Holy crap, I think my last boss made that article his guiding philosophy. Haven't talked to the guy for years, and still recovering from that job. I'd guess that there's some personality defect that makes a person especially vulnerable to those tactics, but I can definitely say that they worked on me.

Man, I have been there. After I finished my training, I started working as a programmer at a small company, and I had this supervisor whose strategy of dealing with people was exactly as described in this article.

Even worse, he enjoyed it, thoroughly. Such people should never ever be allowed to get anywhere near a position of power over other people.

Thank you for posting this link. It's one of the best things I've ever read while browsing HN. Reminds me very, very strongly of a software company where I once worked.

Wow, sounds like my relationship with my ex. Glad that's over.

Wow. This is my current situation. While I knew things were bad and I need to move on to better things, I never fully understood the reasons. This article explains it concisely.

I think sects use mechanisms similar to what is described in your link. Scary read.

thanks, nice to re-read that from time to time.