--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I expected, as I approached the corporate…" description: "\"“I expected, as I approached the corporate world, to enter a brisk, logical, nonsense-free zone, almost like the military - or a disciplined, up-to-dat..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_assumptions_i-expected-as-i-approached-the-corporate_3198587.png" --- # I expected, as I approached the corporate world, to enter… ![“I expected, as I approached the corporate world, to enter a brisk, logical, nonsense-free zone, almost like the military - or a disciplined, up-to-date military anyway - in its focus on concrete results. How else would companies survive fierce competition? But what I encountered was a culture…” quote by Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_assumptions_i-expected-as-i-approached-the-corporate_3198587.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_assumptions_i-expected-as-i-approached-the-corporate_3198587.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/169/barbara-ehrenreich-1204_assumptions_i-expected-as-i-approached-the-corporate_3198587.png) > ““I expected, as I approached the corporate world, to enter a brisk, logical, nonsense-free zone, almost like the military - or a disciplined, up-to-date military anyway - in its focus on concrete results. How else would companies survive fierce competition? But what I encountered was a culture riven with assumptions unrelated to those that underlie the fact- and logic-based worlds of, say science and journalism - a culture addicted to untested habits, paralyzed by conformity, and shot through with magical thinking.”” [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author expected a logical, disciplined corporate environment but found one driven by untested habits, conformity, and irrational thinking. **In simple terms:** Corporate reality often contradicts expectations of rationality. Key Takeaway Question assumptions and seek evidence. Themes corporate culture logic conformity irrationality Mood skeptical analytical Type critical observational When to use this quote - job interviews - team meetings - strategic planning Key Concepts systems thinking organizational behavior Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports your view? - How can you influence change? A Different Perspective Changing corporate culture is difficult. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Approached Corporate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approached-corporate-5928981/) [Assumptions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/assumptions/) [Bias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bias/) [Biased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/biased/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Companies Survive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/companies-survive-1724357/) [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Corporate america](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate-america/) [Corporate culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate-culture/) [Corporate world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate-world/) [Encountered Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/encountered-culture-5928982/) [Logic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/logic/) [Magical thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magical-thinking/) [Military](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/military/) ## Related quotes > [“Strange is the ordinary way in which Corporate America expects us to shrink from our full potential to get along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julieanne-o-connor/strange-is-the-ordinary-way-in-which-corporate-america-expects-us-to/) [Julieanne O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julieanne-o-connor/) > [“Government scientists are commonly as corrupt as the corporate government that employs them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/government-scientists-are-commonly-as-corrupt-as-the-corporate/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Behind the facade of elected government are a bunch of corporate controlled gangsters running the country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/behind-the-facade-of-elected-government-are-a-bunch-of-corporate/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Whether voting Republican or Democrat, the result is the same: A corrupt corporate government.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/whether-voting-republican-or-democrat-the-result-is-the-same-a/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“Like many people who became sick, I found that researching man-made radiation immersed me into a corporate world of lie, confuse and deny.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/like-many-people-who-became-sick-i-found-that-researching-man-made/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“I sincerely hope that President Barack Obama’s government will be remembered as the peak of deregulated corporate corruption and not the ongoing rise of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/i-sincerely-hope-that-president-barack-obama-s-government-will-be/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“One of the greatest sins of the corporate world is to kill someone's potential to grow, evolve and innovate.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiyaz-uddin/one-of-the-greatest-sins-of-the-corporate-world-is-to-kill-someone-s/) [Aiyaz Uddin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiyaz-uddin/) > [“Mercilessness was not a bad trait to have in the corporate universe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soroosh-shahrivar/mercilessness-was-not-a-bad-trait-to-have-in-the-corporate-universe/) [Soroosh Shahrivar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soroosh-shahrivar/) > [“What corrupt corporate governments call a terrorist is what many common people call a resistance fighter.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/what-corrupt-corporate-governments-call-a-terrorist-is-what-many/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [“The silent workers get lost in the endless darkness of the corporate world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-ratna/the-silent-workers-get-lost-in-the-endless-darkness-of-the-corporate/) [Abhishek Ratna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-ratna/) > [“Apple's approach to career development is yet another way it runs contrary to the norms at other companies. 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Great individuals, like great companies, find a way to transform weakness into strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-holiday/bad-companies-are-destroyed-by-crisis-good-companies-survive-them-2/) [Ryan Holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-holiday/) > [Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, Good companies survive them, Great companies are improved by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-grove/bad-companies-are-destroyed-by-crisis-good-companies-survive-them/) [Andy Grove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-grove/) ## More by Barbara Ehrenreich > [Money does not bring happiness' - only the wherewithal, perhaps, to endure its absence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/money-does-not-bring-happiness-only-the-wherewithal-perhaps-to-endure/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Yes. I think the anti-Wal-Mart is Costco, which pays much better and has much better health benefits and which is profitable and offers low…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/yes-i-think-the-anti-wal-mart-is-costco-which-pays-much-better-and/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [Jesus: a wine-guzzling vagrant and precocious socialist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/jesus-a-wine-guzzling-vagrant-and-precocious-socialist/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ What would it mean in practice to eliminate all the 'negative people' from one's life \[as demanded by motivational speaker J.P. Maroney\]? 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But it stands a fair chance of being destroyed by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/the-nation-was-not-founded-by-habitual-groupthinkers-but-it-stands-a/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [ “You might discover that, nationwide, America's food banks are experiencing 'a torrent of need which \[they\] cannot meet' and that, according to a survey… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-ehrenreich/you-might-discover-that-nationwide-america-s-food-banks-are/) [Barbara Ehrenreich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-ehrenreich/) > [My Turn is the distilled bathwater of Mrs. Reagan's life. 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Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [“Civilizaton rests on the assumption that the universe is kindly disposed towards mankind and intended for our benefit. Imagine the upheaval were it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lovegrove/civilizaton-rests-on-the-assumption-that-the-universe-is-kindly/) [James Lovegrove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lovegrove/) > [For me, filmmaking is not about making statements but about exposing human behavior so people are eager enough to start thinking on their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yorgos-lanthimos/for-me-filmmaking-is-not-about-making-statements-but-about-exposing/) [Yorgos Lanthimos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yorgos-lanthimos/) > [“The problem with making assumptions is that we believe they are the truth. We could swear they are real.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-ruiz/the-problem-with-making-assumptions-is-that-we-believe-they-are-the/) [Miguel Ruiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miguel-ruiz/) > [People just assume, over the years, that soccer players are not too intelligent. 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