How Big Tech squanders the best talent
We often think that roles in Big Tech offer the opportunity to drive excellence from within, but here's why these roles can lead to burnout and disappointment
Not long ago, my colleague Emily Freeman echoed a sentiment on Twitter that stirred up familiar emotions: “I don’t think I’ll ever forgive Microsoft for hiring the single greatest group of humans I’ll most likely ever work with and then making it impossible for us to stay.” This story is familiar in Big Tech, and I have experienced it a few times myself.
Big Tech has a habit of hiring the best and then squandering them. Success at these companies usually relies on having the luck to land under superlative leadership that’s plugged into the community and driving a solid vision. I got lucky at Meta. But it’s still a roll of the dice whenever I accept a role at a large tech firm.
What makes the average worker successful in Big Tech differs from how an exceptional talent can impact that company’s bottom line. This impact often involves doing things differently, introducing new concepts, practices, and objectives that run counter to what’s come before. If the existing system could solve this problem, the company wouldn’t need to recruit the best of the best. Large companies have endemic forces that actively grind and waste this potential to maintain “what works here” to keep the mechanisms that have turned a profit so far going. There are many people whose promotions, income, and well-being rely on those systems ticking over, and unless they’re onboard and incentivized with these new initiatives, they can fight the threat of change like a hive of bees set on fire.
At more than half of my Big Tech jobs, I have been asked/told to “stop trying so hard,” “we love your ideas but just do [this one thing that doesn’t move the needle but keeps you employed].” If I were at a startup, that startup would be dead. But Big Tech isn’t a startup. Big Tech can lumber along just fine, turning a profit, never counting what it leaves on the table.
There’s nothing wrong with Big Tech having an army of fungible people in roles that keep the “dollar in, two dollars out” machinery working. But there is a problem when a crow thinks it can eat pond weeds to become a swan. Big Tech leaders sometimes believe that if they hire visionary, influential leaders from the engineering community, they will magically get innovative products and infrastructure.
If you want to make something different, you must do things differently. In Big Tech, that means setting up a safe space where the forces that push people to do things The Way We’ve Always Done Them don’t demoralize and punish your A-Team for incubating new ideas and piloting programs.
It’s not enough for your crack team to exist in isolation. In the places where I’ve seen maverick teams succeed in Big Tech, they had strong, motivated sponsors and support fighting for them in the larger org, actively exporting the team’s work across the company.
If you’re a Highly Motivated Individual thinking about going into Big Tech, interview the leadership team. Ask about:
How they are creating the right environment.
How they are representing and justifying the work to their peers and leadership.
What relationship they have with their leadership.
How they have done all these things successfully in the past.
Past performance is a good indicator of future success. If the org leader has failed or never done this before, you’ll want to ask more about who supports and advises them.
Working in Big Tech can be a great way to build a nest egg and gain experience, ostensibly with the promise of long-term stability. But it is also a brilliant way to burn out from having all your work, ideas, and effort repeatedly torn down, dismissed, go unnoticed, or get dumped into something completely different from what leadership promised that brings your zero joy. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t! It all comes down to your leaders. Know the bet you’re making with your lifespan.