I have had the extreme displeasure of working with Ray Girn and this group of megalomaniacs and feel a duty to share my insights into their very distorted version of reality. They are self-described “deep” and “higher-level” thinkers that relish in preaching their shiny and bright ideas. I caution anyone to read deeper into their reviews of themselves, especially about how they are so incredibly “honest,” “meaningful,” “thoughtful,” and “intellectual.” The only thing that overshadows their arrogance is their amateur execution and delivery, all with a total lack of self-awareness.
The biggest disappointment is in their McMontessori movement. They preach the glories of the philosophy, but have little understanding of the basic principles. The theories of grace and courtesy are unknown to many of them. The attributes such as being kind and humble are generally ignored, much to the surprise of the recipient of their awkward conversational exchanges. They fill their pretty rooms with hollow shelves and prophesize about opening the biggest, most profitable Montessori enterprise. They have read the books, and act the parts, but have an overall disconnection to humanity that completely contradicts Dr. Montessori’s fundamentals. Their narcissistic leadership style seems borrowed from a dictator’s playbook. They staff the executive team with their wives and best friends and give them grand titles with grand salaries to match. They truly believe they can do no wrong….and if they do, it must be the result of a faulty system or employee error. They lack a necessary human element of Montessori when they issue their decrees and lead their teams.
The missing human connection cannot be more evident then when dealing with people. They pride themselves on their open and collaborative environment, but I have witnessed the process of their “objective” feedback. Because they base their mission on Objectivist tenets, it seems that they believe that if they think about a problem long enough and debate it tirelessly, then they must arrive at the “truth” they so eloquently seek to find. Objectivism does not mean it’s true just because you have done “deeper, higher-level thinking” about it. Their numerous approach meetings are really an attempt to spin and manipulate the truth, which varies depending on the audience. They set up a divisive and deceitful culture that separates into “us” and “them” which is never more evident than when you are in a feedback meeting. It usually involves more than one of them, and they already have their “truth” which they will attempt to convince you is the “actual truth” through all of the methods that they have planned in their previous approach meeting(s).
They entice remarkable employees, just to completely overwhelm them with ceaseless busy work, which mainly consists of corrections to their failed and faulty systems. The nature of a startup invariably includes development and corrections, but their arrogance in creating the solutions in their “higher-level” bubble invariably leads to incompetent implementation, and probable complete overhaul within hours/days/weeks. The amount of wasted resources and profits at their knee jerk decisions is inexplicable.
They are a collective (read: cult) of incestuous leaders that have banded together to pad their pockets with exorbitant salaries and “lifestyle” business/pleasure accounts at the peril of their investors and constituencies. Although the vision sounds beautiful, the team has exhibited such incompetence and recklessness that I highly advise prospective employees and investors to take Higher Ground's own advice; and perhaps seek higher ground of their own. Take the time to get to know the team and their vision, but go deeper than the facade. Ask them about their Irvine roots. They have self-reviewed that they are charting their own course, and I hope they have learned something from the destruction left in their wake.
