Former Valve Employee: Management Structure Like a High School Clique
Not so utopian after all?
Valve's idyllic 'flat management' structure has been torn apart by a former employee who claims that the system hides a 'clique' that's akin to a high school.
Jeri Ellsworth, who worked as head of Valve's hardware division, has highlighted cases where the developer's apparently utopian approach to management harboured clique behaviour, resulting in the 'witch hunts' that led to a mass firing of employees earlier this year. In that instance, Ellsworth said in a video podcast interview that a certain number of staff rounded up "all the undesirables" and simply got rid of them.
"There is actually a hidden layer of powerful management structure in the company," she said in The Grey Area podcast. "And it felt a lot like High School. There are popular kids that have acquired power, then there's the trouble makers, and then everyone in between. Everyone in between is ok, but the trouble makers are the ones trying to make a difference."
In the 90-minute video revelation, Ellsworth does begin by warning that "I'm going to try and be careful about what I say, because my view is not 100% true for all the different groups in there." Naturally, her comments do not reflect the entire operation of Valve, but her account of her employment details a series of incidents directly affecting certain groups in the business.
Source: The Grey Area Podcast (via Develop)
Jeri Ellsworth, who worked as head of Valve's hardware division, has highlighted cases where the developer's apparently utopian approach to management harboured clique behaviour, resulting in the 'witch hunts' that led to a mass firing of employees earlier this year. In that instance, Ellsworth said in a video podcast interview that a certain number of staff rounded up "all the undesirables" and simply got rid of them.
"There is actually a hidden layer of powerful management structure in the company," she said in The Grey Area podcast. "And it felt a lot like High School. There are popular kids that have acquired power, then there's the trouble makers, and then everyone in between. Everyone in between is ok, but the trouble makers are the ones trying to make a difference."
In the 90-minute video revelation, Ellsworth does begin by warning that "I'm going to try and be careful about what I say, because my view is not 100% true for all the different groups in there." Naturally, her comments do not reflect the entire operation of Valve, but her account of her employment details a series of incidents directly affecting certain groups in the business.
Source: The Grey Area Podcast (via Develop)
Companies:
Valve
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