Vantaggi
I worked in IT. A handful of people I worked with were dedicated, honest, friendly professionals. When we were given freedom to do our jobs how we saw fit, the results were impressive. I learned a lot from such people, had fun working, and enjoyed my job. As is often the case, if you have a good team, it can help you endure a bad organization.
Svantaggi
A while before I left, almost all freedom to do our jobs how we saw fit had been taken away. It was a continual succession of new department heads coming in, trying to impress their will upon the department for a few months, and then leaving. Rinse, repeat. One department head championed agile development; this transition was strenuously fought by middle managers terrified of change, and when they were no longer forced to move to agile, it went right out the door. Another department head championed offshore development, testing, and support; this transition went even more poorly. We spent more time in repetitive meetings, mandatory despite us having nothing to add to the meeting and nothing to learn from it, than doing our jobs, creating & delivering great software. I mentioned a handful of people that were great to work with. I feel this was in the minority; too many were narcissistic and condescending middle managers, team members who stab each other in the back and refuse to talk to you unless you fill out all the right forms, and people full of fear more interested in political intrigues and manipulation than doing good work.