Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

gsb.stanford.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 448 posts

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#221

Post by amorphid »

someone7x wrote: post #19

> I see a workplace that has become shockingly inhumane. A thousand times this. Very few of the lessons my parents taught me apply in the corporate world. Be honest and straight with people, assume good intent, take responsibility, etc. All that behavior will do is paint you as naive. Sure there's room for honesty and responsibility, but only when used appropriately (strategically). Strikes me as acutely inhumane eve…

> I am not even allowed to tell a candidate (another human being that probably NEEDS a paycheck) why I didn't hire them and what they can do to improve their viability

I really like interview questions that have binary results. If you can do X, you can do this job. That way if a candidate fails, they pretty much know why they failed. They couldn't do X. It's not always possible to phrase questions like that, but when I can, I do.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#222

Post by tomc1985 »

derrekl wrote: post #179

I'm a CTO at a YC grad Care Revolutions. There's a lot of comments on what kind of work environment is bad. What do y'all suggest a startup with limited resources do to be an incredible place to work for while also being a highly productive environment? I'm especially interested in suggestions as it relates to your health both physically and mentally!

Give your people flexibility and space. Neither cost much, at least directly. Results-based, not metrics-based. Et cetera

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#223

Post by intended »

stuaxo wrote: post #117
thowawayburnout wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have been living trailer parks, with trailers worth far less then 20k for many years. The tiny housing movement did not show us much.

Nope, just that when people who are not poor live in small houses they live quite well, hardly shocking.

I really dont understand how in America, tiny houses doesn't get translated as slums.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#224

Post by keyle »

jdtang13 wrote: post #86
DeusExMachina wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this idea bizarre. It's like humans enjoyed their time for millennia and only now we have to work. For all human history, the conditions of people were dire. Today people might be stuck in an office in their "best year", but people in the past had to toil all day to barely scrape by and didn't even have that many years to live. It's only now that we live these comfortable lives with houses, heating, electricit…

Yes, that's a very good point. Work has always been part of the human condition, and middle class people in the first world are enjoying much, much more comfortable working conditions than their ancestors did. I think we should all be very grateful for that. But it's also a very modern thing for people to suffer from alienating, despair-inducing work. I think this alienation, which Marx speaks of in much detail, is t…

Excellent write up. You've put into words what I felt like but couldn't really express.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#225

Post by smattiso »

mathgladiator wrote: post #186
jdtang13 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's a very good point. Work has always been part of the human condition, and middle class people in the first world are enjoying much, much more comfortable working conditions than their ancestors did. I think we should all be very grateful for that. But it's also a very modern thing for people to suffer from alienating, despair-inducing work. I think this alienation, which Marx speaks of in much detail, is t…

You captured a core reason that I picked up wood working: projects finish. An annoying aspect of software is that it takes a life of its own. It is never done, but there are feature requests, bugs, and updates. You make a table, and that is it. It's done. Sure, you have to clean it, but mostly it will last a while until it breaks down.

This is why I wish I had gotten into video game development rather than app development. Once the game is finished it is (for the most part) complete.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#226

Post by phil21 »

mancerayder wrote: post #16
chaseha wrote: post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

It WILL become a problem. The biggest issue with RSI and other repetive-use injuries (which happens in many professions and even athletics, especially with bad form) is that it happens slowly, then suddenly. It's so slow that it's discomfort. And you ignore that discomfort, especially as your concentration is on a computer monitor with important stuff to worry about being displayed on it. Also, sometimes inflammation…

I've also found switching keyboards often (just subtle differences mean your hands are doing different things) helps as well.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#227

Post by JDiculous »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #62
osrec wrote: post #24

Work has become a strange thing. I see people foregoing their best years stuck in an office, in the hope they can enjoy their later years. What utter nonsense. I'm not sure what the right answer is, but society has got something very wrong, as our work culture seems to surgically remove the wonder and enjoyment from our days. Hardly surprising that it drives people to ill health. Glad I broke out of that cycle a long…

I find this idea bizarre. It's like humans enjoyed their time for millennia and only now we have to work. For all human history, the conditions of people were dire. Today people might be stuck in an office in their "best year", but people in the past had to toil all day to barely scrape by and didn't even have that many years to live. It's only now that we live these comfortable lives with houses, heating, electricit…

This is actually false. The average American worker today works more hours per year than a 14th century peasant (http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2013/08/29/why-a-medie...). Hunter-gatherers only worked 2-3 hours per day.

Despite technology allowing us to work less, we work more. Yes we should be grateful of technological advancement, but too many people are unnecessarily depressed and suicidal, and it doesn't have to be this way.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#228

Post by nileshk »

tcoff91 wrote: post #82
chaseha wrote: post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

I dealt with RSI in my hands for almost a year and made a complete recovery by going to the local rock climbing gym and bouldering. It was almost immediate that my hands began to feel better. I also think that my issues were at least in part due to muscle tension which was coming not due to physical issues but due to emotional issues. Keep an open mind and read "The Great Pain Deception" and see if it applies to your…

Similarly, Dr. John Sarno's "The Mindbody Prescription" helped me after over a year of RSI. This happened early in my career, and I've been pain free for about 17 years now.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#229

Post by nileshk »

morgtheborg wrote: post #101
chaseha wrote: post #5

Dealing w/ RSI has been an eye opener for me. What makes it worse: working on a laptop, working on the plane, having to do long hours in poor ergonomic conditions. What do I have to do to be good at my job? Basically, that. What happens if it gets worse and I can no longer use a computer for at least eight hours a day? That is my livelihood

I had RSI, chronic ankle pain after an injury, and back pain. I bought all sorts of ergonomic solutions. Some helped, but none completely. I was getting desperate since, as mentioned, typing is how I pay the bills. I can't just STOP. I was scouring the net and ran across a developer who swore that The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Pain by Sarno fixed his issues. I looked him up, proved to mysel…

I had a similar story that lead to Sarno's book. Going on 17 years now without issues.

Re: The health care toll today’s work culture exacts on employees

#230

Post by [deleted] »

osrec wrote: post #76
diab0lic wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Judging from his profile he consults now: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=osrec

Yes, I have a consulting company now. Also starting to put together a few interesting products that my clients may be interested in.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN