When Dropbox started in 2007, the company's mission was to give people a simpler way to keep files in sync. I do think bad leaders at the top can create both too much bureaucracy and also bad products, for similar reasons (being out of touch with the ground level).How Dropbox Wants To Change The Workforceĭropbox is a file-hosting service and its online platform allows users to upload and transfer their files to personal cloud storage that they can access and share from anywhere with an account. It depends on the specific process and people involved. I don't really view bureaucracy as something that will always stifle innovation and good products. Everyone re-inventing the wheel and making a huge mess of things. But that simply doesn't work at 1000+ engineer scale. It's cool if you want to go work at a small startup and run around wearing all the hats.

At my company, it got way easier than before for most people to be promoted. Aka the natural tendency for humans to feel comfortable bending the rules for those in their own circle.Īs someone whose company also transitioned to a more well defined levelling model about two years ago, I think it has widely been regarded as a success and a positive for everyone in the company.įrom an engineer's perspective, it becomes very clear and well defined on how to keep growing your career (and compensation). The alternative is nepotism and other mild forms of 'corruption' if you will.

I think you have a pretty pessimistic view on this, but bureaucracy is a necessary thing when dealing with humans at scale. People are too busy dotting the i's and crossing the t's, trying to place themselves at the right level descriptions, instead of actually building good products

Dropbox careers perks