Pros
I loved it at CfC when I first joined. The mission is addicting. It is rare to be able to work on products that have long term evidence based outcomes for social change. You always have hope that things will click and the organization will get its act together to be successful. Don’t be tricked by hope because that hope will make you stay longer than you would in normal circumstances.
Cons
The individual contributors doing the work are smart, talented, driven people who choose to use their talents to better the world. The quality and thought behind the work from individual contributors was inspirational. Unfortunately, these talented individuals are not trusted by leadership (VPs) to do the work they were hired to do. Every decision that is made by the people doing the work is questioned and re-questioned by all levels of management. This leads to a never-ending cycle of indecision, which leads to months and months of churn and no work being completed. If decisions are made or reversed by leadership (VPs), they are not communicated in an efficient and professional manner back to the people doing the work. I experienced multiple occasions when important decisions and mandates were made by leadership (VPs) and no formal announcement was sent from leadership to the affected staff. Instead, the communication channel selected by leadership (VPs) was the CfC grapevine where the decision and rationale (or lack thereof) became so twisted that no one knew the truth. Everyone then moves forward and operates on their own version of the truth. It is a very unstable foundation for scaling a business. This unstable foundation set by leadership (VPs) of indecision, mistrust (fueled by the no gossip policy) and miscommunication has created a culture that sets CfC staff up to fail. Deadline after deadline is missed. Staff is held accountable yet no one in leadership (VPs, directors, managers) is being held accountable. Instead, scope is increased, deadlines are pushed back, and money is pumped into hiring new staff so that projects can go “faster.” This does not fix the heart of the issue. It exponentially increases them. Because of the above issues, work can’t move forward. You work on the exact same thing for months and keep revisiting it. Since you can’t complete work and move onto new projects, you don’t have the opportunity to develop professionally and grow your job skills. Before you know it, you feel like your skills have deteriorated and you’re no longer marketable in Seattle’s fast-paced, tech-focused job market. Leadership (VPs) has beaten your confidence down to make you feel like you’re stuck, even though you are so talented and would be appreciated in a lot of other organizations.
