Too many hurdles to get over for effective change management.
Lots of red tape and bureaucracy (for no reason other than "it's the way it's always been done").
Too many cooks in the kitchen for each system & too many opinions taken into account (from non-experts) without any trust given to system owners / experts.
Too much time relaying the same information to different people communicating the same things in different ways - so that it takes a lot of time away from getting work done.
Roles are unclear and job titles are absolutely meaningless (and not in a good, flat organization way).
Disorganized and no hierarchical structure to lean on and communicate through.
Weirdness about vacation time. The expectation is that if one person decides to work 60-80 hours a week, that everyone else should, as well.
Everyone is over-worked and over-stressed. No support or headcount given to make sure that work can be done efficiently, well, and in a timely manner.
Rely heavily on contractors so they can look good on paper to potential buyers (exit strategy and selling the company seems to be the only concern) - instead of supporting the employees in their jobs and hiring good full-time people who will have a stake in doing a great job.
They don't share an org. chart with anyone - and it's a big secret. Yes, it's weird. (They're afraid it'll get out of their hands and into someone else's - as if there are spies that will learn something from seeing an org chart and then contact some people higher up who don't know how to not answer their phone, I guess?).
