IDEO Reviews

After about six months here you see the trends emerge that many have mentioned in previous reviews. The hardest part is when you realize there is no desire within leadership to change anything that doesn't directly affect the lives or salaries of the partners. -cInconsistencies between what is promised and what is offered -cCliquey, high-school level politics -cExtreme nepotism - No growth track particularly for anyone not in traditional design roles. - Elitism of designers vs. everyone else despite the company's love of saying "everyone is a designer." - Complete lack of leadership engagement with mid and low level staff. - CEO acts more as figurehead for the brand myth of the company, while almost never engaging directly with studios and staff. - Unusually high attrition rates. - Huge spending on things like partner meetings while other staff are kept at baseline salaries

Your Managing Director makes all the difference in what kind of IDEO experience you have. If you’re assigned to the wrong leadership or the wrong project, it’s an uphill battle. This can be location-specific as well due to decentralization to a fault. Any internal movement or promotion happens through mastering the decades-old, social network. Most of the Glassdoor reviews here accurately speak to this politically-charged culture. There is a new female CEO so it remains to be seen if this will change. After a three month “listening tour”, however, little seems different on the IDEO agenda. After-all, change at IDEO is typically glacial and always conflict-averse. IDEO’ers often joke that the company needs to “IDEO itself” - the organization, however, is not good at having its own hard conversations. Because of this, it’s my opinion that women at IDEO suffer due to a “boys club” culture that still exists. It seems as if, even top performing women (those who’ve given years, if not, decades to the organization) have a much harder time getting to partner, receiving credit where credit is due on projects, being published, earning the same or more, etc. For those who are working mothers, I believe this disparity is even further exacerbated. If you are young, childless and have endless hours to give to work - IDEO will gladly take 10-15 years of your life. If you are old(er), raising a family, and have outside experience to know your boundaries on how much work (and bad management) should impose - I’d strongly suggest doing your due diligence on which team you’re joining.