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In the comments on the original blog post, Jason Fried says: "Because we’re making the point that this payout should not be expected. You should not be banking
by techiferous 15y ago
In the comments on the original blog post, Jason Fried says:
"Because we’re making the point that this payout should not be expected. You should not be banking on this. It’s not an incentive to work at 37signals. It’s purely a bonus."
- JoeAltmaier 15y agoA bonus is an incentive. And this one is defined as 1) never going to be paid, and 2) not legally binding in any case. The whole idea is doubletalk; that's my point. Its a non-incentive incentive. Its a non-paying insurance policy.
- techiferous 15y agoAn incentive is a device to motivate employees. This is not what they are trying to do. They did not start with the problem, "How can we motivate our employees?" Incentive to work better is not the only motivation that an employer may have to share money with an employee. Generosity is another motivation, for example. Only Jason knows his true motivations, but if he says it's not an incentive, there is nothing inconsistent or logically wrong with that.
- JoeAltmaier 15y agoOk, then if he's so generous, why not quit screwing around and just share equity? Then, if a loyal employee leaves after 5 years they own something of what they built. If they get bought out the loyal employees would have some legal leverage to profit by the buyout. Instead they have a promise of a bonus they're never going to get (by his own declaration), and have to start wondering what he's playing around at. Its the opposite of generosity - "its all mine, but maybe some indefinite share might go to you if somebody else later feels like it, but I'm going to try hard so that never happens" This non-bonus bonus plan seems to be lazy, ineffective and insincere.