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I wonder if part of this is due to the ever-increasing push towards creating metrics for every aspect of human behavior. It’s not uncommon when applying for a

I wonder if part of this is due to the ever-increasing push towards creating metrics for every aspect of human behavior. It’s not uncommon when applying for a job that you take a “personality test” that measures not just technical knowledge, but also scores you on traditionally “soft” traits like assertiveness vs. agreeableness, with the hiring manager getting a readout of where you fall relative to the “ideal” range of that metric for the job you’re applying for. We recently had an open position, and I know for a fact that we turned down multiple perfectly qualified people with successful track records in this exact role because they didn’t pass a personality test they received after the interview process - the reasoning for giving them the test after was that this personality test is particularly expensive. The “solution” was not to ditch the expensive personality test, but to bite the bullet and give all the rest of the candidates the test beforehand. But my eyes were opened. I’m very worried that applying metrics to people, not performance, is creating a homogeneous culture that goes along to get along, resulting in silent acceptance of the situation described in the article.

cloogshicer 9y ago
I think you're on to something. In our current culture, the general consensus seems to be that everything can be measured, and what can't be measured doesn't exist.
Futurebot 9y ago
"Market forces are also intensified by intensifying assessment, a development especially visible on the labour market. Even within a contract period, an employee will be subject to continuous assessment. The use of specialised software in call centres has provided some extreme examples: the time employees spend at the toilet is measured in seconds: this information is used to pressure the employee to spend less time away from the terminal. Firms with contracts are also increasingly subject to continuous assessment procedures, made possible by information technology. For instance, courier services use tracking software and GPS technology, to allow customers to locate their packages in transit. This is a typical example of the new hyper-provision of business information, in neoliberal economies." From "Neoliberalism: origins, theory, definition" http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.html http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.htm...

cloogshicer 9y ago

I think you're on to something. In our current culture, the general consensus seems to be that everything can be measured, and what can't be measured doesn't exist.

Futurebot 9y ago

"Market forces are also intensified by intensifying assessment, a development especially visible on the labour market. Even within a contract period, an employee will be subject to continuous assessment. The use of specialised software in call centres has provided some extreme examples: the time employees spend at the toilet is measured in seconds: this information is used to pressure the employee to spend less time away from the terminal. Firms with contracts are also increasingly subject to continuous assessment procedures, made possible by information technology. For instance, courier services use tracking software and GPS technology, to allow customers to locate their packages in transit. This is a typical example of the new hyper-provision of business information, in neoliberal economies." From "Neoliberalism: origins, theory, definition" http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.html http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/neoliberalism.htm...