This context fascinates me. IDEO was designed to be "flat" and chaotic in nature to foster creativity. It wasn't really flat, but that allowed for speed and opportunity. Having worked at both ad firms and a large multi-national, they "optimize" for very different things. If "toxic" is the word, then they are toxic in different ways.

This isn't meant to let IDEO off a hook, but it feels unhelpfully narrow to examine the company alone.

I'm encouraged to hear about emerging design firms with new frameworks for balancing creativity and employee protection.