11–20 of 109 posts
"And that was exactly what had happened here. It wasn’t that people were deliberately trying to sabotage progress, they were showing up to work and doing their jobs as instructed. But nothing more." In labor market conflict situations it is called an Italian strike?
> But a larger part of it was that people in the development team were just showing up to work, and not much else. I had a friend once at Digital who gave me this unforgettable advice, right after we were bought by Compaq:
> “When captured by the enemy, it is best to display model prisoner behavior.”
> And that was exactly what had happened here. It wasn’t that people were deliberately trying to sabotage progress, they were showing up to work and doing their jobs as instructed. But nothing more.
"And that was exactly what had happened here. It wasn’t that people were deliberately trying to sabotage progress, they were showing up to work and doing their jobs as instructed. But nothing more." In labor market conflict situations it is called an Italian strike?
Also Soviet civil disobedience. You can’t break the rules or you’ll get punished but you can do things literally and not get punished. You’re not paid to think after all
This is an unfortunate issue with most of modern society. It's often compared to communism, yet how many capitalist bosses really want you to do much other than implement their "vision?"
> When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor, they call me a communist. - Hélder Câmara
"And that was exactly what had happened here. It wasn’t that people were deliberately trying to sabotage progress, they were showing up to work and doing their jobs as instructed. But nothing more." In labor market conflict situations it is called an Italian strike?
Also Soviet civil disobedience. You can’t break the rules or you’ll get punished but you can do things literally and not get punished. You’re not paid to think after all
not really relevant, but anyone know where mad ned is at these days? haven't seen any new posts of his in a while, and i enjoyed a bunch of them.
The most fun I'd say I've had was recognizing something ineffective and making (software) tools for it. Now that I think about it one of the first programs I made on my Atari 400 as a kid was Room, which let me move/rotate my to-scale bedroom furniture outlines around to see what layouts were possible and may be good to actually move the furniture.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Work to rule! Do work exactly as specified, not including all the little things needed to actually make work happen. All the glue work needed to make an organization function just doesn't sometimes!
So why would anyone do an actual strike? This sounds better and more convenient.
1. Personal Growth is limited, or further upward movement is undesirable.
2. They intend to be with the organization a finite remaining time, or would welcome an early exit
A proper strike can be differentiated from a lazy workforce, self-sabotaging work cannot be.
I know this story is about company scale RnD. It can also be applied at any level. Research lives on a gray scale. At its core is growing understanding of your area so that you can do things you didn't know how to do before. I've always gravitated to the hardest problems to be solved so that I can learn something and make something that no one else had the vision or perseverance to make. So almost all my jobs have be…
I know this story is about company scale RnD. It can also be applied at any level. Research lives on a gray scale. At its core is growing understanding of your area so that you can do things you didn't know how to do before. I've always gravitated to the hardest problems to be solved so that I can learn something and make something that no one else had the vision or perseverance to make. So almost all my jobs have be…
Alternatively one can just use grid paper and some scissors. I bet you learned a lot writing that program as a kid though!
Our situation at work isn't quite analogous to this, but boy oh boy did this part stand out to me: > But a larger part of it was that people in the development team were just showing up to work, and not much else. I had a friend once at Digital who gave me this unforgettable advice, right after we were bought by Compaq: > “When captured by the enemy, it is best to display model prisoner behavior.” > And that was exac…