Seniority is a double-edged sword here. It's great to have trusted relationships with long-term staff/leaders who understand the business and how it's evolved, however, WWT's emphasis on tenured leaders has resulted in an "entitlement attitude" among some. Some long term staff have risen while having limited to no experience outside of WWT (not a problem on its surface) but in some cases are then intimidated by those who do - even working to undermine lesser tenured staff to preserve their station.
This has the effect of limiting the creativity that comes from diverse perspectives - especially if an outside perspective does not align with the status quo or desired personal agendas of those with political influence. Perhaps this political gamesmanship results from some sense of duty to protect the company from those who may threaten what is believed to be the "culture" - possibly not realizing that it is the gamesmanship itself that undermines the core values and leadership principles that could otherwise keep the company at the top of the list of GPTW. And while it could also be that rewarding tenure is an attempt to maintain the family-like feel and culture, other companies manage to do this without turning the org into something of a cult - as has been noted by some who have preceded my departure.
And while WWT has the ability to attract very talented staff, it seemingly falters when it comes to maximizing their contributions - largely, in my opinion, due to the challenges listed above. In other cases it’s because their leaders just didn’t know how to utilize them that staff left feeling underutilized.
