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3 Types of Companies You Leave

Sooner or later, we leave our jobs for bigger, better, and other things.

 Very few of us stay at the same job until we retire. 

 Very few of us are actually doing things that we were formally trained for. 

 I would say that from my business school class, I can count on one hand the number of people I know that are still with the same company. But even they have rotated into a job that is in an entirely different function than what they studied in school. 

 Even though I'm in the same profession, I've observed that people leave 3 types of companies or organizations. I'll give them nicknames so that they stick. 

  1. The Phantom Zone: Like the place that Superman sends villains to that is caught between time and space, this is the place that you hardly remember once you leave. The only way you remember it is when a former cellmate brings up something that triggers a memory of how miserable it was. 
  2. The Machine: This is a place that is too big to fail. It's probably the place that took more of your soul than you think. But it had the biggest impact on your career and it's the place where you matured as a professional. The majority of your LinkedIn network originates from this organization.
  3. Original Oatmeal: Think of a place full of automatons - corporate blue or white shirts, pleated pants, bad shoes. This is a place full of processes, procedures, and check friggin' lists. Unfortunately for many, this is the place that we've accepted to retire from because we have spent our time in The Phantom Zone or The Machine. 

I am sure that this list is not mutually exclusive or collectively exhaustive. And I'm sure that many of you can come up with more creative nicknames. If so, I would love to hear your nicknames and stories-- the entertainment value would surely go up. 

 Note: There is a 1a. The Branch Davidian: This is where you believe that the entire place is a cult. The place revolves around a David Koresh-like figure. From the outside looking in, you think that everyone is nuts. But from the inside looking out, you are emotionally tied to the place and its leaders. It's not until some massive event interrupts your emotional state that you realize you've drunk the Kool-Aid. 
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