I'm kind of in a similar situation. It doesn't have to do with code, but my company can't keep developers very long because they treat them like crap; mules to get stuff done but are given almost 0 respect from the people asking for their help. I started bringing up the problems, being really vocal about them. Management started to listen and I thought it was sincere, until they had a company meeting where they basically said "stop complaining and get back to work". I ignored them and kept at it until I was threatened with disciplinary action because my negative attitude was affecting the company. So, here's what I've done to survive while I look for another job. 1. Pick the most important battles. I think I drowned them with so many problems they didn't know what to do with them. So I decided to ignore some things and tried to focus on a few of the most important things. 2. Talk in detailed specifics. When I told them about widespread general problems, they heard "Everything here sucks"; which was true, but apparently offensive. So I've started talking about specific people or specific conflicts and suggesting a change to this one, specific event that might have a broader effect for the future. 3. Be careful how it's directed. The management team here is thin skinned. They took the accusations personally and heard it as "You're bad at your jobs". They're in top management at a mildly successful firm... so they've done something right. So I'm really careful that what I say to them can't be interpreted as a personal attack, but is more a suggestion on a way to improve this 1 thing about this 1 small event. 4. Support the hell out of what I control. Since management won't support a company change, I made changes where I could. Treats, lunches, drinks, etc are regularly brought in with a message of appreciation and understanding how much they work. I talk about the developers, the kind of crap they go through, how important they are, and how talented they are to anyone that will listen. If management won't make a change, maybe I can convince individual people to change how they work with them. I hate politics and have a hard time with people who get offended by open discussion about differing opinions, so I don't expect to be here much longer. But this has seemed to help shift the perception of me from a negative complainer to a "team player". Maybe we'll even be able to keep a developer around long enough to actually finish a project.