4 ms·

"Lab protocol stipulated that anyone who figured out how to save time could enjoy his savings as he wanted. Brearley got his day’s work done in a couple of hour

by kevhito 10y ago

"Lab protocol stipulated that anyone who figured out how to save time could enjoy his savings as he wanted. Brearley got his day’s work done in a couple of hours, and spent the rest of the day reading and experimenting." This seems relevant to our increasingly automated/automatable jobs.

hexane360 10y ago
Now THAT is how you incentivize workers to innovate.
- SixSigma 10y ago
  This is an incentive used in Lean manufacturing. If you save the company some money, they pay it instead to you as a bonus for a while. I have heard of 6 months in full and then 6 months at 50% so it is not such a shock the lose.
fallingfrog 10y ago
Funny how many of the big innovators, especially of that era had some kind of similar situation. They were all either independently wealthy landed gentry, or were basically stealing time from their employers. Einstein used to do something similar - he got all his patent office work done in the first couple hours and spent the rest of his time working on his pet project, relativity. I can only hope that someday I find myself in a situation where I can do something like that!
- naveen99 10y ago
  That's not stealing time from the employer. You have been brain washed into slave mentality. No one owns your time other than yourself. Employer pays for your help to do a task. There are lots of jobs with lots of down time.
  - fallingfrog 10y ago
    Well, I'm not a slave - I am not owned, but only rented. Every person is born not owning the place where they live, or the air they breathe - you have to pay rent on that stuff, and so you have to sell pieces of your life (the majority of your waking hours, in fact) to pay that rent. I'm glad I'm not a slave- the difference is that I can switch to another employer. I can't escape the system as a whole though, although I am trying. The favorite job I think I've ever had was working stacking lumber, because it didn't really require my attention, which meant that I could let my brain spin, I would write computer programs for typing up later, I would try to come up with music, and so forth. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me? If I express these thoughts people tend to tell me I'm whiny and entitled. I don't want for anything materially. I'm well fed. But I really feel deep down that I'm not free and I hate it and it just kills me every day.
  - dredmorbius 10y ago
    While I sympathise strongly with you on moral grounds, you might want to investigate your state or other jurisdiction's work-for-hire or equivalent statutes or case law. An employer often can, if not legally claim fruits of your labour and/or thought, be a major (and expensive) pain in the ass to your asserting ownership of them.

by kevhito 10y ago

hexane360 10y ago

Now THAT is how you incentivize workers to innovate.

SixSigma 10y ago
This is an incentive used in Lean manufacturing. If you save the company some money, they pay it instead to you as a bonus for a while. I have heard of 6 months in full and then 6 months at 50% so it is not such a shock the lose.

fallingfrog 10y ago

Funny how many of the big innovators, especially of that era had some kind of similar situation. They were all either independently wealthy landed gentry, or were basically stealing time from their employers. Einstein used to do something similar - he got all his patent office work done in the first couple hours and spent the rest of his time working on his pet project, relativity. I can only hope that someday I find myself in a situation where I can do something like that!

naveen99 10y ago
That's not stealing time from the employer. You have been brain washed into slave mentality. No one owns your time other than yourself. Employer pays for your help to do a task. There are lots of jobs with lots of down time.
- fallingfrog 10y ago
  Well, I'm not a slave - I am not owned, but only rented. Every person is born not owning the place where they live, or the air they breathe - you have to pay rent on that stuff, and so you have to sell pieces of your life (the majority of your waking hours, in fact) to pay that rent. I'm glad I'm not a slave- the difference is that I can switch to another employer. I can't escape the system as a whole though, although I am trying. The favorite job I think I've ever had was working stacking lumber, because it didn't really require my attention, which meant that I could let my brain spin, I would write computer programs for typing up later, I would try to come up with music, and so forth. Does anyone else feel this way, or is it just me? If I express these thoughts people tend to tell me I'm whiny and entitled. I don't want for anything materially. I'm well fed. But I really feel deep down that I'm not free and I hate it and it just kills me every day.
- dredmorbius 10y ago
  While I sympathise strongly with you on moral grounds, you might want to investigate your state or other jurisdiction's work-for-hire or equivalent statutes or case law. An employer often can, if not legally claim fruits of your labour and/or thought, be a major (and expensive) pain in the ass to your asserting ownership of them.