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Re: undefined

#11

Post by Deestan » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:27 PM UTC

> If they have a problem or complaint about their job, their company, their customer, or anything else, they are encouraged to bring the issue to the manager or someone who is in a position to address the complaint.

And what if this manager doesn't care, understand, or act? According to the rule you are not allowed to discuss the problem with your peers at the lunch table. Your complaint has been filed, now shut up and get in line.

I see what they're trying to do, but it's very hard to keep that from being "some astronaut bullshit upper management came up with".

In my experience, professionals don't like to mindlessly complain; it's not their go-to way of attacking a problem. It's what they do to vent frustration after all their attempts at improving the situation have been shot down.

If large amounts of your company are complaining mindlessly to each other, you have a problem with management.

Forbidding unhappiness isn't going to make everyone happy.

Re: undefined

#12

Post by mirkules » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:29 PM UTC

I realized in myself that the number 3 tool of "Turn Complaints into Solutions", with the intent to "eliminate the kind of mindless complaining that doesn't serve a greater purpose and allow compalining that is justified and worthwhle [sic]", only works so long as once the complaint has been made, that someone actually listens or at the very least, acknowledges your concerns and maybe even offer good counterpoints.

But when presenting a solution that is not acknowledged or listened to, a person can quickly spiral into mindless complaining. This is especially true if you were right in the first place. Instead of a creating a solution-oriented employee, a company can quickly create complainers who always mumble "If they had listened to me, we wouldn't have to spend $X to fix it".

In short, the company culture has to allow complaints to be heard and acknowledged as much as the employee should not complain mindlessly.

Re: undefined

#13

Post by Arelius » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:35 PM UTC

phillmv wrote: post #5

I'm kinda split on this. On the one hand, the kind of language employed makes this feel kinda of odious. I agree one hundred per cent on the idea that cultures are made, but this feels… it feels forced and reminds me that I'm an interchangeable cog. (Maybe this is why I freelance and work in small companies…) On the other hand, as a fastidious complainer I am all about a "No Complaining Week" as it's kind of a fun id…

I agree, as someone who actually spends most of my life looking at the positive side of issues, I should agree with the essence of this.

However, instead I just found my self thinking "Screw off! I'll complain if I damn well care to." The whole tone seems to be of the sort of "Stop complaining and get back to work Crack of whip." Which is insulting, this sort of language would get me awfully close to sending in my resignation letter in direct response.

Re: undefined

#14

Post by benwerd » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:38 PM UTC

OkCupid having relationship problems behind the scenes that it diffuses using stand-offish, counter-productive measures = pretty much the definition of irony.

This is terrible management, which will hurt morale even further, and smacks of corporate rules being imposed from upstream. Perhaps their Match.com acquisition had some unforeseen side effects?

Re: undefined

#15

Post by mirkules » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:39 PM UTC

Deestan wrote: post #11

> If they have a problem or complaint about their job, their company, their customer, or anything else, they are encouraged to bring the issue to the manager or someone who is in a position to address the complaint. And what if this manager doesn't care, understand, or act? According to the rule you are not allowed to discuss the problem with your peers at the lunch table. Your complaint has been filed, now shut up a…

"Forbidding unhappiness isn't going to make everyone happy."

This is one hell of a quote! It's going up on my cube wall (seriously)

I personally don't have a problem with being shot down with a good argument, but the problem that leads to "mindless complaining" is when management dismisses me without considering my solution at all, and then ends up costing us a bunch of money to fix further down in the product lifecycle -- and guess who gets stuck cleaning up that mess?

Re: undefined

#16

Post by sbisker » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

Interesting - this article was titled "OkCupid Labs 'No Complaining Week'" a minute ago. Was that changed by the mods, or by the author in response to the negative response it seems to be getting here?

Re: undefined

#17

Post by loceng » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

mustpax wrote: post #9

Negativity costs the US between $250 and $300 billion every year in lost productivity, according to the Gallup Organization. This sort of pseudo-scientific corporate speak makes my BS detector go on high-alert. Your point is better made without relying on PR friendly made up statistics.

Actually I believe they are attempting to create the proper science to accurately gauge/estimate things like happiness and the effects on productivity. $300 Billion isn't actually that much of an increase. Is it that hard to imagine that people being happier would increase productivity?

Re: undefined

#18

Post by sliverstorm » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:42 PM UTC

mirkules wrote: post #15

Deestan wrote: post #11

> If they have a problem or complaint about their job, their company, their customer, or anything else, they are encouraged to bring the issue to the manager or someone who is in a position to address the complaint. And what if this manager doesn't care, understand, or act? According to the rule you are not allowed to discuss the problem with your peers at the lunch table. Your complaint has been filed, now shut up a…

"Forbidding unhappiness isn't going to make everyone happy." This is one hell of a quote! It's going up on my cube wall (seriously) I personally don't have a problem with being shot down with a good argument, but the problem that leads to "mindless complaining" is when management dismisses me without considering my solution at all, and then ends up costing us a bunch of money to fix further down in the product lifecy…

Forbidding unhappiness isn't going to make everyone happy.

It's really just a rephrasing of the good 'ol standby:

The beatings will continue until morale improves

Re: undefined

#19

Post by mustpax » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:45 PM UTC

loceng wrote: post #17

mustpax wrote: post #9

Negativity costs the US between $250 and $300 billion every year in lost productivity, according to the Gallup Organization. This sort of pseudo-scientific corporate speak makes my BS detector go on high-alert. Your point is better made without relying on PR friendly made up statistics.

Actually I believe they are attempting to create the proper science to accurately gauge/estimate things like happiness and the effects on productivity. $300 Billion isn't actually that much of an increase. Is it that hard to imagine that people being happier would increase productivity?

They are claiming "negativity" is causing this loss. Not unhappiness or depression but merely verbally sharing negative observations (or whatever negativity means). It would be hard enough to measure and quantify the effects of happiness, quantifying effects of negativity is downright absurd.

Re: undefined

#20

Post by Arelius » Mon, Feb 27, 2012, 7:49 PM UTC

> Example: "I dont like driving to work for an hour but I'm thankful I have a job to drive to and a car to drive there in."

This is a horrible example! Overall, it's nice to have the ability to pay for food and a shelter. But the traditional job with an hour commute each way is not the only, and in many cases not the optimal way to do this. There may be reasons to be thankful for working at this particular job (That's very satisfying work, that improves the world?) or owning that particular car (It's a fun car to drive, and gives you another set of autonomy) But the concept that you should just stfu about the commute and be thankful of the job and car is manipulative and condescending.

For this particular example, the response to "having a hour long commute" should be solutions, which is otherwise suggested in other contexts. Sadly, while good employers can provide many solutions, such as improved commute options, or the ability to work partially from an office/coworking-space/coffee shop closer to home, most employees are left with the only solution of either dealing with it, or finding a new job.