Correction…Dear hackers, can you start with predatory collections companies and just remove our names from their databases entirely? Or also pull a Fight Club and erase the records that show us being in debt to anyone at all.
I mean…at least do something that HELPS common people.
I actually don’t have that big an objection for CEO’s getting paid a ton of money - to an extent and with some caveats that are not applicable to this conversation. BUT, they are ultimately responsible for the culture from the top down. The CIO and CSO reported directly to this guy.
My biggest problem is that C level people get paid a ton of money while simultaneously not being truly held accountable for outcomes. They can crash and burn a company and walk away with millions or tens of millions when they leave or are forced to leave. There is no “downside” for anyone at that level. And then they go on to work elsewhere.
Case in point at a company where I worked at one time:
We got a new CIO who came in from the outside. This person’s performance at one of their largest gigs was literally a text book example of what not to do. As in I had a friend getting their late in life CS degree and the tenure of the CIO two jobs ago was in one of his text books as a massive failure. Yet we hired this person.
Behold: The Wealth creator! 
$90M? That’s not that much. Can’t even buy a decent football team for that.
The major shareholders are people similar to this guy. They don’t personally own the company, but represent funds that do, and they know that next time it could be their head on the block when their company screws up. Why would they want to promote accountability? They are just one big, friendly club protecting each others backs.
The Daily WTF rarely if ever gets political in their content but this article is pretty spot on.DAILY WTF
I agree, specially because he is the one selecting the team he works with.
I still think CIOs should take over in these types of companies.
But… I want to blame them for stuff too.
I get that entirely.
In the comments on an earlier post about this same story, I said that we’re all going to be equi-fuxed. I’d like to correct that and say: we’re all, less one, going to be equi-fuxed.
I believe CEOs don’t have much power in the way a corporation runs. Corporations seem to run primarily by a bunch of procedures copied from previous successful versions of themselves. Many companies are too big to be managed effectively and I don’t think anyone is really at the wheel. A lot of these things are up to chance. People need another person to look like they are running this big thing that impact their lives. When a corporation fucks up bad, the CEO takes responsibility and resigns. Very little about the way the company works changes. People think, wow, someone got fired, I guess that problem will resolve. Usually, the departing CEO’s fall from the top floor suite is cushioned with piles of money.
I think one of the CEOs primary functions is to take personal responsibility for problems that nobody knows where they came from, how to prevent, or what to do about. It doesn’t come cheap. How much would you ask for if someone wanted you to go on TV and say that Deepwater Horizon or Exxon Valdez was your fault? Before you give your answer, remember that if you show your face in public, people are going to punch it. You will need a big, secure place to live with your family, people to go to the store for you, private planes, etc…
Shareholders run these things. They take very little interest in individual companies. There are laws about the way they can operate. Don’t like it? How much of your time and money do you use working for, buying things from, or investing in corporations? It’s likely you can’t live a lifestyle you are used to without them, but you can spend part of your energy on alternative means.
BS. That’s exactly what CEOs are paid the big bucks for. To be the executive; the one person in the organization with whom the ultimate responsibility lies. Dodging responsibility like this is why CEOs should not get paid so much. He should at least have faced a decision: take full responsibility, including any criminal charges that may come with the breach, and keep the $90M, or retire gracefully but with the typical pension or 401(k) of the median worker at the company. Not both.
Never worked in corporate America I take it? Because this is both not how it works and unrealistic at best.
Wrong and wrong.
Seriously. It’s unrealistic. And it is not possible to work that way. Again. I did not say the CEO who presides over such a serious breach shouldn’t lose their job. They should. I said they cannot be held personally responsible. But by all means extrapolate what you think I said or think some more.
Have a nice night. Good bye.
I agree that “managing” organizations that are sufficiently large is probably impossible. There’s lots of failure modes, but here’s one I’ve seen: CEO has a vision, a big idea, but the heads of the actual business units have to keep the lights on every quarter and don’t have time for it, so it never happens. Here’s another: constant “restructuring” to pivot in a rapidly changing world, leaving everyone exhausted and unsure what their job is.
The thing is, that’s still the (current of past) CEO’s fault. He or she should have known that in signing up for the job, taking responsibility for things that aren’t a result of your direct actions is part of what you’re paid for. So is creating a structure that is manageable.
I think that’s the key in this “structure that is manageable”
Corp America is manageable within its silos. So, some analyst finds a potential flaw or issue that could be a breach in the future. They report to their Director…who then discusses with a team lead and they decide to have a meeting regarding the issue. That’s 3-5 business days right there.
Now, said meeting leads to "Yes, we need to research and fix this issue…it gets escalated to the director’s boss…let’s say a VP. So now this issue gets an official project opened. Resources assigned. Project timeline in place. All this is done within another 7-10 business days.
The project will need to do testing and QA prior to rolling out any code changes to repair the possible breach. Let’s be conservative…3 months.
We are nearly 4 months out and not once has anyone communicated to the CEO about this potential issue probably because it wasn’t a big enough issue to escalate that high.
That is the issue with Corp America. This is normal. And not every single issue or potential issue can be personally reviewed by the CEO, CIO, CMO, COO, etc etc.
I agree with your points…especially the restructuring one. UGH. One of our inside jokes is…“Don’t like your job, wait 6 months it will change.”
Like I said and have always said…top executive compensation is simply way too high. And while they are culpable for large scale failures…they are not personally responsible (generally speaking).
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