Thank you for this.

I made an escape from traditional workplaces before I was 27, when I got a job with a silicon valley darling company. I've been inside the silicon valley bubble ever since, with the brief exception of the dot-com-bomb in 2001. I took a break, went to look after horses for 18 months, then re-entered the workforce at a rural HQ of a well known insurance company. The workforce was way older than anything I had ever seen. They looked terrified, because they were terrified. The management culture was Dickensian. Managers and directors often were called back from vacation to attend a very important meeting, and they never refused. You never said no or contradicted your superiors. You never offered ideas or suggestions, because that would be suggesting that you're smarter than the 9 layers of management above you between you and God. They used cubicles, except for VPs and SVPs who had walled offices. I was a manager and my team was a lacklustre bunch of aging disillusioned people who were super nice, but had no ambition and no idea that there might be a happier parallel universe when work is actually enjoyable, challenging and rewarding. No idea. I stayed 18 months and surprisingly, build a good reputation and was promoted, and got noticed by the CIO who frequently pulled me in to meetings way above my level. Nevertheless, I had to leave. My immediate boss was a toxic human being and when I was recruited away I picked a time to leave her deep in the lurch right as a big project came near due date. What an enlightening experience. I think much of America's workplace is governed by fear, loathing and avarice. Thank goodness for Silicon Valley.