What does a culture of ownership mean to you and your company?

The startup I work at, as with many others, espouses a culture of ownership. However, after spending a few months here, it seems their form of "ownership" is less about taking control and accountability of one's domain, and more about the willingness to take on tasks that are completely irrelevant to one's objectives and without clear impact.

Looking for some perspective here so I can calibrate my own expectations.

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Personally, i'm working at a place with a similar vibe as you. At first, I was totally into it and went gung-ho, only to realize that I was being taken advantage of. The only way I've been able to calibrate is by saying no to stuff now, and not worrying about whether I look like a "team player" - even though being confrontational is v hard for me!! Also I'm looking to switch anyway so it's a bit easier. But I think at some point, you have to sit down and figure out what your role is and be v explicit about staying within that boundary to really make it work and not get burnt out

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Have a good idea of where you're at : ) Yep, it's a bummer. I'd say be OK stepping outside your comfort zone and, yes, sure, once in a while take on an odd task here and there for the sake of the team BUT if there is no clear impact/purpose I would begin to ask WHY. And I'd hope any startup would want to hear that sort of feedback and appreciate it.

Struggling with a similar issue atm glad it's not just me

This environment is how I made a career pivot. At a minimum you should say “yes” to items that you can claim as an accomplishment…. just in case you want to pivot later. I kept a word document with bullet lists.

I was hired as a project manager, but I was being asked to take the trash out (literally) and do program manager / product manager work.

I saw a coworker ask for a raise / updated job description because of this environment. He did not get the raise, but he did co-write his job responsibilities with his manager… which decrease the weird requests like “water the plants”… “clean the bathroom”… “call the  plumber”

Ownership means taking responsibility for your job and also being passionate about it. Doing everything you can in your sphere to put out good work product.

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