While thinking of writing this review I visited Thoughtworks website and found a list of points under people & culture section in about-us page. So I am going to write some of my thoughts using the same point mentioned in the section with my current assessment of those points. Unfortunately most of the things according to me now are not true anymore, slowly & gradually as Thoughtworks grows in size they are only going to go from bad to worse. Some people from leadership who could have done something about this have left the organization in the recent past & the rest are just playing along, keeping there mouth shut to avoid Mr. Founder's wrath.
Let me start sharing my views on the points mentioned on the website
"We come to work as ourselves. We enjoy each other’s company. We value honesty and transparency." & "Personal and organizational transparency"
--> Off late there is deadly silent on the floor for all topics, people discuss these things in corners or over drinks unlike earlier where people can discuss this in open safe forums. In-fact in one of the all hands when Mr. Founder visited Bangalore office he behaved very immaturely with one of the attendee. Increasing the data that get's shared with the larger set of people is colored and often delayed, so I do not think that people are working as them-self & being honest and transparent with each other.
"Appearances and backgrounds aren’t important to us; ideas and doing the right thing are. We abhor and reject discrimination and inequality and promote diversity in all its forms."
--> In the recent past in some small group meetings & few All hands conducted by Mr. Founder & his subordinates there were few questions asked regarding people's background in terms of there caste, religion & political preference which I think is very contrary to what is published on the website. By asking such question Mr. Founder has already created a subtle divide in people on the floor, which people have started to feel & talk about in small groups, however no one is finding enough courage to speak about this as this might end in the person quitting or made to quit Thoughtworks.
"Do the right thing" --> I have already given few example of how this is not completely true & there are umpteen number of incidence that I can write however that will not solve the problem, having said that there are still pockets of people who are doing the right thing however I am not sure how long they can continue.
"Attitude, aptitude and integrity", "Service to others and society over self", "Serve holistic goals over achieving targets", "Intolerant of intolerance" & "No jerks"
--> Earlier most people I interacted across the board in all the office I have worked use to feel for the organization, It was like home. However It is no more the case for the majority, infact people are working there because it is very difficult to move away from the comfort zone instead it is easy to keep quite (Passively Aggressive).
Some people from a particular SIP project get special attention from Mr. Founder, so they start dominating every one around them in all possible way putting there point of view over everyone else on the project. People who do not really relate with the goal of the project or really understand why a particular decision in the project is been made cannot open up or bring changes as there voices get suppressed, or if they are vociferous they get moved out of the project.
If one display's a pro left alignment then everything the person say's will be tolerated, however if the person does not display pro left behavior then she/he will labelled right wing. One thing that Mr. Founder & some of his subordinate need to understand that, most people on the floor do not understand what Left or Right is. As it is topic which most people do not relate. However the organization seems to head in a direction where one need to start behaving like you understand these things & just keep quite. People who use to be the voice against these things & used to talk about the journey have either left or shown doors.
One of the core ingredient which made the culture of Thoughtworks special and caused people to do more that what is expected out of them was the sense of belonging with the organization, earlier most people did not treat it as a job however it is disheartening to see how fast it is disappearing because some of those people have left & some who still there are increasing not feeling like doing anything about the current state of things & for majority it is just another job without a direct reporting manager to deal with and ample freedom.
I think I am going to take a break here and I hope people who read this review, will think and accordingly make there calls.
