Ex-IBMer here. I used to work for what was then called IBM Software Group in the early 2000s. I worked with some brilliant engineers, some of whom had spent their entire careers at IBM and achieved some amazing things. I worked with some brilliant managers as well. But the place felt rotten to the core.
I don't think there was a problem with the people so much as with the system. IBM, as you might expect for a company of that size and age, felt incredibly bureaucratic. Whatever you wanted to achieve, there was a process that made it hard to achieve it. Whatever good idea you had, there was a committee of people who would dilute and ruin that idea or simply forbid you from pursuing it. Whatever industry standard tool you wanted to use, you couldn't use it because there were IBM tools that you were required to use instead, tools that slowed you down and frustrated you (I'm thinking of stuff with Lotus or Rational in the name). Whenever you needed to make a decision, it felt like no one was empowered to use their initiative to make that decision. Frankly, it felt like doing good work meant having to go under the radar because IBM wasn't set up to allow you to do good work.
I did have good times there and I hear good things about the way that IBM has dragged itself into the 21st century since I left but I regret having spent so many of the best years of my career at that company.
I don't think there was a problem with the people so much as with the system. IBM, as you might expect for a company of that size and age, felt incredibly bureaucratic. Whatever you wanted to achieve, there was a process that made it hard to achieve it. Whatever good idea you had, there was a committee of people who would dilute and ruin that idea or simply forbid you from pursuing it. Whatever industry standard tool you wanted to use, you couldn't use it because there were IBM tools that you were required to use instead, tools that slowed you down and frustrated you (I'm thinking of stuff with Lotus or Rational in the name). Whenever you needed to make a decision, it felt like no one was empowered to use their initiative to make that decision. Frankly, it felt like doing good work meant having to go under the radar because IBM wasn't set up to allow you to do good work.
I did have good times there and I hear good things about the way that IBM has dragged itself into the 21st century since I left but I regret having spent so many of the best years of my career at that company.