Speaking from my experience alone, leadership is absent frequently and resurfaces at unpredictable points shifting the team's focus without warning or thoughtful strategies in place. There is extremely poor internal communication. Decisions are often made unilaterally, reactively, and from the top down. As a result, there's a lot of chaos, stress, and lower-quality work output.
Managers I've reported to are very undertrained and rarely give constructive feedback, recognition, or credit. The ones I've reported to lack basic people management experience and haven't consistently demonstrated behaviors like empathy, curiosity, and collaboration. In my department, there's a bit of a mentality of "everyone for themselves." We don't work together on goals, and as a result, everyone is running in different directions at high speeds.
There is definitely a lack of safety and the ability to show up openly. You have to be very careful about the perspectives you share and the questions you ask. To survive, self-censorship and staying out of visible sight is crucial. That's the part that has been hardest for me: feeling like I am not allowed to ask questions, push back, or surface concerns in the open.
Maybe some of that comes from the strong cultural pressure at Textio to always come across as positive. This cultural expectation can make it hard to speak out or share ideas without undergoing cycles of blame and judgment downwards. Several leaders expect you to come to them with solutions, not problems so problems never make it to them.
Certain voices go perpetually unheard at Texito. There's definitely favoritism and cliquiness, usually for those who have been at Textio for many years. Sometimes as a new person, you won't have a voice at the table even if you have useful experience to contribute.
I'm often left wondering at the end of rough days why the company hires people they don't seem to trust and won't listen to. While not everyone at Textio feels this way and I want to be careful not to overgeneralize, there is definitely a significant percentage who do. It would be worth investigating culture issues and providing channels for Textios to surface their concerns if the company hopes to reduce the current amount of attrition.
There are not many standardized processes and it's really hard to get answers when you have questions. It can feel like an act of bravery to just post a question or thought in Slack. I've never felt that way anywhere else I've worked. It makes me grateful for past companies, and I did not know what a luxury it was to simply be allowed to speak up without fear or risk.
My experience at Textio has been really hard. It's taken a hit on my self-esteem and mental health. I really couldn't have been more surprised since I was a huge fan of the company when joining. I fully expected that I had landed my dream job. I wish I could work on a different team here because there are some good things, but I know I can't sustain the current experience I am having long-term.
Who knows? They could figure it out one day, but my advice is to come into this company skeptically so you don't find yourself on a bad team with a manager who won't hesitate to throw you under the bus.
