Tony,

I think your goals are the right goals, but they involve wholesale change of the company culture. Not simply the development team, but the entire company. Your 1 hour code review is a (sickening) perfect example.

My thinking is to focus on your particular corner of the world. Accept that the company culture will not (indeed, can not!) change until it fails, or, it will take a very long time at least. My question is, can you imagine a situation where the overall culture does not change, but your corner of the world is a happy, enjoyable place where you can work with integrity and (slowly) nudge the culture along to a more sophisticated one?

I remember reading about the company FedEx being pretty good at recognizing this kind of thing. Much of the company has an extremely time-focused culture. However, there exist groups within that company (software R&D) which supposedly have a more "research center" culture.

Your company will eventually need to address the issues of sacrificing quality for time-to-market. That's a big one for many companies and it *always* bites them. Eventually. In the mean time, can you imagine a role that you would enjoy until that happens?

I don't think its being greedy at all. You are unhappy and you want to be happy. You have the right to enjoy your job, your work, and your life. You would like to do that with them. I think that is all very positive!

I'm in a similar situation with my employer. The reality and the self-perception are not aligned. I doubt very much that your executive management would consider themselves to be running a sweatshop, but their behavior definitely says otherwise. In my experience, pointing out a collective self-deception is never appreciated. On the other hand, maybe you can enjoy life until they are willing to admit that change is necessary. Is there a way to define your role and responsibilities such that you suffer the minimum impact from the culture? I hope you'll forgive me for saying so, but I think that is more realistic that trying to define a new culture.

That's what I mean about specific outcomes: outcomes for *you*. If you can't be happy unless the company changes, I think you may be very disappointed with the results. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, by the way, and you may be much happier with a company that shares your vision.

I have totally different thinking about all of this compared to when I first entered the workplace. 15 years ago, I was all about getting the right job, lots of responsibility and money, etc. Now I really believe that the company culture is the single most important aspect of a job, because everything else flows from it. Now I'd much rather have an enjoyable job that fits my natural abilities in a culture that embraces my values than have lots of responsibility, authority and power in a culture that I find offensive.

I don't think I'm overstating it when I say that your employer does not (organizationally) embrace your values (quality as one example). I'm sure there are people there that do, but the organizational behavior is in conflict with what you believe to be "good" -- to the point where they demand that you do things that you feel are "bad". I just don't think that the company will see it your way. Either you need to be in a role where you are allowed to do "good" as you define it, or you need to go someplace that agrees with your values. I believe that Maslow would call this a "self-actualization" quandary. You have assured your economic well-being. As you've said, there are plenty of other work opportunities. I think both of us are now trying to find "meaningful" work, which means doing enjoyable and creative work in a way that is consistent with our nature -- in an environment that embraces our values.

Sorry for the long rambles. I love this stuff. I've spent the last 6 years or so studying a philosopher who frequently cites a book called Spiral Dynamics. Its not all that well written, but it contains an excellent model for organizational behavior. A very good overview can be found in the philosopher's own book _A_Theory_Of_Everything_, by Ken Wilber.

A whole bunch more comes to mind on the subject, but I'll stop (please, already!!!!). Send me a PM if you want to talk it over with someone before your meeting.

Jim