• The company is generally run by inertia; it does things because it has always done those things and everyone who knew why has quit by now.
• You will be subject to the whims of the Bain cronies, who generally know nothing about the company’s products or the customer needs, but who are nevertheless in charge of all of it.
• Management hires come from management friends, so don’t expect to be promoted if you don’t live in Boston or haven’t worked with members of the management team at a previous job.
• R&D management rotates every year or so, so you’ll have to re-politic all over again if you want to keep your spot.
• The CEO is emotional and leads by fear, so you’ll have to keep your head down if you’re not among the chosen ones.
• You’ll have to hear the same “change is coming” speech every six months or so as morale gets low and management goes through the motions.
• There is no company vision other than “get bought to generate a profit for Bain”, although they’ll dress it up a bit using buzzwords like “market leader” and “IoT” and such.
• If, for some foolish reason, you actually try to make the company succeed, then you will have to deal with a management team who will view you as a threat. If you haven’t maxed your politics skills, then prepare to be burned.
• Every management interaction will need to be a compliment sandwich served with a compliment salad, ordered off the compliment menu, with a cool glass of compliment soda, otherwise you’ll be viewed as negative and part of the problem.