#culture

What piece of art would you select - I vote for we are a family...

Is Dan playing the same character, only I doubt Verizon will have the same happy company ending the movie did.

Well, another Edward Jones long standing tradition has met it's end.

Regional award ceremonies will now be conducted during a week day morning instead of a nice ceremony where you can bring a spouse.

Maybe its too expensive now for the little people to be honored? Wonder if TAP trips are next?

It seems that hope for next year is scarce. Looking at the chatter around 2026, optimism seems nonexistent. Most people don't expect any improvements, on the contrary. No wonder morale has never been lower.

Why does Wells Fargo continue to promote managers who run teams through intimidation? It makes no sense to me that people who rely only on yelling and threats are seen by those higher up as high performers, but apparently they are, because it keeps happening.

Why is it that at Nike, career progress seems to depend more on playing office politics than actual work? I've noticed that merit has very little influence, while understanding how to navigate relationships and kiss the right butts is critical for anyone looking to move up. How can that be considered a good thing?

It’s peak gaslighting. Not a shred of information on anything even remotely important.

I was doing some tinkering with AI and thought to share:

⭐ 3. Set internal boundaries with AI pressure and dashboards

Dashboards are not reality.
AI promises are not reality.
The “push of a button” narrative is not reality.

But your body reacts like they are threats.

To protect yourself, create a mental mantra:

“Leadership’s metrics are not my emergency.”

Repeat it when:
• deadlines shift
• new reviews drop suddenly
• AI hype creates worker panic
• leadership frames scarcity as urgency

Your job is to contribute — not to sacrifice your health for an algorithm.

I have been giving Sabre only what is necessary to keep my job. With so much stress and uncertainty, going above and beyond no longer seems worth it. The environment is unsustainable, and they will have to face the fallout, and sooner seems more likely than later.

You gotta hand it to The Stankmeiser. He really knows the landscape and how to be a wheeler dealer.

New Role made up for Chief Digi officer Russell Jokes, where to they make these up, and a remarketing colour for the logo.

Another millionaire on the board, and millions wasted following on from Mary. Nobody knows who DXC are.

We desperately need a Union to combat the management we have here. They are out of control and we need to collectively fight back!

I left in January because the environment had become way too toxic, and now a new offer just landed in my inbox. The offer itself looks solid, but I am really unsure about stepping back into a place that pushed me out in the first place. I am hoping someone who stayed can give an honest read on whether things are actually better or if it is still the same mess I walked away from.

This "leadership" keeps cutting people and stacking the leftovers on whoever stays. They already started again, and I am determined not to take on another unwanted task. We all kept absorbing the hit and pretending it was normal, but that ends for me today. If pushing back puts a target on my back, so be it.

Or more importantly, how?? Do so many people truly think she's doing a good job? I'm just as shocked at the 4.1 overall stars. I didn't think I was the minority in my opinion of this place, but looks like I was wrong.

Today’s S&T townhall was a masterclass in corporate spin. They bragged about “wins” and “momentum,” but flat-out refused to address the mess happening behind the scenes. Not a single word about the plants being shut down. No mention of the layoffs already underway. No acknowledgment of the teams stretched thin or the projects that failed.

Leadership acted like everything is perfect while people’s jobs are on the line. They know employees are anxious. They know closures are happening. They know cost-cutting is hitting hard. And yet they chose to pretend none of it exists.

This wasn’t a townhall — it was a PR show.
If PepsiCo wants any credibility left, they need to stop hiding behind glossy slides and start telling the truth.

SBC Legacy Executives chased off all the talent and threats to upend their massive incompetence.

People are losing their jobs and we get nonsense holiday parties, harpists playing in the lobby and piano concerts. I have never seen such a tone deaf company.

Looks like Pepsi has decided to go back to the region structure lol…

Next cascade should focus on redoing cascade 1. Since cascade 2, we’ve seen the same incompetent leadership coming through. How about doing cascade 1 correctly before shaving associates first? As they say, it all starts with leadership and we have it seen one in a while. Btw… doing listening posts is not enough.

What if we had Olympic Games for Managers and above? Categories would include:
1- Reporting your dubious achievements through rose tinted glasses
2- Schmoozing your peers and superiors while neglecting your own department
3- Running your team ragged while having little to no impact
4- Promoting as many unqualified people as possible
5- Running around like a chicken with its head cut off
6- Failing up

Do you know any potential gold medalists?

Let’s be real the whole “V Team” notion is a joke.
The new CEO walks around sipping his coffee talking about at least when Verizon lays off people before Thanksgiving, they don’t do it by text message they do it by a phone call. Yay, thank you Dan. This guy is so full of himself.

Then he lets you stay on the books to work during the holidays while the people who stay talk about holiday parties, your mgrs ghost you and you get quietly removed from team calls. Gotta love it. I hope the people who made it, are watching how the laid off ones are being treated. It will probably be worse next time under this new CEO’s regime.

Wrapped up my PMP review before submitting and the writing is on the wall: no promotions, and “exceeds” ratings are being restricted so tightly they’re basically unattainable. Add in the latest S&T message from the tantrum-thrower/demotivator himself, DM, and it’s pretty clear that career mobility at Chevron is dead for the foreseeable future.

Here’s the part that really gets me:
The people now sitting comfortably in higher roles and PSG levels are the same ones who climbed paths they’ve now completely demolished for everyone coming after them. The folks being lined up as “next in line” are being chosen based on experience tied to work that doesn’t even exist in the U.S. anymore. And the ones at the very top — secure in their ivory towers, swimming in cash like Scrooge McDuck — look down and tell everyone else to “work harder” while setting performance bars miles above anything they themselves ever met.

And before anyone says it: yes, I know — “If you don’t like it, leave.”
I’m working on it. I have interviews lined up. Chevron might still want me, but I’m not sure I want Chevron anymore

There’s no real chance of recovery on the path we’re on, especially with the people steering the wheel. At this point it barely matters whether the next cuts land in December or later. They’re coming. It would just be nice if, for once, the people responsible actually took the blame. It’s absurd to pretend anyone but leadership is accountable for the state of affairs.

Computers solved some problems but created a whole host of new ones
The internet solved some problems but created a whole host of new ones
Cloud computing solved some problems but created a whole host of new ones

Why will AI be any different???

And I regret it, i can see it's a dumpster fire already. Will it improve ?

Watching people who gave years get escorted out with barely a goodbye so many times in the last several years just crushed morale. Most of us now feel that dedication does not matter when decisions are made behind closed doors with no humanity. Not many are bothering to do more than bare minimum anymore. You can't do something like this repeatedly and expect things to remain the same.

They watched the company being burned to the ground and really didn't care.

They watched the arrogance about a superior network permeate almost the entire company, to the detriment of sales.

They really could give a sh$$ about the employees. They just want their bod fees and options.

They'll do anything for a short term stock pump, even if it means sacrificing people and destroying lives. Here's a clue, less revenue, less customers, less support, less of everything, including the stock price.

They really don't know anything about the actual business, but they're bringing in somebody who's been watching this burn for 7 years and because he was at virgin mobile and is tied in with the AI world he'll know what to do.

Hatchet a$$ can tell jokes, act like he's some cowboy, talk b.s. about how this was needed (he's responsible) and really not care about how many lives he's absolutely destroyed, all he cares about is the millions he continues to make.

They okayed mass layoffs on conference calls, they okayed destroying entire organizations, they talk about customer service but let key people be thrown away, I'm sure those customers are really happy about it (they're not.)

Some people being forced out thank the company for blah, blah, blah, heck to that, F$$$ the board, F$$$ hatchet, and F$$$ anybody who's talking about so-called survivor's guilt; that's a bunch of b.s. and shows what a huge hypocrite and a$$hole you really are, you still have a job (for now.)

F$$$ the board, hatchet, and all those mo--n's who think this is a good thing, it's really not.

How did we get the worst CIO in not only out industry, but in the country? A used car salesman would do a better job. At least he might have a shot at convincing us of the lies being told. He must have wrecked GM IT. He makes BB look like a super hero.

Since we benchmark everything else, why don’t we benchmark our leaders as well? If we had, we likely wouldn’t be in the situation we’re in today.

Stank keeps talking about being a “market-based company,” but the market has already delivered its verdict, and it is absolutely brutal.

Just look at the scoreboard.

AT&T’s market cap today is around $180B.
Netflix, a company AT&T once thought it could compete with through the WarnerMedia empire, is sitting around $430B+. Netflix is worth more than double AT&T. That alone tells you everything about which company the market believes in.

And when you look at how we got here, it’s even worse.

AT&T bought Time Warner for roughly $85B, swallowed billions more in debt, tried to play Hollywood, mismanaged the integration, then spun it off in 2022 into Warner Bros Discovery wiping out over 50 of billion in value.
WBD stock fell as low as $7.50, and even now AT&T stock at roughly $25.46 is trading below WBD’s $25.80.
An $85B asset turned into a fraction of its worth, and now WBD is being shopped to Netflix for double compared to the sale and divestiture price.

Billions burned.

A strategic failure so large business schools literally teach it.
And the company has spent the last five years trying to claw its way back to where it was BEFORE all these “visionary decisions.”

So when Stankey and the leadership team brag about “market-based” strategy, it’s a joke the actual market doesn’t find funny. Wall Street sees right through it. Investors have no confidence. Employees have no confidence. The stock has gone nowhere during his tenure, and the company’s major bets have been disasters.

If AT&T truly wants to operate like a modern, market-led company, then start acting like one beginning with ending his latest “visionary decision” - the outdated RTO obsession that adds cost, crushes morale, pushes out top talent, and delivers zero measurable business benefit. Wait too long and you’ll never recover from that too.

Real market-based companies reduce overhead, increase flexibility, retain talent, and innovate.
AT&T is doing the opposite and the market has priced that in loud and clear.

Leadership can keep talking about culture, presence, and “the plan,” but the numbers don’t lie.
The strategy isn’t working.
And the market knows it.
And so do we.

what do you all think of a store manager who hands out certain invitations to attend an (out of the store) xmas party to certain people (in front of everyone in store) and excludes certain people? should belk fire her for that?

have a lot of hope for the new year. clearly there are quite a few malcontents here that might want to consider greener pastures. but for the dedicated fiserv loyalists, the new year is going to rock!!!!

I am watching the Big XII championship game right now presented by Edward Jones. In a first quarter commercial break here pops up our beloved Penny Pennington with her dyed hair (when you see her in person she has plenty of gray). She talks about Edward Jones standing beside people helping them achieve their dreams and find their “rich”. She forgot to tell the football fans that she will help you achieve your dreams unless she can offshore your position for cheap Indian labor. If that is the case then you are on your own. Penny is such a blatant liar!

Some advice to senior management: If your new VPs and people managers don’t have LC or MS experience, don’t hire them.

They only excel at sugarcoating results and self promotion.

Purge them. Were a science company

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/technology/tech-news/ibm-ceo-to-google-amazon-microsoft-and-other-tech-companies-does-not-make-sense-to-/articleshow/125804195.cms

Where PIPs lurk in the halls… waiting to swipe your livelihood.

Be honest.

This Forum reflects the need for significant headcount reductions in 2026. We struggle with any decision for increased investment while AT&T continues to retain these bad seeds. They tarnish the value of your Product. AT&T could have a bright future if the tougher decisions are made to prevent further decline.

Get ready folks, here comes another round... Pipeline is crawling, lots of folks on the bench... But wait, we spent a lot of money on SalesForce!! Just helps to show how bad it is, quicker and more efficiently. Can't fire people quick enough to save $$$. Let's fire more hard working Americans and move those roles offshore, stat! AAR please! Cause none of us have served in the military, but we did this really cool thing at West Point and like to believe that we really are tough, like rugged man tough and we got a T-shirt and love to add it to our linkedin profile, cause you know, it makes us look tough. Did I mention how rough and tough we are?

Solutions Integrator <---- Failed
VAR <---- Abandoned the back bone to chase a field of dreams
AI Super Star <---- Not really, but it sounds cool, like cool cool
Dud <---- Current state of affairs

All the execs are trying to get their buddies into the CEO role to save their behinds. Hey, I know let's hire more of the Lequin family to come and help out.. cause as you know, they crush quota! Hahahahah

If you invested funds in Insight five years ago, you only got a 17% return. Wow, those are some stats to brag about around the Christmas dinner table. Hey, we salvaged 1/3 rd of market cap to boot in only 2 years. Man, I can't wait to tell the kids. He-l, I think that I will be writing a book, doing a podcast, a vlog and well just telling the world how awesome we are. I just bought 20 more pieces of that awesome Fuchsia clothing to show just how much I love this place.

Make sure that you kiss a lot of behind to not get the boot on January 5th. Or just call yourself a CTO or CISO, since we have unlimited number of those around here and you'll be safe.