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Comment by hoodoof | Hacker News Reader

I know this is off topic but Silicon Valley's obsession with building companies that are like cults really bothers me.

Like this image from the linked page https://www.atlassian.design/react_assets/images/cards/caree... showing insanely happy people all wearing the same clothes, staring up at some thing which is just unbelievably interesting and inspiring - the great leader/god/Steve Jobs/the CEO/a technical talk on Java?

I just don't want to work at a manufactured cult, which is what all Silicon Valley-esque companies work damn hard to be.

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Hardly. The woman most in focus is the only one might be described as "insanely happy." They're all wearing t-shirts but not the same t-shirt, not the same color.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this photo is not staged :)

What would you rather have them show then? Building a culture is not manufacturing a cult. But more of an atmosphere you feel would best serve the company. Showing images like the one you posted is not brain washing people. Its advertisement of the company and its brand. How many people do you think would sign up to work at a company thats dull and gloomy?

Because all these companies want their employees to "sign up" for the culture, to love being there, to believe in the mission etc etc. If you don't adore everything about their manufactured cult then you aren't a "team player".

Interviewer: "Tell us why you want a job here at cult company X"

Job seeker: "Because I really want to play foosball every lunchtime, to chug beer with the awesome folks after work in the german beer bar built in to the office, and most of all, to give my youth for this incredibly important mission of changing the world by giving better bug tracking tools to developers everywhere!"

There's a reason the word "culture" starts with "cult".

More to the point, some companies pushing their "culture" want employees to care more about bringing value to the company than they do about compensation. Concern for trivialities like pay, benefits, and personal life should be beneath the dignity of everyone but stockholders and owners - everyone else should be doing it because they love it.

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