[paulcole]

People who don’t get promoted are likely to complain about it — often that the system was out to get them. I mean how often do you hear somebody go, “Yeah I was passed over for a promotion and you know what, I didn’t deserve it.” People who do get promoted at a FAANG (either by self-promotion or not) probably don’t want to brag about it because of the general sentiment here at HN.

[doktorhladnjak]

That’s true. There’s also the flip side that those who choose the systems are likely the ones who succeeded in those systems.

I’m talking about directors, senior managers of engineering who worked their way up the corporate ladder. The system worked for them, so they think it’s a good system.

It’s essentially a form of survivorship bias.