I was shocked to see this comment as it rang so true for me. I worked at Oracle for many years, and I think it's a pretty well run company, but this theme of "the smart people leave, the dumb people stay and promote other dumb people" is very true. Mark Hurd is the current CEO, and I think he's really good (even though all the people on www.thelayoff.com absolutely revile him), but there is a reason he came from outside the company.
> "the smart people leave, the dumb people stay and promote other dumb people"
This is sometimes referred to as the 'Dead Sea Effect'.[1]
The same way that water carries salts and other minerals to the Dead Sea, and then the water evaporates while the salts accumulate.
Similar effect with hiring a mix of good and bad people, and over the time the good ones leave because they have options while the bad ones stay and accumulate.
