5 ms·

If it's true that "Slack represents operational capacity sacrificed in the interests of long-term health", then who exactly is the target audience of this artic

by feoren 6y ago

If it's true that "Slack represents operational capacity sacrificed in the interests of long-term health", then who exactly is the target audience of this article? Corporations have not cared about "long-term health" since the 80s. CEOs and CXOs and CYOs and Senior Vice Presidents play musical chairs both within and between companies in a neo-feudalistic Game-of-Thrones-style competition for titles, where companies and their various divisions are just pieces. Decision-making happens via primarily the Principal Agent Problem and is focused on what makes me, personally, look the best and give me the best chance of gaining a better Title in the next quarter. Eating up all available slack is one of the more mundane ways to cannibalize the company for your own benefit. Long-term health of the company? Who cares!?

carbonguy 6y ago
> Who exactly is the target audience of this article? If I had to guess, it would probably be most useful for those companies that have not yet reached the stage where they can serve as the venue for the executive-musical-chairs stage of management you describe. My assumption is that when the company is small enough, that which "makes me look the best" and that which "is in the long term interests of the company" are probably mostly aligned due to the higher visibility of those early executives and managers. Not that this stops the ladder-climbers, of course - it's just more obvious when they personally contribute to wrecking a company if the company is small, which presumably the personal-brand-conscious executive would try to avoid. > Eating up all available slack is one of the more mundane ways to cannibalize the company for your own benefit. Otherwise known as "maximizing shareholder value."
- diragon 6y ago
  > > Eating up all available slack is one of the more mundane ways to cannibalize the company for your own benefit. > Otherwise known as "maximizing shareholder value." It can also be done by the employees by slacking off on surplus.
  - carbonguy 6y ago
    > It can also be done by the employees by slacking off on surplus. Can't argue with that, given that we're having this conversation while I, at least, am on the clock. However, I suspect my bosses have a much greater capacity to benefit from cannibalizing the company than I do.
mmcgaha 6y ago
I work for a company that has been in the same family for over one hundred years. The CEO started work there at sixteen and has worked in every department in the company. I am not saying that he wants to see people sitting around on his dollar, but he staffs appropriately and genuinely cares about the long-term health of his company and employees. Companies like this exist all over the country; they are not glamorous jobs but they are great places to work.
- feoren 6y ago
  I'm glad to hear you found it. That's the kind of company I would want to work for; even one I would want to start! Oh, excuse me, I apologize: I almost said the taboo "lifestyle business" words! Seriously though they sound like a gem.
- enraged_camel 6y ago
  For every well-run family-owned business like this, there are a dozen that are hell holes full of nepotism and corruption. That is to say, I think you're pretty lucky to have found one of the rare good ones.
  - scruple 6y ago
    I've worked for one and consulted for another. Both were as you describe. The CEO was the grandson or son of the original founder and were little tyrannical despots.
    - hunter-gatherer 6y ago
      I wonder if you work with my mother... But seriously. She works for a guy who over his career has made a net-worth of ~50 million (deals in real estate). He has always kept his employee's salaries just above minimum wage, kept the employee numbers down to avoid having to dish out benefits, and so on... Nice guy, but basically made his wealth by treating him employees like pseudo-slaves.
- spoonjim 6y ago
Florin_Andrei 6y ago
I think the point of the article is this: If people are like CPUs - if all CPUs are busy 100% all the time, then latency, as we all know, sucks, and processes may crash occasionally. You want decent latency, and avoid crashes, then keep the CPU usage below the ceiling level.
ZephyrBlu 6y ago
What's a CYO? I've never seen that used in relation to the c-suite before.
- tremon 6y ago
  X and Y are used as distinct variables here.
- FearNotDaniel 6y ago
  Cover Your Orifice?

by feoren 6y ago

carbonguy 6y ago

> Who exactly is the target audience of this article? If I had to guess, it would probably be most useful for those companies that have not yet reached the stage where they can serve as the venue for the executive-musical-chairs stage of management you describe. My assumption is that when the company is small enough, that which "makes me look the best" and that which "is in the long term interests of the company" are probably mostly aligned due to the higher visibility of those early executives and managers. Not that this stops the ladder-climbers, of course - it's just more obvious when they personally contribute to wrecking a company if the company is small, which presumably the personal-brand-conscious executive would try to avoid. > Eating up all available slack is one of the more mundane ways to cannibalize the company for your own benefit. Otherwise known as "maximizing shareholder value."

diragon 6y ago
> > Eating up all available slack is one of the more mundane ways to cannibalize the company for your own benefit. > Otherwise known as "maximizing shareholder value." It can also be done by the employees by slacking off on surplus.
- carbonguy 6y ago
  > It can also be done by the employees by slacking off on surplus. Can't argue with that, given that we're having this conversation while I, at least, am on the clock. However, I suspect my bosses have a much greater capacity to benefit from cannibalizing the company than I do.

mmcgaha 6y ago

I work for a company that has been in the same family for over one hundred years. The CEO started work there at sixteen and has worked in every department in the company. I am not saying that he wants to see people sitting around on his dollar, but he staffs appropriately and genuinely cares about the long-term health of his company and employees. Companies like this exist all over the country; they are not glamorous jobs but they are great places to work.

feoren 6y ago
I'm glad to hear you found it. That's the kind of company I would want to work for; even one I would want to start! Oh, excuse me, I apologize: I almost said the taboo "lifestyle business" words! Seriously though they sound like a gem.
enraged_camel 6y ago
For every well-run family-owned business like this, there are a dozen that are hell holes full of nepotism and corruption. That is to say, I think you're pretty lucky to have found one of the rare good ones.
- scruple 6y ago
  I've worked for one and consulted for another. Both were as you describe. The CEO was the grandson or son of the original founder and were little tyrannical despots.
  - hunter-gatherer 6y ago
    I wonder if you work with my mother... But seriously. She works for a guy who over his career has made a net-worth of ~50 million (deals in real estate). He has always kept his employee's salaries just above minimum wage, kept the employee numbers down to avoid having to dish out benefits, and so on... Nice guy, but basically made his wealth by treating him employees like pseudo-slaves.
spoonjim 6y ago

Florin_Andrei 6y ago

I think the point of the article is this: If people are like CPUs - if all CPUs are busy 100% all the time, then latency, as we all know, sucks, and processes may crash occasionally. You want decent latency, and avoid crashes, then keep the CPU usage below the ceiling level.

ZephyrBlu 6y ago

What's a CYO? I've never seen that used in relation to the c-suite before.

tremon 6y ago
X and Y are used as distinct variables here.
FearNotDaniel 6y ago
Cover Your Orifice?