Pros
Like so many organizations, the benefits depend on where you are in it. Take the CIA for example. Being a secret agent is probably pretty cool, but being the guy who cleans the waterboarding room is maybe less so. AMA is a pretty sweet gig if you can parachute into the Dear Leader's inner circle. The pay is decent and you mostly just have to nod and fawn, plus occasionally scratch Him behind the ears. Lower down the totem pole is a little less awesome. I guess it would a pretty nice job if you recently spent some years at Blockbuster, Nortel or RIM and have a sort of fetish about watching once proud organizations twitch in their death throes. You could probably milk AMA for 3-5 years before you have to move on to the next star-crossed business. Beyond that, I guess most of the office chairs were nice. Workplace violence didn't seem to be much of an issue. They never bounced a paycheck or tried to barter clean water or livestock with me for my work either, so that's a little something-something for the plus column.
Cons
I don't want to betray too much about my business unit with AMA as I am still dependent on them for a paycheck for a little while yet. Still; I can speak in generalities about what's really making me bail out of this failing organization. The (relatively) minor issues within my business unit are like a stubbed toe next to the utter train wreck of the greater institution. AMA has a rot within it that begins at the very top with a misguided executive that likely began what it thought was strengthening itself by ensuring everyone was on the same page with regards to vision. This rapidly evolved into a diktat of eliminating any form of divergent thinking and the ostracism of even those who provided reasonable feedback upwards that fell short of congratulating senior management for their wisdom. If this sounds like I'm being hyperbolic in my depiction of this, I apologize, but there really is a whiff of Pyongyang about the place. The problem is that the best people in the organization - the ones who built the membership experience up to what it was, probably at its peak 4ish years ago, are leaving in increasing numbers: some willingly, some not. The toxicity is building rapidly though and became more and more apparent to me with each departure. This is an organization that is internally in crisis: I suspect that it will be evident to members soon -if not already- as some of the core aspects of the membership experience begin to crumble. Insurance rates and tow waits will likely rise and the community engagement pieces that used to really mark the organization as having a key place in the community will wither and recede. The current levels of service are only maintained, frankly, as they are being buoyed by some remaining frontline staff who remember wistfully the days before Dear Leader and his Inner Circle began to believe their own self-congratulatory hype. This isn't sustainable, of course. While the analogy of the frog remaining in the pot of water that is slowly heated to boiling is apt, the fact is that that frog eventually boils. Ultimately, I can sum up my experience with the AMA as being somewhat like peeing oneself in a dark suit. At first, it feels warm and kind of nice, but then very, very quickly it turns cold and uncomfortable, with a deep sense of regret setting in. Ultimately, you're left feeling ashamed and needing a change as quick as possible, but with nobody having noticed anything you've done.
