> Corporate "Safe spaces" are not real. Any manager is a representative of the company 24/7 and everything is on the record

I have had a lot of success with knowing this, saying “Great! Let’s go” and loudly complaining about things that are fucked up to anyone who will listen.

This has opened a lot of doors and gotten me into a lot of meetings that I otherwise wouldn’t have access to. Sometimes it has enabled me to change things for the better. Other times it has helped me understand why things are fucked up and appreciate the constraints at play. Then I can drive the best improvements possible within those constraints so things are at least a little better.

Yes it takes years of building trust and a track record of successes before you can do this. Worth the investment.