It's Like Student Council, Except We Wear Suits

Many of you have asked what it's like to work at a large mid-western insurance company--after all, I've only done small companies and start-ups for 10 years. I've worked hard trying to figure out a universal analogy, since many of you are not in the tech field.

First off, I have to say it's not bad. The pay is fine and the workload is light. Sounds like paradise. Why do I feel like a fish out of water? The people are nice, I get praised for my work and have a lot of opportunity to grow (at least by title). But I want to leave. Soon. Why?

Some of it is obvious: I'm a start-up guy and can't change my DNA. And the product? Who gives a shit about insurance? You have to have it, but you resent it. It's like government.

But there's something else, the people--they are too "nice." I've always enjoyed an edgy crowd, and still feel uncomfortable in a room of doe-eyed rule followers. When I'm in a big meeting I ask myself, 'Where are the creative people?" Not in insurance, that's for sure.

And I can't imagine really chumming around with any of them. No travel adventures, no late-night dinner parties, and no drunken conversations about how fucked up this planet is.

Don't get me wrong: I have great working relationships. The boss, the boss' boss. It's all good, don't worry. I try not to flavor my conversations with four-letter words, show up at all the meetings, and get very little done. All the while faking that I believe our work makes a difference. Kinda like . . .