3 ms·

I'm curious, what exactly do you mean with sluggish in Switzerland (Zurich?) in comparison to which country? What I've experienced there is a conscientious, hig

by kharak 8y ago

I'm curious, what exactly do you mean with sluggish in Switzerland (Zurich?) in comparison to which country? What I've experienced there is a conscientious, highly skilled workforce. Just small in numbers.

coldtea 8y ago
He compares it to the busywork, work-till-11 including weekends, BS culture most of us live in -- e.g. what many American managers cherish and measure things by.
- milesvp 8y ago
  I wish more people would realize that if you're busy all the time, you're almost by definition not working on the most important thing you could be. If you're busy it can be hard to not focus on the task at hand, which means often the big picture is lost. If you're busy, it can be really hard to explore alternatives, especially since most will be a waste of time. And when you're busy, it can be really hard to take the time to play (though this is possibly a flip side to exploring), which can be uniquely valuable. Couple this with the engineering concept that as a system approaches 100% utilization, catastrophic failure becomes increasingly more likely, and people who are always busy may never be able to perform at their highest level. Once you fall behind, which is increasingly likely when trying to maximize short term output, it can be really hard to justify anything else. And if, god forbid, you start losing sleep, then you're going to be even more stupid, which will make any kind of catching up impossible.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >Couple this with the engineering concept that as a system approaches 100% utilization, catastrophic failure becomes increasingly more likely Nobody cares for that, since there's nothing really critical behind most job positions -- just cogs in a bigger wheel. In areas where this matters (e.g. people die), engineers are treated differently (e.g. at NASA).

3 ms·

I'm curious, what exactly do you mean with sluggish in Switzerland (Zurich?) in comparison to which country? What I've experienced there is a conscientious, hig

by kharak 8y ago

coldtea 8y ago
He compares it to the busywork, work-till-11 including weekends, BS culture most of us live in -- e.g. what many American managers cherish and measure things by.
- milesvp 8y ago
  I wish more people would realize that if you're busy all the time, you're almost by definition not working on the most important thing you could be. If you're busy it can be hard to not focus on the task at hand, which means often the big picture is lost. If you're busy, it can be really hard to explore alternatives, especially since most will be a waste of time. And when you're busy, it can be really hard to take the time to play (though this is possibly a flip side to exploring), which can be uniquely valuable. Couple this with the engineering concept that as a system approaches 100% utilization, catastrophic failure becomes increasingly more likely, and people who are always busy may never be able to perform at their highest level. Once you fall behind, which is increasingly likely when trying to maximize short term output, it can be really hard to justify anything else. And if, god forbid, you start losing sleep, then you're going to be even more stupid, which will make any kind of catching up impossible.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >Couple this with the engineering concept that as a system approaches 100% utilization, catastrophic failure becomes increasingly more likely Nobody cares for that, since there's nothing really critical behind most job positions -- just cogs in a bigger wheel. In areas where this matters (e.g. people die), engineers are treated differently (e.g. at NASA).