Proud-Brag, Humble-Brag or No-Brag?

Question

Was in a FAANG recently but quit due toA) Likely burn outB) Have been wanting to try something out on my own as wellThis was the first time for me in a FAANG and noticed one new joiner young colleague had this personality trait of being overtly overly positive about everything they were involved in and they did and making it a point of making it known to all of the universe. Not saying they didn't deliver or were not smart, instead quite the opposite. But goes without saying, all the positivity being projected, personally for me was a bit tiresome.In the manager's mind I think this created an expectation for similar behaviour from the not-so-young members in the team (a.k.a me) I suspect another team member switched team immediately due to this.In mid-40s I have little hope that I will find another job (can still grind leetcode but...) and have been thinking about getting into another line of work altogether.But coming back to the main topic. What do rest of the people around here think about this...1) Has "The Brag" become a requirement in tech world these days? I wasn't expecting this in a FAANG and didn't experience it until the above described events but then that did definitely change things around for me and I guess for others too.2) If it is a requirement then what strategy/tactic works best ? Being an introvert, how do I adapt.(I will be speaking to a therapist as soon as I get employed again but since I am living off savings currently I am resorting to "free" sources of advise)

apothegm · Accepted Answer

There are more people in the social media generation than earlier generations who are comfortable doing this. Still a relatively small percent. Don&rsquo;t draw conclusions about the entire professional world based on the dynamics of a single team.

PaulHoule · Answer

I don&rsquo;t if you were in the home of OKRs but things like OKRs, stack ranking and high stakes performance reviews put that kind of person in the driver&rsquo;s seat.

ThrowawayR2 · Answer

The FAANGs have always been environments where peers are significantly more in competition against each other than in ordinary employers, particularly for those in their early career where "either up or out" is the rule. It's undoubtedly much more vicious now that tech companies are actively laying off those seen as low performers. Making sure you get credit for what you've done, as long as it's not overdone, is a survival tactic and the rewards can be immense if you can stomach it.This isn't unique to tech companies; academia is known for similar things, e.g. "publish or perish". High-competition environments breed dysfunctional behavior unless well managed.

Proud-Brag, Humble-Brag or No-Brag?

There are more people in the social media generation than earlier generations who are comfortable doing this. Still a relatively small percent. Don’t draw conclusions about the entire professional world based on the dynamics of a single team.

I don’t if you were in the home of OKRs but things like OKRs, stack ranking and high stakes performance reviews put that kind of person in the driver’s seat.