4 ms·
> Anyone who walks through the square, which is nearly impossible to avoid, must give a high five to others nearby, the sign declares. i wonder what the functi
by exit 16y ago
> Anyone who walks through the square, which is nearly impossible to avoid, must give a high five to others nearby, the sign declares.
i wonder what the function of this is. to me it's just incredibly oppressive and motivates passive aggressiveness. but maybe the idea is precisely to exclude people like me.
- rjurney 16y agoWould you care to clarify how shenanigans can be oppressive? The signs are extremely formal, listing many regulations to the High Five Incentive Program. The zone is huge and unavoidable. The universal reaction is laughter.
- pvdm 16y agoIt is oppressive just like Hawaiian shirt days are oppressive. Pasted-up fake smiles demotivates.
- rjurney 16y agoThese smiles aren't fake. People are excited every day at LinkedIn, or the high five program would suck.
- BrentRitterbeck 16y agorjurney, just imagine if you were in an environment that was a little fun every now and then. Wouldn't that be absolutely terrible? I mean all the high-fives and smiles--that would be downright awful!
- exit 16y agoit really would be awful. look up compulsory positive thinking in communist societies.
- BrentRitterbeck 16y agoThis is taking an argument to the extreme. Placing a red box on the floor does not suddenly turn the whole place into North Korea.
- cema 16y agoOf course it does not turn it into North Korea. For one thing, leaving North Korea is difficult, changing jobs is not. And nobody is starving. But this "have fun! have fun!" attitude is not healthy at all. As others mentioned, it triggers unhealthy psychological mechanisms. (Or, said simply: raises the bullshit meter.)
- rjurney 16y agoWhen people see the zone for the first time, they laugh. People like funny things. People at LinkedIn like to laugh. Laughing is not compulsory, just incredibly common - and I have to say it sure feels healthy.
- ams6110 16y agoWhat makes me laugh is the stuff that people post on their LinkedIn pages. I've never seen so much peacock strutting anywhere.
- BrentRitterbeck 16y agoIt's a suggestion. I'm fairly confident they would not get away with firing someone who did not give a high-five after walking through the box. That would never hold up in court. Some people overreact to rather benign issues.
- pbrane 16y agoI truly feel sorry for people who have this little sense of humor, and am glad that we haven't had much of that reaction (e.g. taking at all, even mildly seriously) to the signs and The Zone. Taking the High Five Zone seriously is like taking seriously a sign in the mens bathroom proclaiming "Please follow the International Choice of Urinal Protocol" (c.f. http://blog.xkcd.com/2009/09/02/urinal-protocol-vulnerability/ http://blog.xkcd.com/2009/09/02/urinal-protocol-vulnerabilit... ).
- strlen 16y agoPlenty of people have disregarded the sign (some having no clue it's even there), it's in no way compulsory. It's an attempt at humour, mocking rules and signs in general. On the other hand, I've seen far more odious use of company ski trips, "team building activities" and the like.