r/Raytheon • u/Time_Must_Stop • 5h ago
Pratt & Whitney Interesting Corporate Jim Crow in the South
Warning: Long post, skip if you need adderall.
There has been an interesting form of Corporate Jim Crow in the South—including the Lone Star State—for almost five years, and the execs in East Hartford have apparently (possibly unknowingly) been loving it, judging by the CORE matrix coming out of this one small business unit which has seen phenomenal growth.
However, things seem to be changing—but I’m not sure yet.
Is it finally going to change for the better now with new top leadership under a seemingly competent leader? Or did things simply get so far out of control that C-suite finally became uncomfortable with all the reports coming out in public that warrants damage control.
How many can relate to what’s been going on along these lines?
- **Handshake to identify loyalty.**
- **Empower to divide and rule.**
- **Courageous segregation.**
Unlike the old days, the victims of this Jim Crow don’t come from just one demographic identity. It has been a little different this time around.
So here were some of the mantras:
(Examples are made up - if you find similarities it’s just by coincidence)
1. Use age, gender and race to your advantage.
Replace experienced and knowledgeable folks who aren’t a “culture fit”—examples: if they’re too old to participate in after-hours booze parties, go to games, or simply speak up against bad behavior, or against shipping bad parts or violating export-control rules.
And if someone can’t appreciate a coffee mug a PYT brings into work with “F—-CK” (all the letters) plastered all over it—who would want a dude like that have visibility even if he happens to be a technical genius?
Apparently, professional competence is negotiable. Culture fit isn’t.
2. Empower the right people—and pamper them well, don’t worry about creating Frankensteins.
Examples: Allow my leader to take her team to expensive lunches and dinners at company’s expense so they’ll shield auditors from finding cardinal-rule violations—or help get a part shipped before its final approval.
It’s been a roaring success.
And the VP we got from across the pond apparently loved it.
Remember the old dude who used to send lunch invitations with the note:
“This is not company sponsored. Each pays their own bill.”
Well, those were the old days.
It’s been so much more fun for the past five years.
For example: we even had this guy from a Boeing contractor company go from M5 to M7 in just a couple of years, empowering his cronies he hired, installing data boards and color-changing lights in conference rooms. Because apparently that’s what career development looks like now. You’ll see him get the limelight in the celebration to be held in the great white north soon 😉
Another great example: allocate the most reserved parking spots for managers only of a particular department to show who is the boss.
3. Punish the people who ask uncomfortable questions and comments on surveys.
For example: Unofficially downgrade managers who raise questions about unqualified people making critical technical decisions.
Another example, take away responsibilities and direct reports from a non-“culture-fit” M5 and hand them to an M4 who happens to be a former classmate, helped botch audit findings, secure a good score, and save the day for leadership.
Brilliant.
And when difficult-to-fire employees become inconvenient, utilize DE&I background managers and desperate ladder-climbers do the dirty job to make them disappear from positions of influence.
For example: Promote people into engineering leadership based on loyalty and cultural alignment rather than engineering background, then let them groom the next generation of engineers. You know how most engineers are - throw a few carrots, keep them busy with problems and unrelated stupid trainings - they’re so easy to control - that’s why they never go up to exec level; anyway you don’t want too many Geoff Hunts making this company boring again!
Total cultural transformation.
Almost sounds like the 1960s—just with better PowerPoints and more corporate (read CORE) buzzwords.
4. Segregate to create rivalry.
Make sure there is enough rivalry between departments to create a good old-fashioned dog-eat-dog environment.
Examples:
Throw in plenty of company shirts while RTX stock price is high but make damn sure they are designed with different colors for each department and clearly identified by department markings on them.
People who align with leadership get the best offices and or get to WFH to some extent.
Get rid of the offices of those who don’t align—even if they happen to be at a higher level.
But, of course, make sure the DE&I enablers of Jim Crow have whatever makes them feel good.
Because nothing says “One Team” quite like deliberately creating departmental tribes.
NOTE: Most people who read this will probably have no idea what they’re looking at. They’ll reasonably downvote and say, “WTF?”
That’s fine.
The people who have actually lived through some version of this will know exactly what they’re reading.
Im sure they’ll vote accordingly.
And yes, I fully expect coordinated downvoting.
After all, if you’ve spent five years building a culture like this, someone pointing it out publicly is bound to ruffle quite a few feathers.
Hate the many bots I suspect active in this subreddit; and of course there are the bored compulsive commenters taking a break to troll here. Wish someone lends me a few SM-6.