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

Nerf guns don't matter

mikecr.it

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 57 posts

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#41

Post by MartinCron »

columbo wrote: post #32

>I'm seeing it more and more--job descriptions with perks about nerf guns and happy hour, or new grads who joined a startup and are bragging about ping pong tables and free coke. This is apparently something that people see as a fun culture, a sign that this is a place you'd enjoy working at and has people you'd enjoy working with. Heh. It took me awhile to find these: >Excellent opportunities with an exciting, fun 6…

complimentary use of a Porsche Boxster when designated as "Employee of the Month"

Maybe it's just me, but that seems like a terrible idea. You get one person to feel good about being employee of the month and n-1 people feeling slighted for being passed over. again.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#42

Post by bonsaikitten »

I think the levels of emotional intelligence matter. Some people have an imbalance of IQ to EQ and they don't want anything to do with anyone, just write good code. That's fair, but seeing others socialize and bond doesn't register much like a marketing guy looking at a map reduce function and not understanding.

Another thing that is difficult for lower EQ folks is the ability to see things from another point of view. So, instead of seeing the value and point of team building and interaction it's just a silly waste of time. It's a spectrum, and unfortunately there is no golden ratio to the perfect fit. In this bubble of ours Engineer vs. Sales or marketing is not a new story, but looking at it from an IQ vs EQ perspective at least you can see where each person is coming from.

The best thing for the lower EQ guys is let them be alone, stroke their ego and communicate via IM. Explain to them that just like recursive functions, things have a purpose and they aren't for everyone and people process the world in different ways.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#43

Post by mikeg8 »

Some great comments here. I think the main frustration is that these "playful distractions" are being advertised too heavily to the outside through job listings or About Us pages. I'm not opposed to a fun work place if it develops naturally over time and doesn't reduce the quality of work.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#44

Post by MartinCron »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #38

I really don't see the appeal of Nerf guns at work at all. I see recruitment videos from some companies that show people sneaking around with nerf guns and shooting other programmers in the back of the head when they aren't looking. If someone was firing foam darts at me whilst I was in the middle of a delicate debugging session, my kneejerk reaction would probably be to punch them in the face. All this stuff strikes…

Not only is it juvenile and unprofessional, it's really... male. If you really want to recruit talented people, how about just not being repellent to female developers.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#45

Post by MartinCron »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #16

My older brother worked at SGI early days. He bragged about their culture - video games in the halls, parties. I told him "Culture isn't the free perks. Your culture is revealed when times are hard, releases are near or late. What people do then, who flees and who buckles down and works, that defines your culture."

Whatever you're doing, you should stop it and start writing speeches instead.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#46

Post by kkbb »

As an introvert, I appreciated the beer fridge when I first started because it helped me get to know the other introverts (everyone). At the time none of my IRL friends were in this sort of work environment so it was something to "brag" about. Back home my family had these visions that my workplace was like google or something and I'm sure they also bragged.

Four years later, I haven't had a beer at work in a long time. At the literal end of the day, I want to go home, relax on the couch and hang with the wife. Right now I'm looking around for a new job because I've realized the current place's motivation for the beer machine is to use as a distraction for the uncompetative salaries and lack of benefits. I geniunely like my co-workers, but the company not so much.

As a side note, all my friends do military contracting type stuff work and get paid substantially more. Four years later, perhaps the jokes on me.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#47

Post by bradezone »

Very intriguing post, Mike! I have to agree that placing too much priority on these things can make a company seem cheesy. BUT I personally would rather work at a place that is not "all business, all the time." People should enjoy their jobs and their careers, and I think that's mostly what these companies are trying to accomplish. Your post is a good reminder, however, about how to prioritize work and play at the job site.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#48

Post by ricardobeat »

GuiA wrote: post #23
itmag wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is we spend most of our waking lives at work. Bloody hell, that sounds so depressing when you put it like that...

Really? I sleep about 8 hours a day, and work 8-10 hours a day. That's 6-8 hours of being awake and not working, plus 2x16 hours of not working on the weekend. So worst case scenario, in a week, I spend 50 hours at work and 62 hours being awake and not working. If your numbers are not in that ballpark, you probably want to re-evaluate whether all the hours you spend at work are optimal :)

But those hours "being awake" include eating, showering, doing house chores, etc. In reality it's 10 hours work (including commute) vs 3-4 hrs non-work, and ~10 on the weekend. So the usual number is 50:40 at best, not 50:62.

You don't even need to do the math, we've all been there: get up, go to work, come back at 7-8pm, have dinner, 2hrs to do something then sleep.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#49

Post by bduerst »

I think the one question you should be asking is: Are your employees looking forward to coming to work in the morning?

All these environment variables are background noise if they are not relevant to your workers.

Re: Nerf guns don't matter

#50

Post by greenyoda »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #38

I really don't see the appeal of Nerf guns at work at all. I see recruitment videos from some companies that show people sneaking around with nerf guns and shooting other programmers in the back of the head when they aren't looking. If someone was firing foam darts at me whilst I was in the middle of a delicate debugging session, my kneejerk reaction would probably be to punch them in the face. All this stuff strikes…

Even if someone was just having a Nerf battle outside my office while I was trying to debug something, I'd probably want to strangle them. I can't imagine a bunch of people playing quietly with Nerf guns, and it's not likely that everyone within earshot will want to take a break from their work at exactly the same time.
Post reply on HN