Valiant labs is the biggest scam on the Nike campus. Lots of talk aka innovation by web browsing not doing. And yes, VP makes Hitler and Stalin look like amateurs. Crazy poor people management skills.
7 replies (most recent on top)
I also worked at Nike for ~3 years and left because of the many many layers of middle management filled with people that contributed nothing with humongous egos determined to make it to the top politically.
Nike also never fires anyone, unless you severely fu-k up. I've seen the most incompetent people there mostly just get shifted passed around from team to team. A lot of times they will end up in organizations like "Innovation" because they can all fu-k off together without the risk of damaging / delaying the important projects.
It's a super comfortable place to work while you're in it. I had to cut myself off the teet in order to advance my skillset and career, but I could have easily spent 40 years collecting that paycheck / working out for 2 hours a day / eating lunch for 2 hours a day / half days on Friday all Summer etc. etc. As much as I loathed a lot of the bozos that worked there, it was a very nice place to work.
fu-k all these egotistical pricks that ruin it for everyone else just trying to get into positions of power
Same nonsense about Nike and their supporting agency WK. Been hearing this type of sh– since 1998. Who cares.
Bummer to hear that - I thought Innovation was more functional than SB&I.
I have been in Nike innovation for over 18 years, almost since its inception. In the beginning it was all about creating amazing product in the spirit of Bill Bowerman that improved athletes performance. The pace was fast, everyone worked hard and respected the discipline and talents of the overall team. Today what's left of my hair is grey, we fight among our selves to see who gets to show work the MP. We have more VP's that we could ever need and to a person, they are not leading, inspiring to others or even really happy with the work they are doing. Our pace pokes along with no sense of urgency, and work on really stupid stuff like auto lacing, that's not profitable, not performance focused and no consumer really wants or needs. But because TH wants to do it we convince ourselves that it must be cool and plod along without raising the obvious business questions. As bad as it is in innovation, (and everyone know it's bad, and the work is c-ap) I couldn't believe Nike would sep up another innovation style team that quickly went dysfunctional called Valiant Labs. We all saw it coming and knew that it would never have a chance to be successful politically or in assets delivery. It died the day it was born, they just don't know it yet. I am deeply saddened by all that has transpired because of politics and basically just mean people that care only about themselves leading the place. I will be gone soon, my grey hair makes me an age target, but to all of you that will be left behind, what does your future look like? We have slipped so far down the dark hole of infighting that those new to the company have no idea how great Nike once was and with no map or model to follow it doesn't take much imagination to see where things are heading.
Awful comparison that distracts from how bad she is as a team leader. Nike should not give her any more $ or people.
If you define neat as tyrannical, self-promoting, condescending, and generally a jerk....yeah, she's real neat.
She seems like a neat person.