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Comment by UIUC_06 | Hacker News Reader

A dinosaur media company cheers on a dinosaur energy company's demise.

> a culture that’s increasingly out of step with the world around it. Those interviewed describe an organization trapped in amber, whose insular and fear-based culture—once a beacon of corporate America—has become a drag on innovation, risk taking, and career satisfaction.

It's a giant, old company, with 1000s of employees who were not at that town hall because they don't do things like that. They live in Texas, not in Palo Alto or Manhattan.

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I'm not going to defend either of those dinosaurs! However, I happen to know one prominent startup that used to be in Palo Alto has major problems with toxicity and tunnel vision and lack of meritocracy despite having only a few thousand employees (tiny next to Exxon, and makes even less per employee despite being a flagship SV firm whose chief asset is software), and there are plenty more Silicon Valley companies like it. I've also worked for a giant profitable Manhattan company which is slow to innovate. I've worked in several startups and also large companies, and simply put, large dinosaurs have problems that tiny companies don't have, so don't just wave your hand and say Texas.

The article does read like a political hack job. I'm not denying the individual stories. Just that it is logical to make conclusions about the greater company from a few people with a grievance.

Indeed, the high profitability suggests that the people working there can function pretty well and work together efficiently. The company didn't win the lotto. Every few pennies the company earned must come from a very complex supply chain working correctly so that car drivers will buy gas from Exxon and not a competitor. There might be some individual pockets of toxic behavior, but I submit that the profits show that they're few and relatively rare.

Thank you for saying this. I worked in various places and while some were noticeably worse than others, most were in the acceptable range. It is possible that I have been taught to accept the current norm, but it is difficult to take articles with more emotion manipulating words in the forefront ( 'toxic', ) and then matter-of-fact assertions 'authoritarian culture' ( like most corporations aren't by default just that ).

Still, talk about Keilor not getting the memo on Zeitgeist. The recession in place is sufficiently odd, partly because while most indicator suggest that it is either here or incoming ( with self-fulfilling prophecy of most company leaders saying it will ), the employment rate remains low despite the fact that employment induced inflation has been conveniently selected as THE factor tackle by business and government officials.

And he says to his employees: Go somewhere else. It is bold to say it charitably.

Toxic cultures thrive in companies like Exxon where todays profits are largely the result of past investments.

A disgruntled employee isn’t going to destroy walk in business at Exxon, and they don’t need to constantly innovate to keep up with changing customer demands. It’s essentially a one dimensional business where increasing production and lowering costs is enough to reach profitability. That makes useful metrics straightforward and a lot of nuances of effective management seemingly pointless.

No. Crude prices are driving all the profitability and hide all deficiencies. With the current crude prices you can put a toddler in the C suite and BigOil.co will still be printing cash like crazy

“todays profits are largely the result of past investments” is another way of saying a toddler in the C suite could print money today.

However, actual incompetence can cause ungodly amounts of damage.

What I imply is that the consequences of the covid era management will not be surfaced until crude prices go back closer to the operating costs.

> I submit that the profits show that they're few and relatively rare.

I submit that a person making such a statement cannot know the history of workers rights. Naked oppression & exploitation is highly profitable; this has been proven repeatedly throughout history.

Why must it be true every penny they earn is through real work? They have earned a lot of tax breaks and free gov cash over the years to stabilize business. Maybe it’s all a weird web of savings and investing, years of inflating their wealth through word of mouth, making us believe they turn a profit. They fought to keep alternatives at bay through political and scientific manipulation. How do you know they even make money; have you looked through their books?

You’re trusting word of mouth without verification. You’re making their success a given.

I'd expect a political hit piece to dive into Exxon's record in Russia given the current geopolitical tensions. Those include, for example, ex-CEO Rex Tillerson's meetings with Russia's fossil fuel czar, Igor Sechin, Exxon's role in building the technologically advanced Sakhalin natural gas project and its LNG export system, etc. For anyone interested in that history, Steve Coll's "Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power" has a whole chapter on it:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13372977-private-empire