The author seems to be looking around at all the humans around him and asking, why can’t you all act just like cogs in a machine? I’ve had managers like that, and it often went hand-in-hand with poor engineering chops.
Yes, of course, to a large extent big companies require just that sort of cooperation and subjugation, but if you hate fitting yourself into that mold, you’d probably be a lot happier... not working at big companies.
There are lots of startups and small businesses where you can be a hard-working, high-performance contributor furthering key strategic goals, and yes, an faithful cooperator working in harmony with a tight-knit team, and nonetheless be entrusted with a domain within which you’ll be free to identify what needs to be done and take care of it without having to defend your choices to a bureaucrat who can’t see the forest for the trees.
Yes, of course, to a large extent big companies require just that sort of cooperation and subjugation, but if you hate fitting yourself into that mold, you’d probably be a lot happier... not working at big companies.
There are lots of startups and small businesses where you can be a hard-working, high-performance contributor furthering key strategic goals, and yes, an faithful cooperator working in harmony with a tight-knit team, and nonetheless be entrusted with a domain within which you’ll be free to identify what needs to be done and take care of it without having to defend your choices to a bureaucrat who can’t see the forest for the trees.