. Even us who had to relocate or are still under the threat of it. We all have choices even very tough ones.

RTO - yes, I wish there were much more respectful facilities and dedicated space. But the f&ck3rs decided not to step up and do so.

DEI - you gotta be kidding me. These “others” have been royally f&ck3d forever and you all are still b1tch1ng. They’re just trying to survive like the rest of us.

Leadership - I can’t explain how or why Stinky got the CEO job given his fingerprints all over really bad decisions but that’s how most corporations work.

H1B and Outsourcing - sure, they took some jobs but probably better for our country to get good talent in here. And, they’re just trying to survive too.

Libtards - yeah, they definitely over rev on “causes”, but they do mean well. Trying to help the have nots.

Conservaschmucks - they care too but come at it from a different perspective. Teach someone to fish but not endlessly give fish.

Just be friggin nice. We’ll be better for it. It is what any decent person would want.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

Ranked in the top 5 of employers in all the major magazines? That sh-t was all over circuit…posters…guess they aren’t publishing those numbers any more. Andy is rolling in his grave. Took a little time, but I found something in two months, better pay, normal work hours. No more 9pm task forces 7 days a week. 6am factory passdown, that you then go have to repeat in 4 other meetings before noon. Go to work, do my job, and go home. At Intel work-life balance just means If Intel isn’t your entire life, you don’t get to work there.

So fu--ing sad.

I know there are a lot of people at target who have worked there many years, and perhaps even their whole career since college.

I don’t know how I’ll be impacted next week but I am new enough to target to know this sh-t happens and it su-ks for a while and can be tough to find your footing. But, there really is good stuff waiting for you outside of the company. I know there is for me if I am part of the group that goes.

I left a really good, fulfilling job when I was recruited to target and I’ve just been kind of observing things crumble around me since I joined 2.5 years ago at a fairly consistent clip basically since day one. That’s been hard and disillusioning.

And, it’s hard not to get caught up thinking catastrophically. For me, it’s easy to spiral over the shitstorm of this administration and the utter callousness of our national leadership. It makes me worry about the economy and the fact that people are not okay right now. It’s easy to spiral over what AI means for the future of work and the fact that CEOs and rich fu--s the world over will stop at nothing to disrupt people’s lives in the name of profit.

I try to remember that the pendulum will swing back on politics. It’ll be painful in the meantime but it’ll shift. And the future of work will look differently. I’m not sure what that will mean for me or my future children or grandchildren. But I try to remain hopeful when reminded that recent human history has gone through a number of these sea-changes, and we persist.

Target is a company that makes money from making a bunch of sh-t we don’t even need. It’s good to have a job and we don’t deserve this. I’m glad I have a job at Target, but a job is a job, and there is truly more to life and other ways to make a livelihood.

Don’t let Target’s bullsh-t and the fact that a bunch of overpaid, unseasoned, remarkably average corporate losers made a consistent series of poor decisions over multiple quarters define you or your worth.

Unfortunately those impacted will likely be the team members who actually do the work. As a former Target HQ employee of more than a decade, I can tell you to look at SVPs, VPs, and Sr Directors who have no investment in the team in Minneapolis and no interest in returning to the office despite what they expect of their working teams. They are where the culture and the ROI breaks down but it will likely be the doers that pay the price for their leaders lack of clear strategy, general disrespect for the Target team, and disconnect from the Target consumer. Tip for Target, clean house at your leader level and watch your working teams thrive again.

I was laid off within the last 2 years. My experience thus far, has been one of immense relief. If you're lucky to have a good cultural pocket at Nike, I envy you. I was unfortunate enough to be in a toxic one for several years, and it weighed on me heavily. Very glad to be out for that reason alone. The job market is sh-t, and I don't have a ton of leads but I have been trying like he-l. And it's really baffling, because everyone on the inside was so friendly with the "we all have each other's back" sport team analogy vibes....except we really didn't.

The lack of any outward communication from 99% of people I used to work with has been validating, disappointing, and consistent with what everyone's saying on this site.

Nike's culture is so phoney baloney in this regard. It's not a good sign for your company's culture when you rave on and on about people's performance on the job (e.g., "this person's a rock star!", "they're so great", etc.), spend time over countless lunch outings, barbecues, and happy hours outside work, have spent years of hearing about each other's personal lives, families, and weekends, only to completely ghost the ones at work you supposedly "care" about now you don't see them anymore.

If you read the above, and scoff at it for being too "naive", or "soft"....you're part of the problem. We all gave/are giving the company so much of our time and mental energy. For what? To treat each other like Nike treats us all? Aren't we better than that? Despite what Mitt Romney once said, corporations aren't people. We can do better than treating each other the way Nike treats us.

To people who reach out - please continue to do so. Your words have been so helpful. To those who don't / haven't reached out....consider your team members who are now in isolation. They could use a familiar face or a check in from time to time.

Just overheard a Sr. Director say that on 10/28 BC plans on tossing the target Lego dog from the C suite lobby onto nicollet mall and then shouting "good luck with this mess everyone" and then retiring early.

We’re a full year into mandatory 5-day RTO and what exactly has it accomplished? The stock is tanking, morale is gone, and the “culture” they promised doesn’t exist.

Wasn’t RTO supposed to be part of some grand plan to save the company? To drive performance? To lift the stock? Because all I see is decline across every metric that matters.

So yeah, maybe it was just another lie. I’m done here. I thought I could stick it out but I can’t do this another year for this dog of a company. Best of luck to all!

Are employee surveys anonimous and confidential for real or are they just lying to us?

I made two observations.

1) They spent a lot of time apologizing and saying they empathize with the employees and then go back to saying controversial things like we need layoffs even though we’re doing well and not providing any details on why layoffs are necessary y

2) A majority of questions asked on the chat as well as all the live questions were asked by people from the Indian subcontinent. I don’t look forward to another debate about Indians va the world but I wonder why we Germans don’t talk when we get a chance and instead we complain when people from other cultures are proactive.

Too many occasions where someone wants to do good work but blocked by another. Too many emails don not get a response and this includes leadership. How are employees supposed to do their jobs or fulfill the asks and goals given by our leaders? Impossible. One cares anymore.

Check out the link below to read a story from a whistleblower. This is exactly what has been happening at HCSC since ITOM in 2017. Don't believe me? Take a look at the ORG chart sometime and tell me this isn't happening. There has been a replacement of not only leadership, but all levels inside HCSC. Stories like this are just the tip of the iceberg too. Do you want to know who is responsible and allow it to keep happening? The Board of Directors that oversee this company and most likely the first two levels of our ORG chart.

They don't care about any of the people that have built this company or the people who work hard day and day out to support it. This post is not about politics and this is not about race. If you offended by it - take a breather, calm down, and try to process the information logically and not emotionally.

Do any of you have managers and teams based in other regions? My team is in Costa Rica, while I’m in the US and I'm struggling with feeling included by my manager. What have your cross-regional team experiences been like, particularly regarding communication and inclusion?

AT&T loves to talk about connectivity. The “AT&T Guarantee,” the shiny ads about “bringing people together.” But the only thing they seem to connect is frustration and disappointment.

Check the reviews — 1 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot. One star. For a 100-year-old telecom giant. You’d think after a century of selling phones, they’d have figured out how to answer one.

And it’s not just customers they can’t connect with — it’s their own employees.
The CEO’s new motto might as well be: “You don’t like it here? Leave.”
Inspirational, right? Nothing says “leadership” like threatening the people who actually keep the lights on.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile — the company they keep mocking — sits near a $200 stock price, while AT&T’s stock is doing the corporate version of buffering. Maybe arrogance doesn’t sell after all.

A century in business, billions in ads, and still can’t connect with the people paying the bills or the ones cashing the checks.
Maybe the “AT&T Guarantee” means they’ll drop your call, your signal, and your morale — all at once.