FASTER YOU FUCKERS - The ILX Work & Productivity Thread

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i think this is essential:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/06/the-management-myth/304883/

Mordy , Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:21 (ten years ago) link

i've got an essay bookmarked at work about how ever-increasing demands on productivity help to create a society that discriminates more than ever against disabled people but i might have to wait until tomorrow or Tuesday to dig it up

and this is the most essential paragraph:

That Taylorism and its modern variants are often just a way of putting labor in its place need hardly be stated: from the Hungarians’ point of view, the pig iron experiment was an infuriatingly obtuse way of demanding more work for less pay. That management theory represents a covert assault on capital, however, is equally true. (The Soviet five-year planning process took its inspiration directly from one of Taylor’s more ardent followers, the engineer H. L. Gantt.) Much of management theory today is in fact the consecration of class interest—not of the capitalist class, nor of labor, but of a new social group: the management class.

Mordy , Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:22 (ten years ago) link

That looks great, Mordy, thanks. Was going to put something about notions of management and workforce.

Fizzles, Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:25 (ten years ago) link

ha - should've known any ilx thread about work and productivity would be anti-work and anti-productivity.

balls, Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link

xpost not anti them! even if I once said that I'd rather do nothing than go to work any more.

more, wondering how the formatting of labour affects the labourer, the product of that labour, and the process of labour.

are the work-efficiency systems neutral, or if not what are their politics? in some ways these systems, by anonymising humans into "resources" seem more open to a wider variety of people - to take a positive example. where efficiency is the aim, it doesn't matter who you are as long as you are able to resource the action. does this make these systems a force for good in traditionally gender-biased or culturally exclusive workplaces?

Fizzles, Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:39 (ten years ago) link

My office has recently gone from a broadly flexible arrangement when it came to working from home to compulsory attendance. All the tech brought in to facilitate remote working (cloud drives, Skype, etc) and the insane cost of landmark London office space counts for nothing when management doesn't trust people to put a shift in unmonitored. Tbh, they're probably right not to in a lot of cases. It's interesting how many people in relatively senior positions will do next to nothing unless there's someone looking over their shoulder. I'm not sure it's idleness, per se, rather than detachment. German workers may be more efficient because they have more of a stake in the business - both in terms of a formal voice on workers' councils and better rewards.

Inte Regina Lund eller nån, mitt namn är (ShariVari), Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:50 (ten years ago) link

what do you mean by detachment, SV?

I ask because I tried to apply it to examples of senior management I have known and came up with the following:

habit of delegation means things get done by others, not them. Leads to uncertainty about what it is they actually do (both in themselves and those around or under them).

same habit leads to lack of knowledge about the specifics of what is being down, who it affects more than one level beneath them etc.

only "upward" looking - their role is to pass on senior level requirements. they don't feed back to that senior level meaningfully.

Fizzles, Sunday, 30 June 2013 21:56 (ten years ago) link

Yes, that's the gist of what I was thinking at the senior level. Also the lack of stability, certainly in my industry. Senior managers provide cover for the strategic failures of directors and can expect to be jettisoned if things go badly or jump before they do.

Along with the lack of productivity, there's often an unwillingness to make decisions or take personal accountability. Doing nothing can sometimes seem safer.

Inte Regina Lund eller nån, mitt namn är (ShariVari), Sunday, 30 June 2013 22:11 (ten years ago) link

A senior manager at my office did a 'day in the life' blog for the intranet (lol), proudly explaining how he spent the whole day in meetings with people discussing - in the abstract - what would be getting done by some other people at some point. He really thought that this was evidence of how productive he is (and that anyone gave a shit).

They've also decided that doing things Agile is good because they've read a book about it, but have no idea how to actually do it.

Productivity is easy to measure when you are at the lower-end actually ~doing stuff~. Managers are at their worst when they realise that they also need to prove they are producing value. Being seen to be managing becaomes the most important part of their job.

Also related to this topic is the whole concept of the 'right to work' etc pursued by much of the left, especially the unions. I'm much more interested in reducing productivity/making work unnecessary.

oppet, Sunday, 30 June 2013 22:37 (ten years ago) link

negative people on the intranet

Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Sunday, 30 June 2013 22:42 (ten years ago) link

correlation between rising productivity and global temperatures has me wishing people would chill a little

reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, 30 June 2013 22:44 (ten years ago) link

Ive happily forgotten 99% of all the bullshit (and 99% of it was bullshit) a degree in business attempted to instill in me. These names, concepts, they're like the foggy ghosts of strangers. You'll do well managing people if you don't mind bullying them for money. Sometimes you won't have to do that- if this is the case your role is probably unnecessary and you might worry about any audit that could take place.

dj hollingsworth vs dj perry (darraghmac), Sunday, 30 June 2013 23:06 (ten years ago) link

They've also decided that doing things Agile is good because they've read a book about it, but have no idea how to actually do it.

This has been my experience of every single "Agile" project I have ever worked on, including the one I am currently working on.

Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Monday, 1 July 2013 10:19 (ten years ago) link

You'll do well managing people if you don't mind bullying them for money.

not true at all.

Shamrock Shoe (LocalGarda), Monday, 1 July 2013 10:28 (ten years ago) link

I've been properly rubbing up against this world – agile, stand-ups, continuous improvement, stakeholders, risk registers, QA, etc etc etc - & it is a fascinating language. I keep meaning to dig around for a load of ISO 9000 (quality management) and 31000 (risk management) pdfs.

I just look at the names of them. MoSCoW Method. PERT (which seems to emerge from weapons development. Do many of these have a semi-military/defence contractor background? It feels like where they should come from)

I am not against this stuff in principle. I mean if we have to get some shit done we might as well try to find an effective way to do it. The ease with which this culture slides into voodoo vocab & self-analysing meta-processes makes it seem like it's fooling itself. And the pretended universality of efficiency culture (anything can be managed more effectively using techniques x + y) is v suspicious, probably evil.

woof, Monday, 1 July 2013 11:14 (ten years ago) link

The fat in the system is a necessary component, p much all management/productivity tools dont want to acknowledge this.

dj hollingsworth vs dj perry (darraghmac), Monday, 1 July 2013 11:18 (ten years ago) link

They've also decided that doing things Agile is good because they've read a book about it, but have no idea how to actually do it.

This has been my experience of every single "Agile" project I have ever worked on, including the one I am currently working on.

― Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Monday, July 1, 2013 10:19 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Is this a thing though where a system that is widely used by high-profile successful companies is also used by companies who don't want to put in the money and time to properly execute its mechanisms? ie a culture of efficiency systems meaning that those systems are used poorly in many places

wd definitely second LG's point about management. Good managers find ways to protect and promote their staff, if they can finding ways to develop their skills, as well as looking at how best to execute the requirements of the company. A good manager can't necessarily do that in a company that is run badly or which is viciously rapacious, but they can minimise the effect of that to a certain extent. Tho that never stopped me feeling complicit in the near criminal behaviour of the senior management (in one case).

The language! The language is amazing (and sometimes terrifying). Here's some of my favourites from PRINCE2

accept (risk response)
A risk response to a threat where a conscious and deliberate decision is taken to retain the threat, having discerned that it is more economical to do so than to attempt a risk response action. The threat should continue to be monitored to ensure that it remains tolerable. [this first a great example of 'normal' language having a formal meaning within the system - dangerous!]

agile methods
Principally, software development methods that apply the project approach of using short time-boxed iterations where products are incrementally developed. PRINCE2 is compatible with agile principles.

assumption
A statement that is taken as being true for the purposes of planning, but which could change later. An assumption is made where some facts are not yet known or decided, and is usually reserved for matters of such significance that, if they change or turn out not to be true, there will need to be considerable replanning. [one of main areas that answer my question about how models used purely for efficiency can go so badly wrong, I think]

assurance
All the systematic actions necessary to provide confidence that the target (system, process, organization, programme, project, outcome, benefit, capability, product output, deliverable) is appropriate. Appropriateness might be defined subjectively or objectively in different circumstances. The implication is that assurance will have a level of independence from that which is being assured. See also ‘Project Assurance’ and ‘quality assurance’. [lol v reassuring]

authority]
The right to allocate resources and make decisions (applies to project, stage and team levels).
authorization
The point at which an authority is granted.

baseline
Reference levels against which an entity is monitored and controlled. [see the re-baselining that goes on in a lot of projects - basically 'ok ok, let's ignore the bad shit that went before, we fucked up, let's start AGAIN, it'll be better this time]

benefits tolerance
The permissible deviation in the expected benefit that is allowed before the deviation needs to be escalated to the next level of management. Benefits tolerance is documented in the Business Case. See also ‘tolerance’. [can be p damned tolerant]

Business Case
The justification for an organizational activity (project), which typically contains costs, benefits, risks and timescales, and against which continuing viability is tested. [always wrong and expected to be wrong - usually just means 'get funding by hook or by crook']

Change Authority
A person or group to which the Project Board may delegate responsibility for the consideration of requests for change or off- specifications. The Change Authority may be given a change budget and can approve changes within that budget.
change budget
The money allocated to the Change Authority available to be spent on authorized requests for change.
change control
The procedure that ensures that all changes that may affect the project’s agreed objectives are identified, assessed and either approved, rejected or deferred.
[a whole world of pain, changing expectations and rising costs]

checkpoint
A team-level, time-driven review of progress. [time driven!]

contingency
Something that is held in reserve typically to handle time and cost variances, or risks. PRINCE2 does not advocate the use of contingency because estimating variances are managed by setting tolerances, and risks are managed through appropriate risk responses (including the fallback response that is contingent on the risk occurring). [lol]

cost tolerance
The permissible deviation in a plan’s cost that is allowed before the deviation needs to be escalated to the next level of management. Cost tolerance is documented in the respective plan. See also ‘tolerance’. [note sensation of infinite regression built into a lot of these systems - like the notion of continuous improvement for instance.

dis-benefit
An outcome that is perceived as negative by one or more stakeholders. It is an actual consequence of an activity whereas, by definition, a risk has some uncertainty about whether it will materialize. [lollo]

DSDM Atern
An agile project delivery framework developed and owned by the DSDM consortium. Atern uses a time-boxed and iterative approach to product development and is compatible with PRINCE2. [O_O]

embedding (PRINCE2)
What an organization needs to do to adopt PRINCE2 as its corporate project management method. See also, in contrast, ‘tailoring’, which defines what a project needs to do to apply the method to a specific project environment. [the project systems are self-preserving and have inbuilt defences against their dismantling]

exception
A situation where it can be forecast that there will be a deviation beyond the tolerance levels agreed between Project Manager and Project Board (or between Project Board and corporate or programme management). [see the world of projects that meet none of their benefit expectations and cost billions - possibly business process at its most dangerous: an innocuous word used to describe something that has an elastic quality allowing almost anything to happen, an excess to be ignored, because of the judgment deranged of the stakeholders]

governance (corporate)
The ongoing activity of maintaining a sound system of internal control by which the directors and officers of an organization ensure that effective management systems, including financial monitoring and control systems, have been put in place to protect assets, earning capacity and the reputation of the organization. [governance really important. i [i]think
within this definition staff belong as 'assets.' I'm assured by a friend who sits on Quaker governance meetings that their governance is excellent, and they are often used as consultants by top organisations. began writing governance documents for my previous corp, included lots of radical stuff culled from ilx feminist and other threads. sadly got taken over before we could establish a millennial reign of radical perfection and absolute virtue, the nouvelle Heidelberg of the 21st C]

inherent risk
The exposure arising from a specific risk before any action has been taken to manage it. [sometimes i just try and apply these terms to The Thing or Day of the Dead]

wait... i've only reached 'i'... gotta eat and get ready for senior management meeting tomorrow.

Fizzles, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:07 (ten years ago) link

italics an important part of business management tbf.

Fizzles, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:08 (ten years ago) link

No CRITICAL PATH, no credibility!

xyzzzz__, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:19 (ten years ago) link

Is this a thing though where a system that is widely used by high-profile successful companies is also used by companies who don't want to put in the money and time to properly execute its mechanisms? ie a culture of efficiency systems meaning that those systems are used poorly in many places

This is exactly it. Why is that Japanese car production line so efficient? I don't know, but let's take one aspect of how they control robot welders and apply it to human beings.

oppet, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:27 (ten years ago) link

Can't remember why I thought it was a good idea to make my ilx login the same as my work one. Drunkposting to this thread could destroy me.

oppet, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:29 (ten years ago) link

oh man, CRITICAL PATH, yeah. oppet, don't worry:

probability
This is the evaluated likelihood of a particular threat or opportunity actually happening, including a consideration of the frequency with which this may arise.

of course:

dis-benefit
An outcome that is perceived as negative by one or more stakeholders. It is an actual consequence of an activity whereas, by definition, a risk has some uncertainty about whether it will materialize.

Fizzles, Monday, 1 July 2013 20:49 (ten years ago) link

Great SWOT analysis.

My favourite piece of terminology is either 'backlog grooming' or 'planning poker'.

oppet, Monday, 1 July 2013 21:03 (ten years ago) link

lol the wiki photo of a daily scrum meeting

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Daily_sprint_meeting.jpg/640px-Daily_sprint_meeting.jpg

oppet, Monday, 1 July 2013 21:04 (ten years ago) link

Everyone in that photo looks hungover. Or just devoid of a will to live.

10zing blogay (seandalai), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 01:02 (ten years ago) link

it is the endgame of human potential that we overwork ourselves on meaningless projects

reggie (qualmsley), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 01:11 (ten years ago) link

apparently, it's a vuca world

woof, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 11:44 (ten years ago) link

http://www.stratabridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/VUCA-Definition.jpg

such strange metaphysical structures!

Fizzles, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 11:45 (ten years ago) link

but we have the answer

woof, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 11:48 (ten years ago) link

VUCA is another example of terminology lifted from the military, isn't it?

Inte Regina Lund eller nån, mitt namn är (ShariVari), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 11:49 (ten years ago) link

iirc you need to be antifragile to thrive in a VUCA environment.

Inte Regina Lund eller nån, mitt namn är (ShariVari), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 11:50 (ten years ago) link

i think within this definition staff belong as 'assets.'

putting a Dilbert strip in this thread or anywhere else on ILX is most likely an instant sirens-go-off game-over move but I couldn't let this go by without pasting this:

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/6852/4ne.gif

slippery kelp on the tide (a passing spacecadet), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 12:09 (ten years ago) link

wiki on vuca has one of the most impressively concentrated passages of ManLang that I've seen:

The capacity of individuals and organizations to deal with VUCA can be measured with a number of engagement themes:
Knowledge Management on Sense-Making
Planning and Readiness Considerations
Process Management and Resource Systems
Functional Responsiveness and Impact Models
Recovery Systems and Forward Practices
At some level, the capacity for VUCA management and leadership hinges on enterprise value systems, assumptions and natural goals. A "prepared and resolved" enterprise[2] is engaged with a strategic agenda that is aware of and empowered by VUCA forces.

woof, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 12:18 (ten years ago) link

I have a worse problem than oppet since this my actual full name, so I won't be on here much, but couldn't let this go past:

I've been properly rubbing up against this world – agile, stand-ups, continuous improvement, stakeholders, risk registers, QA, etc etc etc - & it is a fascinating language.

Dude, QA is not an arcane managerism, QA is how you make sure that the tires don't fall off when you turn the ignition key!

Andrew Farrell, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 12:57 (ten years ago) link

ha, fair enough; with QA it's the creep of it that was bothering me - I'm on a 6-month editorial job along with another editor; she uses QA as a verb where I'd use check, edit, copy or proof - 'And we need to QA each other's work', 'Should one of us QA that?'

woof, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 13:10 (ten years ago) link

i have andrew's problem. real name as login, day job in QA at a company which adopted agile about 2 years ago. for now, suffice to say i hate the living shit out of agile. any efficiency app which demands at least an hour a day of your time just so that you can RECORD THE IRL TASKS YOU DID needs to diaf.

Thelema & Louise (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 15:18 (ten years ago) link

processes become the end product.

it can feel like sometimes. and wrt QA - it's the (scope?) creep of engineering or software development structures and terminology into non-engineering/dev areas that feels culturally significant.

it's not entirely/all bad either. I'd like to into it more but I've just come out of a five hour management meeting and desperately desperately need a drink.

Fizzles, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 17:39 (ten years ago) link

At this point I'm fairly sure Agile just means "we make shit up as we go along"

Just noise and screaming and no musical value at all. (Colonel Poo), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 18:58 (ten years ago) link

I am on a scrum team

mh, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 18:59 (ten years ago) link

how does that work for you?

Fizzles, Tuesday, 2 July 2013 21:57 (ten years ago) link

employ yourself, once you have enough money for rent and food, stop working.
repeat.

i guess i'd just rather listen to canned heat? (ian), Tuesday, 2 July 2013 22:07 (ten years ago) link

I have to start working soon, like full-time. And I'm no closer to being qualified for the kinds of things I want to do, which at first I blame myself for--why didn't you start writing sooner? Why didn't you work harder at publicizing yourself to non-profits? Why didn't you volunteer more??? but jesus, it's been like rediscovering myself to just slow down for the last 4 months.

Unfortunately what I discovered is that I don't want to work more than like 20 hours a week unless the "work" is pretty fun and I can ride my bike there.

Tottenham Heelspur (in orbit), Friday, 12 July 2013 17:12 (ten years ago) link

An Economic Calculation

For A., college is an endless series of competitions: to get into student clubs, some of which demand multiple rounds of interviews; to be selected for special research projects and the choicest internships; and, in the end, to land the most elite job offers.

As A. explained her schedule, “If I’m sober, I’m working.”

In such an overburdened college life, she said, it was rare for her and her friends to find a relationship worth investing time in, and many people avoided commitment because they assumed that someone better would always come along.

“We are very aware of cost-benefit issues and trading up and trading down, so no one wants to be too tied to someone that, you know, may not be the person they want to be with in a couple of months,” she said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/14/fashion/sex-on-campus-she-can-play-that-game-too.html?pagewanted=all

"dis-benefit"

holy..

educate yourself to this reality (sunny successor), Friday, 19 July 2013 22:15 (ten years ago) link

Thread needs a trigger warning now with that scrum meeting photo

Elvis Telecom, Friday, 19 July 2013 22:41 (ten years ago) link

disbenefits is v much a thing I'm afraid. can someone explain to me what a scrum meeting is please? I have a bucket handy.

Fizzles, Sunday, 21 July 2013 10:29 (ten years ago) link

"Knowledge Management on Sense-Making" is too good

r|t|c, Sunday, 21 July 2013 11:01 (ten years ago) link

Scrum is a software development methodology that revolves around "stories," "sprints, and daily "stand-ups."

mh, Sunday, 21 July 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link

he went on to explain that 'history and industrial revolutions or evolutions' lol were based upon standardising and automating that which could be standardised and automated.

I can just see this man reading some MBA textbook or popular management book that offers this pearl of wisdom and him thinking, 'why, this explains quite a lot!' and then, because he has only room in his head for one explanation, it quickly morphed into 'this explains everything!'

A is for (Aimless), Monday, 11 February 2019 18:41 (five years ago) link

this is excellent news: please report back from the front darragh (keeps autocorrecting to “farrago”).

i keep meaning to revive this thread, sort out the OP formatting, and pull together the various faster u fuckers stuff lying around in my bookmarks.

Fizzles, Monday, 11 February 2019 22:10 (five years ago) link

Is that the Irish version of PMP? Which is the biggest waste of time and money I (er my employer) ever spent. Fucking racket, these certs.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:09 (five years ago) link

it

as far as i can glean

is something the british govt came up with then privatised

pmp calls for aiui hundreds of logged hours of proj mgmt, this calls for to to remember the interlinking jargonomics of several roles several themes several products and several processes, each of whom ought to have been ambushed on the road to st ives imo

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:12 (five years ago) link

i actually see a bit of value in the dept/service having one understood and defined method its just pointless when i know from experience that it will all be fotd upon first contact with the enem user

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:13 (five years ago) link

It also requires that you pass the most jackassed of all exams, which I say as someone who has taken all manner of jackassed exams in multiple fields.

My current place of work (where I consult, my actual employer fortunately is blessedly free of management consulting shenanigans) is implementing something they refer to as WoW which in their jargon is "way of working" and not what everyone else thinks when they see WoW.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:16 (five years ago) link

It is like some unholy amalgamation of agile and POP and Tony Robbins, this thing. God only knows what the organization paid PWC or some other hacks for this thing.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:18 (five years ago) link

i would find it hard not to say it christopher walken style like waaOOOuuw

I mean i find it hard not to say wow like that at the best of times but if you wave that second w in my face you best believe im giving it the two eyebrows

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:19 (five years ago) link

oh oh can we talk about consultancy firms

when im not studying for a regurgitation tomorrow lunchtime like

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:19 (five years ago) link

Oh I'm surrounded by 20 year old PWC babes in the vicinity of my workstation (and they are total babes, totally adorable and lovely) and afaikt they spend their days putting together ppt decks about managing shit when it is clear that they have only ever managed ppt. But it is cute and gross at the same time when they all gather in the VPs office, the VP with the Harvard MBA who has some sort of beardo jeans and puffy vest thing going on. The only shit in his office are a bunch of management books of the kind that make me want to die.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:23 (five years ago) link

I should be clear the Harvard MBA beardo 40 something dude clearly loves his PWC babes, when they all come in to his office and show him their ppts.

mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:24 (five years ago) link

iirc a good designer I worked with in the civil service got themselves put through Prince2 training because it gives you the magic words to put on a PowerPoint so that the Excel functionaries shut up and you can get on with making things.

woof, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:33 (five years ago) link

someone left this lying around on a desk at work:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel)
I didn't realise there was a genre of management novels "written in a fast-paced thriller style".

woof, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:38 (five years ago) link

I wish I was efficient and organized. Since age 13, becoming organized was always my #1 goal and I’ve never come close. Every day is a new adventure of scrambling to fix the stuff I put off the day before. But then somehow it hasn’t hindered my life too much? I don’t understand.

Trϵϵship, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:46 (five years ago) link

But yeah, the “PWC babes” sound like people I would be in awe of. Even if the powerpoints are nonsense and my way of working is ultimately more efficient, there is nothing I admire more than colleagues at work who have, like, this appearance of having all their stuff together/following through on a plan rather than improvising all day

Trϵϵship, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:48 (five years ago) link

I feel like i get cut more slack for deadline/efficiency issues than my colleagues because my role is “creative” and I don’t really think it’s fair. Don’t want to share too much about my workplace but, like—too much slack for me, i feel, is part of it

Trϵϵship, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:53 (five years ago) link

i have been project managed by accenture babes of all types and ive been keeping a shiv in my sock two years now in case any of em ever drop from on high at me again

someone left this lying around on a desk at work:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Goal_(novel)
I didn't realise there was a genre of management novels "written in a fast-paced thriller style".

― woof, Monday, 11 February 2019 23:38 (fifteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my dear dad had some shit goin on in the late nineties and after reading the celestine prophecies he insisted that he could see the energy coming out of kindred souls' eyes for six months guys i know ye think im bad but listen im a fuckin success story given the background rly

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:58 (five years ago) link

i know i tell a story bytimes but i feel it necessary to confirm yes he actually believed this for six actual months, approached ppl in restaurants and shit when he sensed it had happened etc

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Monday, 11 February 2019 23:59 (five years ago) link

Ooh i had a friend who used to work for one of those consulting firms. Man, she alwayss seemed so “with it” in college—the exact kinda person who makes me feel like i’m some starry eyed wanderer

Trϵϵship, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link

It’s interesting to hear about your father’s foray into mysticism deems. Do you think this explains why—among ilxors—you’re on the rational/pragmatic side?

Trϵϵship, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:04 (five years ago) link

my father was a side-order to my mother treesh thats another thread.

the celestine prophecies is a mgmt/life success as novel is all, so it jogged the thought

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:32 (five years ago) link

Yeah—the mania for efficiency is definitely not disconnected from spiritual impulses—people tryin to reach a higher plane of existence and transcend ordinary human weakness

Trϵϵship, Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:38 (five years ago) link

its a fuckin shortcut to understanding and/or doing the groundwork ime

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:49 (five years ago) link

my trial exam is hitting 15/28 if i had a text id be ok i think

ɪmˈpəʊzɪŋ (darraghmac), Tuesday, 12 February 2019 00:51 (five years ago) link

five months pass...

Productivity and performance metrics can bite my fleshy flabby ass. The material my office handles comes in so irregularly that it's fucking frustrating to try to maintain a monthly hours report of 8-hour days, 5 days a week. I want to come up with a passive-aggressive way of saying this in a hypothetical exit interview.

Anne Hedonia (j.lu), Wednesday, 31 July 2019 17:17 (four years ago) link

seven months pass...

got a two hour audit this morning and i am v underprepared. not sure where else to post this important information.

tho i will note it as a different expression of the old tension between governance and compliance and faster you fuckers productivity.

as silicon valley models of fail fast and constant iteration hit real world compliance - in medical and transport sectors to pick two obvious and salient ones - it’s not going to be pretty.

and probably worth differentiating between faster you fuckers productivity (er “operational efficiencies”) and automation (“operational transformation”). both potentially weaken compliance and quality control.

Fizzles, Monday, 9 March 2020 08:01 (four years ago) link

cant believe i never responded to quincies Deloitte obsvs above

yes!

we get in one of 5 firms to manage our huge projects and its all tv drama gorgeous tv drama behaving 22 year olds with swim lanes and jargon 2.0 and they are awful humans

BSC Joan Baez (darraghmac), Monday, 9 March 2020 09:31 (four years ago) link

ive been telling all of my managers we're using agile for the past three years fizzles, it keeps them happy and its as well they dont know what agile is enough to do more than ask because i sure fuckin dont know it enough to bluff if they did

BSC Joan Baez (darraghmac), Monday, 9 March 2020 09:33 (four years ago) link

excitingly this did not go... well. turns out our decisions points are not well recorded ('Yes we have that' 'Can show us?' 'How very dare you.'), and we may not be fully aligned with the rest of the company. Got another shot in two weeks' time god help me.

i fully endorse your last two posts tho darragh, they are correct in every particular.

Fizzles, Monday, 9 March 2020 19:12 (four years ago) link

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/10/five-hour-workday-shorter-book

There's an article like this in the guardian every few months, my bosses are probably too busy to read them though.

Paperbag raita (ledge), Tuesday, 10 March 2020 12:28 (four years ago) link

one month passes...

bringing this thread into the covid age:

The co-creator of Scrum says hospitals aren't able to test as many people as a dedicated research and testing institution (that doesn't provide ICU care for any patients) because "[hospitals] are not doing Scrum". pic.twitter.com/T6GzlBL3Td

— John Feminella 🌠 (@jxxf) April 11, 2020

Fizzles, Saturday, 11 April 2020 15:18 (four years ago) link

oh and btw absolutely *nailed* the audit second time around (by v rapidly implementing everything they said)

Fizzles, Saturday, 11 April 2020 15:19 (four years ago) link

one month passes...

fantastic hour-long documentary on Chinese logistics and delivery firm JD.com, Cao Fei's 11.11.

follows parcel chain from central supply warehouse to deliveries to specific addresses, interviewing couriers and drivers along the way. Quite moving in places – nothing you won't see amongst any workers in highly commodified logistics chains in most societies, but that willingness to drive yourself into the ground for the sake of a family you barely or never see – 16 hour days seven days a week, within a vast, automating system, generates considerable amounts of pathos.

Fizzles, Saturday, 16 May 2020 19:29 (three years ago) link

lol

me and quincie have the same discussion on deloitte types all the time

who knew

spruce springclean (darraghmac), Saturday, 16 May 2020 19:39 (three years ago) link

obv the post bumping thread v much not lol

i was thinking about these logistic chains the other day, yet another example of the true fair cost of a good/service just falling by the wayside

spruce springclean (darraghmac), Saturday, 16 May 2020 19:40 (three years ago) link

nine months pass...

presentation in 3 hours, i should be doing soemthing more useful than watching bake-off repeats and quietly panicking

(although it's not a big deal, just 10 minutes to 20 people)

might go for a walk.

koogs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 12:13 (three years ago) link

I find that in lockdown workplace emotions become exaggerated. So I become more anxious before even a fairly standard presentation or chairing a meeting, but also the relief afterwards is also much more intense than usual.

Thinking back a year ago when I could race from meeting to meeting and present without really worrying about it feels like a different age.

Luna Schlosser, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 12:27 (three years ago) link

A short walk is probably a good idea to clear your head and change the environment.

Luna Schlosser, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 12:28 (three years ago) link

went for a walk, but covid era walks in the park aren't exactly a walk in the park

koogs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 13:10 (three years ago) link

missing in this thread: Daft Punk content

Long Tall Arsetee & the Shaker Intros (breastcrawl), Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:33 (three years ago) link

done.

turned out to be an hour earlier than i thought, which i found out 5 minutes beforehand...

also 64 people, not the 30 i was expecting. but that was just a number at the bottom of a zoom screen and not real people so...

koogs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:35 (three years ago) link

Prob for the best you hadnt all day knowing it so

e-skate to the chapeau (darraghmac), Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:51 (three years ago) link

It can be disconcerting when questions starting pinging on the meeting chat during your talk and people raise their virtual hands to make points. I have found myself saying “I’ll take questions at the end thank you” - otherwise I’d completely lose the thread of what I’m saying.

Luna Schlosser, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:54 (three years ago) link

yeah, an hour's less worrying, less pointless tweaking of script. the small bits i knew were weak i busked.

we had two rehearsals, and the actual thing was a lot smoother. still, cruel and unusual to make us developers do this. we choose the career with machines rather than people for a reason...

koogs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:59 (three years ago) link

we had a "meet the trainees lunch" last week and it was so strange, just 25 people in a meeting introducing themselves and telling jokes, but since everyone was muted and half had the cameras off you couldn't tell if anyone was laughing, the person speaking would just smile and look nervous and say "so...anyway". such a weird an unnatural environment for this sort of thing

frogbs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 14:59 (three years ago) link

in the section after mine we did have someone unmute themselves accidently whilst doing what sounded like voice exercises over dodgy wifi connection.

koogs, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 15:14 (three years ago) link

As someone at the beginning of my history as a medical editor and proofreader, I will honestly say that I fucking HATE Asana and want it to die— the co I'm freelancing for at the moment uses it, and it's just so cramped and fussy, no matter how I change my settings. The last co, which was much larger, used Ziflow, which is just a fuck of a lot easier to utilize and track changes in.

it's like edging for your mind (the table is the table), Wednesday, 24 February 2021 15:33 (three years ago) link

hahahahahah Asana!!!!!! sorry ... Asana was the platform my colleague chose a few years ago to improve info sharing and delegation of tasks and .... he never used it, and they auto-renewed our annual subscription twice before I finally got him to give me the account credentials so I could cancel it.

sarahell, Wednesday, 24 February 2021 16:56 (three years ago) link


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