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I see where the author is coming from but I think there’s a much more insidious problem that’s “destroying America”. “Fake Work” managers are incompetent. But

I see where the author is coming from but I think there’s a much more insidious problem that’s “destroying America”. “Fake Work” managers are incompetent. But in my time consulting I much preferred the “fake work” manager who was just trying to hide the fact that he was doing nothing to the manager who was just as incompetent but who thought he was a genius and wanted a say in every decision. I’ve dealt with… = Managers who insisted they needed a $30,000 accounting package because they “only wanted the best” and ended up foisting layers of complexity onto a company that would have gotten by on Peachtree. = Managers who arbitrarily decided to upend a project because of a positive article they read in the NY Times or WSJ. = Managers who insisted I get all my info from them and not their underlings (even though it was clear they had no idea what was actually going on and their underlings did). And so on…Much of this behavior ended up putting money in my pocket as a consultant but it was unquestionably destructive to the companies that employed these people.

sabat 16y ago
When I worked at Oracle I saw a good amount of this -- people whose jobs seemed to be nothing but stirring up trouble and looking busy while accomplishing little or nothing. Oracle could afford that, but no company should afford it. That's why I prefer somewhat smaller companies and startups -- you cannot get away with it. I'm not a "thou must work hard for its own sake" Puritan-ethic kind of guy, not at all. But I like actually accomplishing things, like many others here, and so the "corporate welfare" types bother me, and tend to get in the way. [edit]: During my tenure at Oracle, I once caught wind of a Blue Ribbon Panel whose mission it was to appoint members to a Task Force, and the mission of the Task Force was to appoint members of a Tiger Team. Sounds like it's right out of Office Space, but it was real life.
- clistctrl 16y ago
  This is sadly hilarious, my time working at a fortune 500 company has allowed me to see this. Looking back it seemed like of the people who were on top they got to where they were by making it SEEM like they added tremendous value to the company, when it was more of an illusion. The people who ended up making those projects work ended up lower in the ladder (i guess spending too much time being productive?)
startupsam77 16y ago
I like the way you analyzed and broke down the specifics for the causes behind fake work. This puts a lot on the managers but I think it is a systematic problem from the top down and bottom up. BTW this was featured today on Lifehacker.com http://lifehacker.com/5694502/do-you-feel-like-youre-doing-fake-work http://lifehacker.com/5694502/do-you-feel-like-youre-doing-f...

sabat 16y ago

When I worked at Oracle I saw a good amount of this -- people whose jobs seemed to be nothing but stirring up trouble and looking busy while accomplishing little or nothing. Oracle could afford that, but no company should afford it. That's why I prefer somewhat smaller companies and startups -- you cannot get away with it. I'm not a "thou must work hard for its own sake" Puritan-ethic kind of guy, not at all. But I like actually accomplishing things, like many others here, and so the "corporate welfare" types bother me, and tend to get in the way. [edit]: During my tenure at Oracle, I once caught wind of a Blue Ribbon Panel whose mission it was to appoint members to a Task Force, and the mission of the Task Force was to appoint members of a Tiger Team. Sounds like it's right out of Office Space, but it was real life.

clistctrl 16y ago
This is sadly hilarious, my time working at a fortune 500 company has allowed me to see this. Looking back it seemed like of the people who were on top they got to where they were by making it SEEM like they added tremendous value to the company, when it was more of an illusion. The people who ended up making those projects work ended up lower in the ladder (i guess spending too much time being productive?)

startupsam77 16y ago

I like the way you analyzed and broke down the specifics for the causes behind fake work. This puts a lot on the managers but I think it is a systematic problem from the top down and bottom up. BTW this was featured today on Lifehacker.com http://lifehacker.com/5694502/do-you-feel-like-youre-doing-fake-work http://lifehacker.com/5694502/do-you-feel-like-youre-doing-f...