Comments on: Don’t be a Grin Fucker

By: Cman11

Cman11 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 07:16:22 +0000

The worst grin fuckers are the ones who tell you with the first 5 minutes what a big christian they are and how they only do business according to “christian standards.” I'm not sure exactly what that last part means but usually you end up being conned if you don't split immediately.

By: Net Jacobsson

Net Jacobsson — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 07:14:41 +0000

Mark, I hate grin fuckers. Especially from NorthCal. BTW, my recommendation for your next post: “Don't be Simonizer”

By: Jack

Jack — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:56:14 +0000

There has been quite a few comments on the net against Accenture’s core values. I just quit yesterday. Its the most wise thing I have done in my life. Its disgusting to experience and observe the horror unfolding in the company. Its just a matter of time when ACN will become another Blue-chip company loosing its clothes in public because of bad corporate practises.

To those who are researching the company before you join them : These days having Accenture experience goes against you in the industry as the entire Tech services sector considers Accenture work culture to be appalling. And hence anyone from Accenture is considered as ‘AIDS’. I’m not being vindictive, just plain frank.

You can bid you skills goodbye by being with them as it is never encouraged. I was in the Manager level after having extensive IT experience in the industry and a degree from Stanford. The politics practised by everyone from team lead and up have made the environment toxic. Which any imbecile knows is a recipe for disaster.

Now that I work for a fantastic financial institution, I really pity the ones still stuck there due to the recession.

Accenture – A cesspool of dirty politics, incompetence and mercenary kind of culture .

To all employees who may be looking at a career at Accenture due to lack of information – Please stay away. You will be doing a favor to yourself.

By: Amit Seshan

Amit Seshan — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:30:41 +0000

As the size of an organization grows, the fraction of grinfuckers also grows (superlinearly, since status-quo preservation, and perpetuation of power hierarchy, sans truthseeking is essential to protecting turf, hence personal status, in a larger company).

By: Amit Seshan

Amit Seshan — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:30:41 +0000

By: ryan_BK_NYC

ryan_BK_NYC — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:40:02 +0000

Brilliant post, as usual. As a "Non-Native American" (my terminology for people who weren't raised here) I have always found it difficult to get a real sense of where I was going or how I was doing in every company I have worked for in the past 10+ years.
In my training as an architect the concept of the "critique" instilled a tough yet subtle and flexible approach to accepting (mostly constructive) criticism of our design ideas. We developed the ability to hear things from different perspectives that often added valuable feedback that enriched our projects. In the "real world" I have found it difficult to transition that training into firms, even architecture firms, where people welcome being Grin Fucked with such pleasure that it is confusing. More often than not I find that mostly "Native" Americans relish this behavior, so I often gravitate to European or other "Non-Natives" since they share my BS-intolerance.

My question is: What is it about this country that has allowed a whole society to evolve from the "Greatest Generation" into a spineless amoeba in such short order?
Jason Calicanis touched on it briefly in his show, This Week In Startups episode #47 http://thisweekin.com/thisweekin-startups/twist..., with his concerns for GEN Y. I agree wholeheartedly but he may have limited it too much to the latest generation.

I think that you are a gentleman for being forth right, constructive and honest with your feedback. Fuck anybody who thinks otherwise. You are only as good as your word and you only live once.

Stay up.

By: ryan_BK_NYC

ryan_BK_NYC — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 10:40:02 +0000

By: adamrubin

adamrubin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:46:51 +0000

Mark,

I just found your blog via a tweet from Fred Wilson. This post deserves a standing ovation, or at least an 80's slow clap.

I've worked with those people before, but never had the right term to describe them. Thanks for enlightening me. I look forward (well, not really) to the day I get to call someone out for being a grin fucker =)

By: adamrubin

adamrubin — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 06:46:51 +0000

By: William Pietri

William Pietri — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:52:44 +0000

Not sure if you're still following this, Mark, but I wonder how you'd reconcile this with your advice to leave a company by saying, “It's not you, it's me.”

And similarly, how would you advise people turning down job offers? The safe thing is to grin fuck your way through it, but the kind and bold thing is to be frank: I had concerns X, Y, and Z about your company, and so took something I thought better.