LRN Reviews

The thing you need to realize about this company is that the culture is 100% a manifestation of the CEO’s personality, operational ineptitude, and unstated narcissistic agenda. The company is privately owned by the CEO and he installed a weak board. He is pretty much all-powerful (the Executive Committee is just a shadow governance body that acts as the ‘hand of the king’ to provide the illusion he is not acting autocratically). You may have read the CEOs book or seen a speech and found it inspiring. We all did. The important thing to realize is that the CEO has two different faces. With a crowd, he can be gracious, humble, reflective and open to other perspectives. In large public speaking settings he seems to match the company philosophy; and seems to be reasonable and fair. You are likely to encounter his 'public face' in any group conversation where there are more than 8 listeners, outside customers, or if he’s talking to someone of influence who he needs to ingratiate himself to. However, if you work at LRN – sooner or later you encounter *the real* CEO in a smaller meeting. The real CEO is autocratic, abrasive, inflexible, retaliatory, stingy, bereft of empathy for employee well-being, and operates off of a coercive ‘my way or the highway’ type management style cloaked in whatever principles are convenient to justify his ends. He perpetually gives lip-service to his big ‘HOW’ ideas, but his default personal style and psychological tendencies are in direct conflict with those ideas… and the default psychological tendencies (manipulative and cultish) always win. If he was to write a business book that *really* reflected how he operates, it would be called “Leverage: Get More from Your Employees via Coercion Repackaged as Principle.” Also, do not buy the repeated internal refrain about ‘LRN is on a journey’. Whenever serious problems are brought up, the CEO responds ‘LRN is on a journey, we’re frank about the fact that we’re not there yet’. However, that metaphor is way of failing to take accountability. Once recast in narrative terms, *every* person and organization is on a journey. What matters is if the real issues are truly addressed or are they just given lip-service or toothless internal initiatives to airbrush concerns. LRN is good at making a convincing show at contrition, and will prop up reform initiatives that are just real enough to seem like they’re working on it, but the truth is – all the biggest roadblocks stem from the CEO. His managerial mandates create the operational low-ceiling that suffocates the business and keeps LRN from truly flourishing. Ultimately, the real ‘journey’ that LRN is on, is endlessly circling the CEO’s neurosis. There is always movement, but never progress; the organization cannot escape the event horizon of his pathology … it just orbits around and around in a frantic circle of attrition and reinvention.

Ok, so before you say "Oh, but LRN's ratings are good!" and "How could those negative reviews be true? It can't be THAT bad...", Yes, it can be THAT bad and it IS that bad. And those positive reviews? About as authentic as a hotdog made in China. Yes, they're written by real people, but let it be known that management took measures to coerce positive reviews out of employees that would make the Mafia proud. Leave the review, take the cannoli. (Or rather leave the review, keep your job.) Also, this is not the first time that management has done this. So how does a company rack up a *stellar* turnover rate of well-over 50%? Why 50% Leave: 1) Management: The CEO has a maniacal way of dealing with not just the business but also interpersonally with employees and with his own personal brand. Who knew you could trademark (and sue over misuse of) the word "How"?! He is incredibly difficult to work for as he is quick to find fault in everything people do and you never know how he'll react to something. He seems to liken himself a philosopher, but if that's true, I'm sure Socrates and Kant are somewhere shaking their head and saying "No way, dude... Don't associate us with that drama." Being demanding and irrational is the status-quo, with the CEO requiring that his employees have a cult-like dedication to "the mission" and that a work-life balance isn't deserved by all. Is he intelligent? Yes. Is he a good public speaker? Yes. Did he have a good premise in starting LRN 20 years ago? Yes. But does any of that come into play with the way he interacts and conducts things at LRN now? Absolutely not. However, much of the current condition of the company comes from the "shakeup" and the hiring of a new president in December of 2014. (Actually, the hiring of a new 2nd president as they had already hired a president earlier in 2014. But this is referencing the second hire, whom we'll call "President Deux".) President Deux's display of arrogance is evident as he overpromises and under-delivers and shamelessly nepotisms the crap out LRN's hiring practices. Systematically (and unceremoniously) axing quite a number of great (existing) employees who have a laundry list of incredible professional insight and experience, he's brought in an entire new team from his previous place of employment, some of which, although amiable and undoubtedly smart, wouldn't normally have been hired due to their inexperience in their current responsibilities if it wasn't for this cronyism. However, even the Benjamins and blatant favoritism can't sustain people amid this dysfunction, and just a few months in, members of Team Nepotism are already jumping ship. Many want off the HMS LRN, as the way it's currently running is the same way the Titanic was steered through the icebergs, and management is blindly yelling "Full steam ahead!" 2) Dysfunction Junction: Remember how ridiculous the theory was that the world was flat a few centuries ago? Well a flat organization is just as ridiculous at a company like LRN. There are too many insecure people making decisions that are merely self-serving to make "flat" work. Between the mood swings and diva-like behavior of management, the insecurities of management make them get rid of good people and many of the more established staff are always fearful (through no fault of their own) that they may not have a job next month. Or next week. Or after lunch. Similar to some of the elements mentioned above, this "ethics" company is by far the most unethical place I've worked and even heard about. They talk about transparency but they're about as transparent as the Hudson River. Well, let me clarify-- they love to throw people under the bus, find scapegoats, etc. They'll be transparent if they can humiliate someone, make it look like someone did something wrong, or take the pressure off of their own mistakes or failure to produce. However, they make false promises when they hire people, ranging from deception about career growth, to company culture/workplace happiness, to contract negotiations (get EVERYTHING in writing) and everything in between. 3) There is NO career growth opportunity here both because of the flat structure and the culture. They have no interest in investing in their employees/ Why People Stay: 1) Great location. Nice bright office. 2) Free Snacks....But seriously, are free Herr's Pretzels and Raisins something really worth selling your soul for? Of course not. Nacho Doritos and Twizzlers, maybe. But definitely not off-brand pretzels and dried fruit. Moral of the story: Being one of the most unethical ethics companies, the hypocrisy is almost comedic. Don't believe the empty promises of this company-- there is no growth opportunity, there is no real revolutionary new stage of LRN that you'll be a part of, and the culture could be considered by many to be downright toxic. Favoritism and insecurity is palpable. (Unless you worked with the president at his previous company, good luck. You don't exist. You will not be respected, encouraged, or supported.). However, you will be required to be committed to "going forward" and "the mission." So if, despite this and the numerous other candid reviews on Glassdoor, you're still up for going forward on "the mission", don't worry about bringing supplies as you'll have your choice of free snacks and of course, the drinks are included, as long as you like Kool-Aid.