Matt Labash's Weekly Standardcover story on the "infantilization
of corporate America" is well worth a read. In my past life before
political journalism, I saw some of these trends firsthand. The
phrase "team building" still causes heart palpitations.
Not every company that uses these practices is quite so
pathetic. I worked for several years at a marketing/tech company (I
was hired during the dot-com boom) and some of the things we did
were actually fun: well lubricated company parties, drinking games
in the conference rooms, department-wide outings. But then again, I
was in my 20s, so what wasn't to like? It was college with a
paycheck.
UPDATE: A while back, I wrote about my IT guy experience
here.