3 ms·

I agree the 80/20 is true of most organizations. But producing nothing and keep your job for life as long as you show up for work is not common in private indus

I agree the 80/20 is true of most organizations. But producing nothing and keep your job for life as long as you show up for work is not common in private industry. On the private side, I see developers get let go all the time for inadequate work.

carolinaCarl 8y ago
Hmmm, so 9 to get 3 workers, 16 for 4, 25 for 5, 100 gets 10, 10,000 gets 100... Yeah, I think that about fits. But on the other side of the table, having been forced to accepts seats at the kids table where competence is prohibited, there's this weird purgatory you're forced to cope with, like a Cassandra, being forced to nurse a Sick System. You want to take action, you certainly could intervene, take charge, and set things right, but any number of workplace taboos might be infringed upon or violated, in so doing. I've had to sit, and watch morons bumble about, stare at hamfisted facts of existence for years on end, look but not touch, and let perfectly reasonable things burn and go to waste because my hands were tied. Being competent enough to know better, skilled enough to intervene with success, and yet find myself in such a position where I am forbidden to do so is maddening. At some point a post-traumatic learned helplessness sets in, and you grow catatonic at the futility of struggling. If I could rewind my life, I'd love to locate the moment when I died inside. I might ballpark it back somewhere around... 2002? And yet reality still continues to unfold before these eyes. C'est la vie.
fra 8y ago
This is an oft repeated trope, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve personally worked at large private firms where incompetent folks coasted for decades. When management’s clout is measured in headcount, you get this (whether in the private or public sector)

3 ms·

I agree the 80/20 is true of most organizations. But producing nothing and keep your job for life as long as you show up for work is not common in private indus

by planteen 8y ago

carolinaCarl 8y ago
Hmmm, so 9 to get 3 workers, 16 for 4, 25 for 5, 100 gets 10, 10,000 gets 100... Yeah, I think that about fits. But on the other side of the table, having been forced to accepts seats at the kids table where competence is prohibited, there's this weird purgatory you're forced to cope with, like a Cassandra, being forced to nurse a Sick System. You want to take action, you certainly could intervene, take charge, and set things right, but any number of workplace taboos might be infringed upon or violated, in so doing. I've had to sit, and watch morons bumble about, stare at hamfisted facts of existence for years on end, look but not touch, and let perfectly reasonable things burn and go to waste because my hands were tied. Being competent enough to know better, skilled enough to intervene with success, and yet find myself in such a position where I am forbidden to do so is maddening. At some point a post-traumatic learned helplessness sets in, and you grow catatonic at the futility of struggling. If I could rewind my life, I'd love to locate the moment when I died inside. I might ballpark it back somewhere around... 2002? And yet reality still continues to unfold before these eyes. C'est la vie.
fra 8y ago
This is an oft repeated trope, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve personally worked at large private firms where incompetent folks coasted for decades. When management’s clout is measured in headcount, you get this (whether in the private or public sector)