3 ms·

Seems like in IT the spread of different process systems is exactly this. To reduce each job to a set of functions that people with similar levels of training c

Seems like in IT the spread of different process systems is exactly this. To reduce each job to a set of functions that people with similar levels of training can do the job at the same level of output, interchangeably. So we're left with jobs that are 90% following inane process and 10% producing something useful. All to make sure if we quit, we can be replaced in a few days.

LanceH 10y ago
Where do you sit? Let's go to lunch today.
colechristensen 10y ago
Seems like if the tedious portion of the job reaches such a high proportion it's significant lack of automation.
wpietri 10y ago
The folks at Toyota talk about two different kinds of process: controlling and supportive. Controlling is that sort of BS. And I had seen it so much early in my career that I thought that's all there was. Supportive process is bottom up, done to improve consistency and reliability. E.g., by my door I have checklists for going running and swimming, because I was tired of going out to exercise and realizing I had forgotten something. I say this because I think process can be amazingly helpful if it's done bottom up, if the workers are the ones who design and improve it. But that only happens if managers have another thing that Toyota talks a lot about: "respect for people" [1]. That's what I think is really missing in these metrics-driven, people-are-cogs schemes. [1] https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=755 https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=755
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Another thing is that "workers in the decision loop" reeks of socialism. Toyota do not have that kind of response though, as being Japanese in origin the leadership have a bit of Giri left in their thinking. In some European nations after WW2 it was not uncommon to have enough worker representatives in the board room that they could affect a vote. These days its been stripped down to a token union man that has little to no chance of affecting the decisions.
  - jgmjgm 10y ago
    German corporations do quite well with workers represented on the boards by law. There are lots of ways to organize a capitalist system.

LanceH 10y ago

Where do you sit? Let's go to lunch today.

colechristensen 10y ago

Seems like if the tedious portion of the job reaches such a high proportion it's significant lack of automation.

wpietri 10y ago

The folks at Toyota talk about two different kinds of process: controlling and supportive. Controlling is that sort of BS. And I had seen it so much early in my career that I thought that's all there was. Supportive process is bottom up, done to improve consistency and reliability. E.g., by my door I have checklists for going running and swimming, because I was tired of going out to exercise and realizing I had forgotten something. I say this because I think process can be amazingly helpful if it's done bottom up, if the workers are the ones who design and improve it. But that only happens if managers have another thing that Toyota talks a lot about: "respect for people" [1]. That's what I think is really missing in these metrics-driven, people-are-cogs schemes. [1] https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=755 https://www.lean.org/womack/DisplayObject.cfm?o=755

digi_owl 10y ago
Another thing is that "workers in the decision loop" reeks of socialism. Toyota do not have that kind of response though, as being Japanese in origin the leadership have a bit of Giri left in their thinking. In some European nations after WW2 it was not uncommon to have enough worker representatives in the board room that they could affect a vote. These days its been stripped down to a token union man that has little to no chance of affecting the decisions.
- jgmjgm 10y ago
  German corporations do quite well with workers represented on the boards by law. There are lots of ways to organize a capitalist system.