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Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that true? I avoided ever joining startups because I assumed everyone worked 60 hours every week.
To an extent, yes. However, I would say typical early stage startup work is 55 hours/week. Basically 10 hours day through the week, and a couple hours on the weekend.
My first programming job (actually, just my first job) was technically a 40 hour/week job, but in the employee handbook it said something along the lines of: "The day is typically regarded as 8AM to 8PM." They didn't pay very well either. Brian is right, I totally hated my job, hated my boss, hated pretty much the entire company, and quit in 5 months. I was pretty disappointed. I'm still cautious about getting back i…
Who works only 5 days a week? Saturday... sure take the day, but many of us end up working Sundays to get everything ready for Monday mornings. Making sure all the issues are prepared, reports for the past week have been written, all of our tasks for the week are defined and prioritized... 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week... seems common to me.
I seem to be alone in this, but I actually do about 25-30 hours of actual programming work each week. And that's sit-down-and-concentrate-and-build-shit work. I'm pretty ruthless about declining extraneous meetings and I keep my door closed most of the time. I think it's reasonable to have 25% of a 40-hour week be for meetings, helping other people, eating lunch, sitting in on interviews, and learning/trying out new…
/team lead
My first programming job (actually, just my first job) was technically a 40 hour/week job, but in the employee handbook it said something along the lines of: "The day is typically regarded as 8AM to 8PM." They didn't pay very well either. Brian is right, I totally hated my job, hated my boss, hated pretty much the entire company, and quit in 5 months. I was pretty disappointed. I'm still cautious about getting back i…
> "The day is typically regarded as 8AM to 8PM." Did the building have nets under the windows?
The other is to be in a business that the employee is passionate about for intrinsic reasons. If the employee is a "true believer" in the company's mission, that can be a motivator to go above and beyond.
Using technology and/or techniques that the employee is interested in learning can be a useful driver. Someone who wants to learn machine learning, for instance, will put in the extra hours if they're given a chance to do it at work while working on a project. Granted it's not a way to get 80 hours from an expert in the field.
Another is to give an employee a great degree of freedom or responsibility in a particular role, and emphasize its importance to the company. Giving a programmer absolute technical authority over a critical project, with high visibility, can motivate them to go hell for leather for a few months.
Ultimately I think working 60-80 hour weeks over the long term, for any reason, will cause burnout. But you can get some short-term boosts if you align the employee's passions with your business needs.
To answer the actual question: 1. Pay your programmers per hour, and pay them very well. For example many people who are paid $200/hour would work 80 hours per week. 2. Provide free taxis or have easy public transportation to their homes. 3. Offer to pay for their children's daycare if they work extra hours. 4. Provide free food delivery from nearby restaurants.
Why would you work 80 hours per week when a couple of hours a day is enough to get by? Or even encourage that? There's plenty more important things in life than work and funny money, and plenty more important things in work than number of hours spent behind the keyboard.
When I really like the work that I am doing and there are some real challenges, I can get up to 6 hours of work done before I have to take a break for a few hours. Not every day, but 2-3 days out of 5. It means that there is no point in making an appearance before 10 am or working past 4 pm. But when I am really smoking I can put in another 2-4 productive hours in the evening after 7 pm or so. Of course, few employer…
Most of upper management and management involves strategic plays. Exploring a jungle, trying to find treasure, and doing so while other tribes are out there to kill you. Allies can become enemies and vice versa. Reality is cruel.
Triabl power is amassed through followers, and one of the best perks you can provide for followers is meaning. A cultivated environment where they can do what they want to do and is often what they do best. The messiness of dealing with what makes them feel like fools is hidden away.
The end result is that strong tribes (also known as insitutions or movements) can deploy "happy" specialists defeating other tribes, be it seige mechanics, hackers, or priests. The specialization is possible because they are shielded.
This specialization defines the middle class. Comfort within a bubble. A bubble that depends onthe existence of the institution or tribe they subscribe to. The overspecialization that is a strength ONLY as along as the rules don't change. The disruptor unwittingly becoming the disruptee. Twitter giving rise to Trump.