"The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
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"The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
1–10 of 119 posts
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#2Executives are day traders. I've known day traders to argue that they make more money trading in the first and last 30 minutes of the day than they do if they're trading all day, because they end up getting involved in "boredom trading" that is break-even at best (and blows out their variance) and quite possibly losing. As for executives, they're disciplined, they can enjoy their easy jobs and high compensation and accept the boredom associated with rarely being needed, because if things are running well, they aren't operationally necessary. Unfortunately, they're rarely content to work 2 hours per day at their cushy jobs. They become forces of nature due to a combination of (a) a need to feel active and important, and (b) a theater in which it's hard for them to have real positive impact (because performance assessment of executives is impossible and most just don't have the talent).
"Trading boredom" sets in. The executive's job is to Make Decisions and to gamble with the company culture and operations. In order to feel useful, executives pull this shit. Like "saving money" by gutting the IT organization.
What's worst about this is that the executives who do this sort of thing rarely suffer any consequences. They shift blame to subordinates whom they can fire, and if the heat is turned up on them, they move on to other jobs. The employees and the owners get fucked, but executives get to flit about from one cushy job to another on account of building a web of connections that makes them effectively invincible.
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#3I have put this in my very small file of "things to share when I leave."
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#4Also: good management is like oxygen -- you only really notice it, much less recognize that you need it, when it goes away.
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#5I've read in multiple places and wholeheartedly agree that it's important to focus on visibility in your work.
If your managers can barely describe what you do, or how you do it, then your job is just asking to be cut.
When I show my clients an update, I always focus on what "looks" or "feels" different with the user experience. I wouldn't (maybe couldn't even) convey the awesomeness of all my fandangled SQL subqueries.
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#6I have put this in my very small file of "things to share when I leave."
You'd probably get better results if you share it before you leave. The value and influence of an exit interview is questionable, at best.
Just my 2c. :)
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#7Executives are day traders. I've known day traders to argue that they make more money trading in the first and last 30 minutes of the day than they do if they're trading all day, because they end up getting involved in "boredom trading" that is break-even at best (and blows out their variance) and quite possibly losing. As for executives, they're disciplined, they can enjoy their easy jobs and high compensation and a…
I hear nightmarish stories of micro-managers all the time. They feel that in order to do their jobs they have to tweak EVERYTHING that crosses their desk.
One memorable anecdote I came across was about an animation artist who was in charge of animating the queen for a 3d chess game. Because he knew his manager's weakness he threw in a duck... Yes, a duck. Fully animated with sound effects and everything.
Sure enough, when he showed his work to his manager he said "It's perfect, but get rid of the duck."
So maybe the moral of this lesson is that when things are running 100% smoothly, it's wise to toss your micro-manager a bone by doing something intentionally a little wrong to give them something to meddle with. ;-)
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#8Executives are day traders. I've known day traders to argue that they make more money trading in the first and last 30 minutes of the day than they do if they're trading all day, because they end up getting involved in "boredom trading" that is break-even at best (and blows out their variance) and quite possibly losing. As for executives, they're disciplined, they can enjoy their easy jobs and high compensation and a…
> they move on to other jobs.
... with their CVs exposing the fuckups as accomplishments: "Successfully managed a cost cutting campaign, sparing the company 2 bazillions in IT costs". The previous company won't admit it was actually a disaster.
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#9Executives are day traders. I've known day traders to argue that they make more money trading in the first and last 30 minutes of the day than they do if they're trading all day, because they end up getting involved in "boredom trading" that is break-even at best (and blows out their variance) and quite possibly losing. As for executives, they're disciplined, they can enjoy their easy jobs and high compensation and a…
I hear nightmarish stories of micro-managers all the time. They feel that in order to do their jobs they have to tweak EVERYTHING that crosses their desk. One memorable anecdote I came across was about an animation artist who was in charge of animating the queen for a 3d chess game. Because he knew his manager's weakness he threw in a duck... Yes, a duck. Fully animated with sound effects and everything. Sure enough,…
I've heard the same advice applied to PhD theses: Examiners always want to change something, so leave something in which you won't mind having them tell you to change.
Re: "The carpets are so clean, we don't need janitors"
#10Executives are day traders. I've known day traders to argue that they make more money trading in the first and last 30 minutes of the day than they do if they're trading all day, because they end up getting involved in "boredom trading" that is break-even at best (and blows out their variance) and quite possibly losing. As for executives, they're disciplined, they can enjoy their easy jobs and high compensation and a…
I hear nightmarish stories of micro-managers all the time. They feel that in order to do their jobs they have to tweak EVERYTHING that crosses their desk. One memorable anecdote I came across was about an animation artist who was in charge of animating the queen for a 3d chess game. Because he knew his manager's weakness he threw in a duck... Yes, a duck. Fully animated with sound effects and everything. Sure enough,…
The duck story is battle chess: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?title=Talk:Battle_Chess#The_duc...
I've often had the opposite problem: companies where the CEO is so disconnected from the company (usually by working remotely 80% of the time) that the company doesn't have direction and languishes.