I love Boston

I'm not sure why I love Boston so much, but I do. It helps that the times that I've been here, the weather has been spectacular, and I've never been here in the winter. It feels a little like Chicago in terms of neighborhoodiness, but the people here have a little more edge. I like it enough that I would even consider moving here if the right job presented itself.

I had coffee with a former colleague yesterday, and I don't know why, but I'm still surprised to find out from people who leave the firm just how much Kool-Aid they were only pretending to drink. It seems that there are many more gimlet- and clear-eyed people enmeshed throughout the company, who have all been beaten down for speaking truth to power. So we all stay quiet, which is a shame, because how awesome would it be for there to be a massive revolution? Alas, instead when you point out that the emperor has no clothes, you're told that you're not being a team player, or that you're being sharp-elbowed, or the worst, that you're not demonstrating leadership qualities. I love that last one, because I think (I hope, anyway) that at other publicly-traded companies, being open and honest and pointing out the pitfalls of a particular course of action is valued and rewarded. I guess it depends completely on who your manager is, and that's true everywhere. Until I figure out what I want to do next, I' m going to continue to pretend to drink the Kool-Aid, try not to point out when colleagues are incompetent and fail to add value, and keep my head down as much as possible.