Joel Spolsky: Lunch • Hacker News Board

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#21

Post by puls » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:55 PM UTC

I think Joel's article glosses over a point that most of the con arguments here don't notice: in order for this to work, you have to set up a group of coworkers who mesh spectacularly well.

Fog Creek has pretty obviously done that; it's one of their top priorities. I've worked at companies where lunch is communal and companies where it isn't, and it seems to me that the difference has less to do with personality types and more to do with cohesion.

Put differently, the types of teams who want to eat lunch together are the types of teams you should want to be on. The company shouldn't need to enforce it; they should just help to facilitate it.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#22

Post by bartonfink » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:56 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

Regarding item 10 - assuming you have friends at work, would you go out of your way to avoid eating lunch with them because of items 1-9?

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#23

Post by mrcharles » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:56 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

Yeah absolutely. Even when I had a great lunch group, A) They were people I considered friends and would hang out with outside of work, and B) We only ever ate quality food outside of the office itself.

I don't agree with all your points but being constrained to a work environment for a social lunch is ridiculous.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#24

Post by vidar » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:56 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

To each his own.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#25

Post by kujawa » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:57 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

This works a lot better if you're actually friends with most of your coworkers. Then it's pretty awesome.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#26

Post by JabavuAdams » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 6:58 PM UTC

devspade wrote: post #11

JabavuAdams wrote: post #4

While there are some positives, to enforce this seems quite inhumane. People often need a bit of space in order to work together better. Also, in a group > 2 there's huge potential for conversational drift. So, if two people want to talk about a certain topic, it becomes too easy to derail. Embrace the quiet.

We do this at my company and it's awesome. The idea is it's not at all mandatory. Do whatever you want for lunch. But everyday, at noon, there will be a free lunch served at this location. Most people will participate in that 4 out of 5 days. If they have a deadline, want to meet a friend for lunch, need to run some errands or whatever it's fine. Most often the conversation is about everything but business. It makes…

Yes, I think this is great.

It's the idea of making it mandatory that I consider domineering.

Great for a cult ... not so good for herding cats.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#27

Post by JabavuAdams » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:00 PM UTC

vidar wrote: post #24

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

To each his own.

Exactly!

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#28

Post by InfinityX0 » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:01 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #18

I have always hated this and probably always will. I have rarely eaten lunch with my work mates. Just a few reasons why: 1. I don't want to talk about work at lunch. 2. I want to get out of the office and get some fresh air. 3. I often want to get away from the very people that Joel suggests spending time with on my break. 4. I'm a "food outlier". I hate pizza, deli, and fast food. I won't eat it away from work. Why…

Synopsis: You hate your job, not your lunch. Quit your job and get a job that you love, and you'll inevitably end up loving the lunch you currently hate.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#29

Post by alexlmiller » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:01 PM UTC

jfruh wrote: post #16

Joel is obviously not aware of the differences between introverts and extroverts, which seems weird for someone who works in a field with a lot of introverts. I'm not down on his idea of eating lunch together - it's probably fun and productive. But if someone spots me eating lunch by myself while reading (a book, a magazine, on my phone, on my computer), it's not because I "don't like people," or, sadder, that I pret…

Yes, Joel is COMPLETELY unaware of the differences between introverts and extroverts. Except for the fact that he is an introvert and runs two companies filled with a substantial percentage of introverts.

The reason that lunch here works so well is because the people we hire are fun and enjoyable people (even the introverts) so you don't have to pretend to like the other people at the lunch table, you actually do.

Re: Joel Spolsky: Lunch

#30

Post by emmett » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:02 PM UTC

simulate wrote: post #2

How does a small company like Fog Creek handle ordering, delivery, and clean up each day? In the photo it appears that everyone is eating off of china with silverware. Do they maintain a cafeteria?

ZeroCater.com can help with the first two if you're in SF