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The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

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Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#251

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #88
hankchinaski wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been doing this for years and I think it's the best output per hour worked strategy if you have a clear exit plan outside scaling the so-called ladder

> if you have a clear exit plan outside scaling the so-called ladder Exit plan is FIRE. Everything else is circus and performance art. Others can play status games, I prefer wealth games: wealth is options and options are freedom. Pragmatic, smart, skilled people are extracted from unless lucky and in a position to see outsized returns from their effort. Better to know what enough is, collect enough freedom coins, an…

[deleted]

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#252

Post by 7789123 »

erikerikson wrote: post #226
7789123 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A co-op only attenuates to employees. There are better options. Example: FairShares Commons I am very interested in learning about these types of models. I don't know what search terms would get me there, and/or any lists of these types of models that have been curated. Could you suggest anything that would expedite researching this?

I'm sorry that I don't have a good index or personal awareness to share. Boyd's book linked in a peer response is a source but otherwise I can only offer that B-Corps [0] or Benefit Corps are the formally/legally recognized entry into space. A structure like the FairShares Common is a sophistication, based on the articles of incorporation above and beyond establishing legal obligations to a purpose (as is part of B-C…

That is helpful.

I previously had no idea of any existing frameworks.

I will undoubtedly gain a lot of insights through learning about them.

Thank you.

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#253

Post by chipdart »

hinkley wrote: post #21
luisgvv wrote: post #7

I began as a junior dev and climbed up the ranks til the point where I became the SME in some areas of the product. Got laid off because sales goals were not met while they retained people which I think were incompetent in their work. Even some guys which I think were better and more critical to the projects were dumped. I'm not climbing that ladder by being proactive and "pragmatic" again... Call me a paycheck steal…

I’ll be you ten bucks they got rid of people who bring up bad news and kept the yes-men. A company that doesn’t know what’s broken is doomed to mediocrity. But some people want to play music while the ship sinks. So they arrange for the most pleasant rest of the voyage they can, instead of saving as many people as they can.

> I'll be you ten bucks they got rid of people who bring up bad news and kept the yes-men. A company that doesn’t know what’s broken is doomed to mediocrity.

I used to have that attitude, but since then I've grown to learn that people who bring back news are also creating the problems without providing any solution whereas the "yes-men" excuse is a coping mechanism to rationalize why those who try to actually tackle problems and are smart enough to not raise them before they actually exist ir have solutions are indeed an asset to the team.

No one wants to deal with a pain-in-the-ass who creates problems for everyone out of thin air. That's what gets you fired. Everyone has to deal with real problems, and they don't need the distraction of having to deal with artificial ones.

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#254

Post by robocat »

7789123 wrote: post #204
robocat wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True wealth has a lot of non-financial measures. Non-financial goals are way way harder to achieve than FIRE: the biggest issue is selecting your non-financial goals. Money is a simple goal and it isn't impossible to achieve - then what? Deciding that money should be your primary focus overoptimises for financial wealth against non-financial wealth. For example, life satisfaction: do you know people doing jobs they l…

>One limited resource that we are approximately all given the same amount of is time True, but I believe also its important to factor in that those in lower socioeconomic classes effectively have their time stolen from them in many ways. ex: I don't enjoy fixing the vast majority of things I have to fix, (although there can be a sense of satisfaction in it sometimes), but I have to 1st learn to do so and then do it b…

> lower socioeconomic classes effectively have their time stolen

Personally I find the words “stolen” and “theft” is usually just political signalling when applied to time. The metaphor has some sense, but so does pirating as theft of copyrighted movies…

One significant waste of our precious “resource” is often paid for in money regardless of our socioeconomic status - the 40 hours doing shit we wouldn’t do if we didn’t get paid for it - and then often using the money to win regretful prizes. Capitalism deeply sucks but it sucks less than some other things humans have tried.

a huge amount of wasted time in wealthy countries is under our control: the classic example of TV. Or working harder to buy a bigger house we don’t really need. My poorer friends choose to waste their time as much as my richer friends do.

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#255

Post by abenga »

imzadi wrote: post #65

I don't know if this is related, but growing up there were certain values instilled in me that went something like "don't toot your own horn," "it's better to be seen and not heard," "keep your head down," etc. The main gist being that I should just do my job quietly, competently, and stay out of the way. In practice, this resulted in me being effectively invisible to management, even when I was out-performing everyo…

I also try to work effectively but quietly, but an epiphany I had after working on a couple of technically interesting problems I thought were a big deal but were met with "k, thanks, bye" after being finished was the question: "if you don't talk to people about what you're working on, how do you even know it is desired by the org?"

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#256

Post by flappyeagle »

rybosworld wrote: post #47
Seb-C wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who cares about his work, has strong professional ethics and wisely chooses his employers to not end-up in such environments, no I don't. The worst places for me are precisely those where you can get by with 1~2h of work a day because no one cares and the company's culture does not value the time and skills of his workers.

> wisely chooses his employers to not end-up in such environments This is a pretty common attitude. That is, "I'm able to pick better workplaces than you are". It implies you have control over the other people that work at the company. And unless you're the CEO, you don't. You cannot with any certainty tell what a work environment is like in the interview stage. You can job hop a half dozen times until you find a goo…

You named the solution. Switch jobs until the right one. That’s how you pick better. You can even formalize it. “Hey I would love to consult for 90 days; let’s skip the bulk of the interview process”

You can ask. Don’t tell me it’s impossible if you haven’t even tried

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#257

Post by twojobsoneboss »

deathanatos wrote: post #125
dwaltrip wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People aren’t all the same. It’s easy to forget this. And it totally makes sense to be wary! That will help you pick a better place next time. Although, to be fair, the average place probably closer to what you describe, meaning there is a limited supply of high quality places at the top end of the distribution.

> That will help you pick a better place next time. I'm convinced there is no means available to an employee to "picking a better place". Last time I job hopped, I tried to do that — and largely, I think I succeeded. But company leadership changed, my good boss left and was replaced by a terrible new boss (who has since also left, and been replaced by a less terrible boss) … so what I evaluated when I joined is no mo…

The only constant is change. It sucks esp when later in career and just looking for stability, but it’s just the way it is.

Reduce expenses, earn as much as possible, save and invest wisely, and remove your reliance on the system as soon as you can, is my advice.

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#258

Post by switchbak »

WalterBright wrote: post #80
kjkjadksj wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not your work unless you own the company

Your work is what you agreed to in exchange for your salary.

Exactly. We're adults making fair exchanges for compensation (assuming you've entered into a fair agreement).

There's so many angsty takes in this thread, I'm actually pretty shocked.

Working "hard" is an investment in yourself. You don't always have to be soley running on the SCRUM treadmill - you can learn other things that are valuable to the business. Ideally you'll also be smart and chose wisely for things that set you up better career-wise too.

But the idea that one would treat their employer as some kind of chump that deserves the minimal possible output they can extract from you? That sounds like a great way to pigeonhole yourself into a lacklustre and short career. Not to mention a really unfulfilling life. You spend so much time at work, why not try to find work you enjoy for an employer that isn't crap? I get that many jobs are soulless - but we're still in the drivers seat and we typically have a lot of choices (especially these days).

Re: The biggest source of waste is untapped skilled pragmatists

#259

Post by switchbak »

K0balt wrote: post #69
switchbak wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. Many of us are working hard, trying to get real work done. And spending 20-40 mins a day checking Hacker News :) Seriously though, don’t you feel bad by not pulling your weight? Someone has to get your work done.

You get the work done that the position requires. If you can do that in a couple of hours, I see no incentive whatsoever for most employees to increase productivity beyond the requirement for the position plus maybe some minor stuff that won’t be enough to encourage additional responsibilities. If they want more than that, employers should pay significantly more than their competitors for those services, or significa…

I can't rightly comprehend the kind of mindset that would lead to such a conclusion.

If you're that productive, why not charge by the hour at a very high rate? "work done that the position requires" is a very low bar of performance, to me it sounds like you're not honouring your part of your employment agreement.

I'm not suggesting you have to have your butt in a seat for $X hours a day, but if you're really that disenchanted with your job - why would you not pursue some other line of work that you find more rewarding?

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