PSA: Never Work For a Company With 3 Generations of Ownership

[xeemzor]

My current client is such a train wreck of a company. We were brought into to help out with an ERP implementation that was 90% done because half of the IT and Finance team quit. Almost all of their legitimate recommendations were ignored because they were not exactly how things were done before. Their only competent finance resource even took a job interview with me in the room today and didn't care.

Management has crippled the 2 year $5M project so much that, amazingly, the software is now worse than before. The best example I can give is buying a BMW and then slashing the tires, busting two windows, denting the hood, and never doing an oil change.

The owner is one of the least qualified people to run a company on the planet. He literally runs around bothering people, talking about star trek, and changing light bulbs. Imagine Steve Wozniak running a $200M+ revenue company. I haven’t seen him do one thing right as a CEO in over a month. Last week he even said that he didn't want to grow the company anymore because it was getting too big to handle.

Amazingly, they still have 40%+ margins and the owner makes millions a year. I still don’t get how they are still even in business with lead times of a year and a half and an average production delay of 6+ months. Their culture is terrible, management is idiotic, and smart people get pushed out. I can’t wait for the day that they fire us and blame everything on the consultants

 

[Ns1]

the best part is they'll complain about how shitty your work is and how bad consultants are, taking all their money for less-than-nothing in return.

//edit

oh wait, I see you addressed that at the end of your post

 

[rudeguy]

My current client is such a train wreck of a company. We were brought into to help out with an ERP implementation that was 90% done because half of the IT and Finance team quit. Almost all of their legitimate recommendations were ignored because they were not exactly how things were done before. Their only competent finance resource even took a job interview with me in the room today and didn't care.

Management has crippled the 2 year $5M project so much that, amazingly, the software is now worse than before. The best example I can give is buying a BMW and then slashing the tires, busting two windows, denting the hood, and never doing an oil change.

The owner is one of the least qualified people to run a company on the planet. He literally runs around bothering people, talking about star trek, and changing light bulbs. Imagine Steve Wozniak running a $200M+ revenue company. I haven’t seen him do one thing right as a CEO in over a month. Last week he even said that he didn't want to grow the company anymore because it was getting to big to handle.

Amazingly, they still have 40%+ margins and the owner makes millions a year. I still don’t get how they are still even in business with lead times of a year and a half and an average production delay of 6+ months. Their culture is terrible, management is idiotic, and smart people get pushed out. I can’t wait for the day that they fire us and blame everything on the consultants

Marty? Marty Kahn?

 

[Kaido]

The sad thing is, this is the norm. All of the big companies you see out there are completely mis-managed houses of cards, albeit with bright & shiny facades. But somehow, the money keeps coming in & the companies keep on rolling along.

The guy who writes Dilbert has enough material to last until the end of time.

 

[xeemzor]

The sad thing is, this is the norm. All of the big companies you see out there are completely mis-managed houses of cards, albeit with bright & shiny facades. But somehow, the money keeps coming in & the companies keep on rolling along.

The guy who writes Dilbert has enough material to last until the end of time.

I've worked for good companies before. Usually they are the ones that are super fast growing and less than 10 years old.

Once they go public everything turns to shit though.

 

[esquared]

Sounds like Dilbert.

edit:
I just saw Kaido's post.

 

[MongGrel]

Yep, things like this are pretty much par for the course.

Of course they are the ones that hire people a lot of time so Junior and his relatives can sandbag.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

"The ability to get ahead in an organization is simply another talent, like the ability to play chess, paint pictures, do coronary bypass operations or pick pockets. There are some people who are extraordinarily good at manipulating- organizations to serve their own ends. The Russians, who have suffered under such people for centuries, have a name for them-- apparatchiks."

Empire of the Rising Scum

 

[Jeff7]

Things like this leave me amazed that airplanes don't fall from the sky every few hours. Dilbert isn't popular because the stories are uncommon. They're the norm. A bunch of people come together in a dysfunctional group that engages in ethically-dubious activities and generally turns a profit. This group is called a company or corporation.

Somewhere, some smart process engineers figured out how to make that system such that a bunch of these companies can deliver parts that come together in a complex assembly of a machine that is still incredibly reliable. That is as impressive as the design of the actual planes themselves.

 

[xeemzor]

Things like this leave me amazed that airplanes don't fall from the sky every few hours. Dilbert isn't popular because the stories are uncommon. They're the norm. A bunch of people come together in a dysfunctional group that engages in ethically-dubious activities and generally turns a profit. This group is called a company or corporation.

Somewhere, some smart process engineers figured out how to make that system such that a bunch of these companies can deliver parts that come together in a complex assembly of a machine that is still incredibly reliable. That is as impressive as the design of the actual planes themselves.

And now I'll never fly again.

 

[PokerGuy]

OP, sounds like a lousy company with lousy management, but I'm not sure what it has to do with 3 generations of ownership. I've seen lousy companies with every kind of ownership, and I've seen great companies with every different kind of ownership structure.

 

[xeemzor]

OP, sounds like a lousy company with lousy management, but I'm not sure what it has to do with 3 generations of ownership. I've seen lousy companies with every kind of ownership, and I've seen great companies with every different kind of ownership structure.

Have you ever heard the saying "The first generation builds. The second generation maintains. The third generation destroys."?

What typically happens in companies like this is that management rises to their positions because of bloodlines instead of merit. This has a massive detrimental effect on the quality of resources retained by the company. Why stay when the owner's idiot brother will get promoted faster than you? By the time the third generation is in charge the brain drain is already so deep that there is very little business acumen left in the company.

 

[PokerGuy]

Have you ever heard the saying "The first generation builds. The second generation maintains. The third generation destroys."?

What typically happens in companies like this is that management rises to their positions because of bloodlines instead of merit. This has a massive detrimental effect on the quality of resources retained by the company. Why stay when the owner's idiot brother will get promoted faster than you? By the time the third generation is in charge the brain drain is already so deep that there is very little business acumen left in the company.

I don't disagree with you that it often plays out that way, but nothing in your OP said anything about ownership generations playing a role, just smells like terrible management. I've done consulting work for a 4th generation owned business that had fantastic management, so it depends.

 

[Newell Steamer]

This sounds like the place I work at. And, it's not owned & operated by 3 generations of a family. Or any family. It's a bunch of overpaid no nothing 'leaders'.

There are plenty of places owned & operated by families that run perfectly fine.

And, there are plenty of places where non-bloodline management cliches stick together. They flow together from job to job, leeching 6 digit figures and accomplishing next to nothing - much like the 3 gens you just described.

The point being; family owned & operated corporations aren't a red flag that assholes are running it.

 

[ultimatebob]

Let me guess... everyone in senior management is buddies with the CEO or a guy who used to run the company. They barely know how to use an iPhone, yet they are allowed make strategy technology decisions.

 

[Exterous]

My current client is such a train wreck of a company. We were brought into to help out with an ERP implementation that was 90% done because half of the IT and Finance team quit. Almost all of their legitimate recommendations were ignored because they were not exactly how things were done before.

Oh god - sounds like a recipe for an ERP nightmare *shudders*

 

[Harabec]

Hah, sounds like my previous job...glad I don't work there anymore.

 

[Smoblikat]

Sounds exactly like my current job.

 

[feralkid]

He literally runs around bothering people, talking about star trek, and changing light bulbs.

Does he "literally" run?


Didn't think so.


:awe:

 

[xeemzor]

This sounds like the place I work at. And, it's not owned & operated by 3 generations of a family. Or any family. It's a bunch of overpaid no nothing 'leaders'.

There are plenty of places owned & operated by families that run perfectly fine.

And, there are plenty of places where non-bloodline management cliches stick together. They flow together from job to job, leeching 6 digit figures and accomplishing next to nothing - much like the 3 gens you just described.

The point being; family owned & operated corporations aren't a red flag that assholes are running it.

Bad management exists everywhere but it is much more likely to be in these kinds of companies. Owners are raised with the idea that their rise is inevitable and don't push themselves to become better leaders. When leadership hasn't been through the trenches they tend to make poor or unrealistic decisions.

Let me guess... everyone in senior management is buddies with the CEO or a guy who used to run the company. They barely know how to use an iPhone, yet they are allowed make strategy technology decisions.

They didn't implement their prior ERP system until the IRS threatened to fine them. By that point they were at ~$100M or so in sales. The ERP system that they chose to implement was a poor fit for their company and is typically marketed to companies with low complexity and under $50M in sales. Does that answer your question?

 

[Udgnim]

is the CEO Michael Scott?

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Clients are amazing bundles of joy, aren't they? I won't bore you with my emergency of the day because I know the guy is furiously googling and I don't want him to stumble on me making fun of him. Let's just say that systems (be they ERP, CMS, etc) create and manage certain functions for a reason and modifying them because you don't like the name isn't a good idea.....

 

[xeemzor]

Clients are amazing bundles of joy, aren't they? I won't bore you with my emergency of the day because I know the guy is furiously googling and I don't want him to stumble on me making fun of him. Let's just say that systems (be they ERP, CMS, etc) create and manage certain functions for a reason and modifying them because you don't like the name isn't a good idea.....

Yea, we had a bunch of that here. Because the client didn't want to modify any processes at all they made us break a bunch of rules despite our warnings. Now they are paying the price because they can't run MRP or create any BI reports using the standard tools.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Yea, we had a bunch of that here. Because the client didn't want to modify any processes at all they made us break a bunch of rules despite our warnings. Now they are paying the price because they can't run MRP or create any BI reports using the standard tools.

This guy I referenced in my previous post got the bright idea to do it in his production instance. Yeah......

 

[inachu]

My current client is such a train wreck of a company. We were brought into to help out with an ERP implementation that was 90% done because half of the IT and Finance team quit. Almost all of their legitimate recommendations were ignored because they were not exactly how things were done before. Their only competent finance resource even took a job interview with me in the room today and didn't care.

Management has crippled the 2 year $5M project so much that, amazingly, the software is now worse than before. The best example I can give is buying a BMW and then slashing the tires, busting two windows, denting the hood, and never doing an oil change.

The owner is one of the least qualified people to run a company on the planet. He literally runs around bothering people, talking about star trek, and changing light bulbs. Imagine Steve Wozniak running a $200M+ revenue company. I haven’t seen him do one thing right as a CEO in over a month. Last week he even said that he didn't want to grow the company anymore because it was getting too big to handle.

Amazingly, they still have 40%+ margins and the owner makes millions a year. I still don’t get how they are still even in business with lead times of a year and a half and an average production delay of 6+ months. Their culture is terrible, management is idiotic, and smart people get pushed out. I can’t wait for the day that they fire us and blame everything on the consultants

I had similar gripes from past jobs.

IT manager has ZERO IT skillz.. Just says..... MAKE IT WORK!
The CFO would on a monthly basis crash the novell 3.1 server and log in many times with wrong password so it would lock up and the whole thing would have to be reformatted/reinstalled. There was no password reset offered by Novell in any way shape or form. Then the CFO would blame IT.