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A day in the life of a Walmart manager

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Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#181

Post by mvkel »

BLanen wrote: post #164
_ah wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You don't seem to realize that a poor person who is unhappy is in a better position than a rich person who is unhappy. Because the poor person has hope. He thinks money would help." -Jean Kerr

Complete anti-scientific hogwash only rich people would repeat, again.

There are more than a few studies behind it. Is that "scientific"? Remember that viral story about the guy who made the min salary in his company $70K? What did he base that number on, do you think?

Separately, if someone said that your take is "complete anti-scientific hogwash only poor people would repeat," would you think their opinion valid?

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#182

Post by [deleted] »

paulcole wrote: post #140
mvkel wrote: post #67

Credit to Walmart for creating an environment where a person can still love their job after years of service. That stuff can't be faked, even with a high salary. Before you say, "it's easy to say when you're getting paid $240K a year." Nah. A person needs challenge; a purpose. Lots of FANG ICs making $500K+ who hate their job. Why? No challenge or palpable purpose. To create a scaled corp structure where a person can…

> Why? No challenge or palpable purpose. A healthy dash of entitlement as well.

[deleted]

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#183

Post by troad »

bandyaboot wrote: post #163

> To end the meeting, Michael Cole, 66, a maintenance worker, leads the group in the Walmart Cheer, a chant workers throughout the company do to start and end meetings. This can’t be real.

It's a very effective manipulation technique - get the person to commit slightly past their comfort zone.

For instance, the Nxivm corporate training scam / sex cult [0] operated this way. At your very first meeting they'd ask you to wear a coloured sash and bow to the seminar giver. "It's just like judo!," you'd be told. "We're bringing a bit of fun to corporate training! Don't be such a grouch!" But of course the function was to (a) make you say yes once, which means you're now slightly committed, (b) make you look slightly ridiculous, which naturally makes you defensive and feel closer to your fellow ridiculous people (the ones in sashes), (c) make you give up a bit of your 'face', to make you more vulnerable and open, (d) weed out people strong enough to say no.

And once you're sitting in a sash, letting your guard down, comes the next thing. And the next thing. And the next thing. And after a thousand and one little pushes, you're so committed that you know you look absolutely insane from the outside, and it feels like the only future you have is within the organisation. You've committed so hard, bit by bit, that you no longer see a way out. And that's how you wind up with people getting branded for their slave master. [1]

Now I'm not saying Walmart brands women (though I'm not saying they don't - I have no evidence either way!), but it's worth noting that the only purpose of a tool like a 'corporate cheer' is to short-circuit your rationality and force an emotional commitment and loyalty that the business has no right to, and is unlikely to get from a purely rational employee. It's not just a fun little thing that may be inadvertently somewhat manipulative, it's a textbook manipulation technique.

So my 2c for anyone being asked to give a corporate cheer is to politely say no, and then think very hard about what kind of employer uses manipulation techniques to ensure obedience.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NXIVM

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-bran... (https://archive.is/Wv4Qc)

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#184

Post by mvkel »

hd55 wrote: post #148
chasd00 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another issue is we’re a couple generations in where kids were told over and over swe is what their passion is without it being a real reality. Eventually they get old enough to realize the lie but not young enough to take the risk of doing something about it.

According to systems theory (and karl marx?) purpose of the system is what the system does. Here system = person. And according to those who dont like that theory "The Protestant Ethic" is the reason for "The Spirit of Capitalism" or continuing to work/optimize/explore/exploit way past the point your Needs are meet.

Fascinating ideas. Thanks for sharing these - will check them out.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#185

Post by flappyeagle »

notdang wrote: post #57
switch007 wrote: post #14

She's giving CEO/COO vibes. I bet she would crush it in either of those roles. It would be amazing if this article catapulted her towards running her own business. Loved this: > Hart gets to the front of the store, a product-display area in between banks of registers known as the horseshoe. “So what are you thinking here?” she asks Wright. “Easter or summer toys?” > Wright suggests summer toys and T-shirts. > “I thin…

That was a trap, she, as a boss gave 2 options for the answer: "easter or summer toys" then she proceeded with the 3rd option: eclipse. That gives bad vibes.

Nah

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#186

Post by mp05 »

BLanen wrote: post #164
_ah wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"You don't seem to realize that a poor person who is unhappy is in a better position than a rich person who is unhappy. Because the poor person has hope. He thinks money would help." -Jean Kerr

Complete anti-scientific hogwash only rich people would repeat, again.

> anti-scientific

What the hell does science have to do with this? Please stop conflating regression analysis of the results of a questionnaire with "science".

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#187

Post by alwa »

BeetleB wrote: post #63
karaterobot wrote: post #25

> “I love my job,” says Hart, but “it doesn’t turn off. That is one of the hard things about it.” I'm lucky that in my industry I can make a good living as an individual contributor, because having to actually think about my job when I'm not at my job sounds like a living nightmare.

If you're in SW, you probably will need to think about your job off work: They usually don't work in shifts, and will have deliverables in a timeline of months. They need to plan the work, and always adjust to hit the deadlines. If you're a doctor, then you probably don't have to think about your job off work.

Doesn’t a doctor tend to have deliverables in a timeline of minutes or hours, on the order of dozens such deliverables a day, often with health- or life-critical stakes attached?

It seems like only yesterday that this counterpoint made the rounds here:

“The darker side of being a doctor” https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40025261

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#188

Post by VS1999 »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #177
VS1999 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Caste is absolutely about social hierarchy. At least half the definitions I've looked at mention both those words.

> Caste is absolutely about social hierarchy Caste is a specific system of social hierarchy. What you're describing--some people having it better than others--is common to all systems of social hierarchy.

What would be a better word for what I'm describing, then? India still has a caste system even with their government driven programs of mobility and hiring quotas, and more people moving upwards through marriage. It's not literally the same but it seems analogous enough to me.

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#189

Post by JumpCrisscross »

VS1999 wrote: post #188
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Caste is absolutely about social hierarchy Caste is a specific system of social hierarchy. What you're describing--some people having it better than others--is common to all systems of social hierarchy.

What would be a better word for what I'm describing, then? India still has a caste system even with their government driven programs of mobility and hiring quotas, and more people moving upwards through marriage. It's not literally the same but it seems analogous enough to me.

> What would be a better word for what I'm describing

Social stratification, separation or hierarchy. Or more simply, supply and demand.

What aspect of how we separate people are you trying to home in on?

Re: A day in the life of a Walmart manager

#190

Post by ryandrake »

giantg2 wrote: post #124
bradlys wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not the friend but I’ve quit a 7 figure job. I hated it and put my money where my mouth was. I took another job for a massive pay cut. Money isn’t everything. I started comparing my everyday life to prison. “How much money would I take to live in prison?” Realized it was gonna have to be a lot more than what I was getting.

I hate my job. I've never been close to 7 figures. I'd love to have a job I'd hate and make 7 figures for a year or two.

Yes, please. I think a lot of HN people have lost all sense of proportion. A 7 figure job is $1M plus--a year. That's financially life-changing, no matter how much you hate the content of the work. Grin and bear it for a couple of years, and then... do anything you like for the rest of your life. Maybe 0.1% of the population gets an opportunity like that.
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