3 ms·

I think this is a bit harsh. There has been a lot of research on these issues, and the proposal of a 6-hour workday is pretty common among socialist parties in

I think this is a bit harsh. There has been a lot of research on these issues, and the proposal of a 6-hour workday is pretty common among socialist parties in the Scandinavian countries, at least. It's not an unknown (or particularly novel) proposition. I'm not the original poster, but I commented above my assent-- at my last start-up, we went with the traditional 8-hour day, but at my new one (where I am just beginning to hire people) I'll be using a 6-hour day (at the same salaries I used to pay people for 8.) Based on my practical experience in hiring and managing dozens of people at my last company, I'm making this decision-- I'll let you know how it turns out, once the data is in.

swombat 18y ago
I'm not really criticising the idea itself here, more its presentation and backing. I'm a big fan of ROWE (Result Oriented Work Environment). In my start-up we don't have any such thing as working hours, and we don't intend to, ever, if we can help it. Ultimately, when we hire someone, we're not hiring them to sit on a chair for a certain time, I'm hiring them so they can do amazing stuff. If they can do the amazing stuff in half an hour before breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing computer games, all the better. Our start-up is still very small, but this is working for us at the moment. This kind of system, in our case, is not the result of idle day-dreaming, however, but of about 15 years' worth of combined experiences working for other companies and seeing what works and what doesn't, and reading masses of literature on the subject. That makes it very different from simply saying "Oh, I think I'd work just as well with fewer working hours, and hey, it might even give some benefits" - which is just idle chatter and not worthy of an article, imho.
- ph0rque 18y ago
  So, I should have kept my thoughts to myself for another 15 years, until I do intensive research on the idea and see what works and what doesn't? Nobody forced you to read the article.
  - swombat 18y ago
    No, 15 years is not necessary, but you should at least gain some experience in the topic before speaking on it.
  - swombat 18y ago
    Btw, if you want a better system, go read up on ROWE: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=eVj&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Result+Oriented+Work+Environment&spell=1 http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&#3...
    - alabut 18y ago
      Totally agree with the ROWE sentiment - I'm reading the book now and the stories from employees at Best Buy's corporate headquarters is just as inspiring as the ideas themselves. If you're in a small enough team to set work culture, then get rid of tracking hours, measure only results and milestones instead.
- iron_ball 18y ago
  The vast majority of companies, particularly ones that would like to make as much money as possible, will say "If they can do the amazing stuff in half an hour before breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing computer games, they can do the amazing stuff in half and hour before breakfast and then spend an eight-hour day doing MORE amazing stuff." Any other proposition will always be the province of idealists, philanthropists, and "lifestyle businesses."

swombat 18y ago

I'm not really criticising the idea itself here, more its presentation and backing. I'm a big fan of ROWE (Result Oriented Work Environment). In my start-up we don't have any such thing as working hours, and we don't intend to, ever, if we can help it. Ultimately, when we hire someone, we're not hiring them to sit on a chair for a certain time, I'm hiring them so they can do amazing stuff. If they can do the amazing stuff in half an hour before breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing computer games, all the better. Our start-up is still very small, but this is working for us at the moment. This kind of system, in our case, is not the result of idle day-dreaming, however, but of about 15 years' worth of combined experiences working for other companies and seeing what works and what doesn't, and reading masses of literature on the subject. That makes it very different from simply saying "Oh, I think I'd work just as well with fewer working hours, and hey, it might even give some benefits" - which is just idle chatter and not worthy of an article, imho.

ph0rque 18y ago
So, I should have kept my thoughts to myself for another 15 years, until I do intensive research on the idea and see what works and what doesn't? Nobody forced you to read the article.
- swombat 18y ago
  No, 15 years is not necessary, but you should at least gain some experience in the topic before speaking on it.
- swombat 18y ago
  Btw, if you want a better system, go read up on ROWE: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&hs=eVj&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Result+Oriented+Work+Environment&spell=1 http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&#3...
  - alabut 18y ago
    Totally agree with the ROWE sentiment - I'm reading the book now and the stories from employees at Best Buy's corporate headquarters is just as inspiring as the ideas themselves. If you're in a small enough team to set work culture, then get rid of tracking hours, measure only results and milestones instead.
iron_ball 18y ago
The vast majority of companies, particularly ones that would like to make as much money as possible, will say "If they can do the amazing stuff in half an hour before breakfast and spend the rest of the day playing computer games, they can do the amazing stuff in half and hour before breakfast and then spend an eight-hour day doing MORE amazing stuff." Any other proposition will always be the province of idealists, philanthropists, and "lifestyle businesses."