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there's plenty more from construction to factory workers to professional drivers to nurse and doctors but the literature is far from recent and the findings hav

there's plenty more from construction to factory workers to professional drivers to nurse and doctors but the literature is far from recent and the findings have been stable enough so it's not being discussed that much. some concerns are specific of our industry, like efficiency from high level languages. some are more cross cutting, like communication efficacy. some are more universal, like optimal working hours per week. if you pick some common metric like that last one you'll see all fields share a great deal of the same issue and same research

nickthemagicman 7y ago
I agree! The research is available to how things should be run, what makes workers happiest, how much output is to be expected etc. etc. There's decades of tech industry research and experience, and centuries of worker productivity data and management research. However, there's a relentless drive in tech management to figure out how to squeeze more and more productivity out of the workers, all the while keeping them happy and maintaining quality products. No other industry has that. Nurses would absolutely revolt if you told them that you were putting them in an Agile system in Jira and all of their productivity was going to be tracked down to the hour and once a month they had to hit crunch time and work an 80 hour week to meet deadlines and they had to meet everyday and justify their existence at a standup. Nurses also have clearly defined goals, career stepping stones, licenses, specialties, etc. Tech has none of that. The ideal hire is a ROCKSTAR developer that knows everything and doesn't need any wasted time on training, and would love to work their life away. And management keeps trying to figure out how to make devs more and more like this.
- LoSboccacc 7y ago
  > However, there's a relentless drive in tech management to figure out how to squeeze more and more productivity out of the workers, all the while keeping them happy and maintaining quality products. "Behavior arising from class discontent, such as union activity, is derided as destructive and damaging. An appeal is made for “intelligent labor leaders to advocate efficiency in production to make possible the lowering of costs and prices” (Spriegel, 1947: 590). Even as early as 1928, an author argues that industry has moved past conflict and entered a period of “cooperative policies” (Anderson, 1928: 15), where harmony between workers and employers can reign." > The ideal hire is a ROCKSTAR developer that knows everything and doesn't need any wasted time on training, and would love to work their life away. "Frequently, the word “worker” is preceded by adjectives of various types, modifying the qualities and attributes of the person to whom they refer and thus judging that person to be “good” or “bad.” Spriegel (1947: 326) identifies “first class workers” in contrast to “substandard workers.” Anderson (1928: 320) talks about “indifferent workers and slackers” and “unintelligent workers” compared to “ambitious workers” (Anderson, 1928: 434). Folts (1938: 311) has “slow,” “medium,” and “superior workmen.” Balder - ston and colleagues (1937: 245) discuss the importance of “mentally alert” workers. " https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271722189_2013_Construction_Work_Evolving_Discourses_of_the_Worker_in_Management_Textbooks_1920s_to_the_First_Decade_of_the_21st https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271722189_2013_Cons...

nickthemagicman 7y ago

I agree! The research is available to how things should be run, what makes workers happiest, how much output is to be expected etc. etc. There's decades of tech industry research and experience, and centuries of worker productivity data and management research. However, there's a relentless drive in tech management to figure out how to squeeze more and more productivity out of the workers, all the while keeping them happy and maintaining quality products. No other industry has that. Nurses would absolutely revolt if you told them that you were putting them in an Agile system in Jira and all of their productivity was going to be tracked down to the hour and once a month they had to hit crunch time and work an 80 hour week to meet deadlines and they had to meet everyday and justify their existence at a standup. Nurses also have clearly defined goals, career stepping stones, licenses, specialties, etc. Tech has none of that. The ideal hire is a ROCKSTAR developer that knows everything and doesn't need any wasted time on training, and would love to work their life away. And management keeps trying to figure out how to make devs more and more like this.

LoSboccacc 7y ago
> However, there's a relentless drive in tech management to figure out how to squeeze more and more productivity out of the workers, all the while keeping them happy and maintaining quality products. "Behavior arising from class discontent, such as union activity, is derided as destructive and damaging. An appeal is made for “intelligent labor leaders to advocate efficiency in production to make possible the lowering of costs and prices” (Spriegel, 1947: 590). Even as early as 1928, an author argues that industry has moved past conflict and entered a period of “cooperative policies” (Anderson, 1928: 15), where harmony between workers and employers can reign." > The ideal hire is a ROCKSTAR developer that knows everything and doesn't need any wasted time on training, and would love to work their life away. "Frequently, the word “worker” is preceded by adjectives of various types, modifying the qualities and attributes of the person to whom they refer and thus judging that person to be “good” or “bad.” Spriegel (1947: 326) identifies “first class workers” in contrast to “substandard workers.” Anderson (1928: 320) talks about “indifferent workers and slackers” and “unintelligent workers” compared to “ambitious workers” (Anderson, 1928: 434). Folts (1938: 311) has “slow,” “medium,” and “superior workmen.” Balder - ston and colleagues (1937: 245) discuss the importance of “mentally alert” workers. " https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271722189_2013_Construction_Work_Evolving_Discourses_of_the_Worker_in_Management_Textbooks_1920s_to_the_First_Decade_of_the_21st https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271722189_2013_Cons...