3 ms·

Understanding the system of work in which you exist. Your company, your industry, your society. W. Edwards Deming said over and over again that the system in w

Understanding the system of work in which you exist. Your company, your industry, your society. W. Edwards Deming said over and over again that the system in which an employee works puts a ceiling on how much output they can produce. But you should take it a step further than just trying to maximize your output, and instead understand how your work creates value for your boss, your company, for society. Productivity is not a measure of how much you can output, it's a measure of how much value you can create, or how much closer you can come to achieving your goals. If you can come in, spend five minutes and change the label on one button and increase sales 200%, you've been much more effective than if you spend years optimizing the performance of a component that isn't impacting overall performance of the system.

noduerme 5y ago
Isn't the measure of that how much you get paid? If we assume you get paid $100 to make a button, I think OP's question is how to do that in 1 minute instead of 10 minutes. You know, so you have 9 extra minutes to watch youtube.
- danabrams 5y ago
  The measure of how much value YOU generate for YOURSELF is how much you get paid. But generally, if you can generate a lot of value for the company, and demonstrate it, you will go far, and you will make much more money, especially if you can do it consistently and threaten to leave. Doing a jira ticket in 20 minutes instead of 2 hours, then spending the extra time watching youtube is fine, but how about becoming a manager, making 3x as much money, and spending 100% of your time watching youtube? Or better yet, watching movies in first class on the plane to the "strategic conference" in Hawaii.
  - noduerme 5y ago
    ;) heh. I can't relate because I've been freelance since 2001, but I do remember how much I hated the fact that my bosses bought new cars and took trips and took credit for my work while I was making $8.50/hr as a junior webmonkey. Guess I never saw the future in it. But if I knew I'd be flying first class now, maybe I would reconsider... In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it?
    - otoburb 5y ago
      >>In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it? Yes, but the caveat is that most people don't know how to calculate their worth relative to the organization(s) they work with/for, and of those that do, the majority probably don't know how to negotiate/ask.
    - beaconstudios 5y ago
      > In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it? No - effectively all employees are paid less than their value to the company. This is where profit comes from.

noduerme 5y ago

Isn't the measure of that how much you get paid? If we assume you get paid $100 to make a button, I think OP's question is how to do that in 1 minute instead of 10 minutes. You know, so you have 9 extra minutes to watch youtube.

danabrams 5y ago
The measure of how much value YOU generate for YOURSELF is how much you get paid. But generally, if you can generate a lot of value for the company, and demonstrate it, you will go far, and you will make much more money, especially if you can do it consistently and threaten to leave. Doing a jira ticket in 20 minutes instead of 2 hours, then spending the extra time watching youtube is fine, but how about becoming a manager, making 3x as much money, and spending 100% of your time watching youtube? Or better yet, watching movies in first class on the plane to the "strategic conference" in Hawaii.
- noduerme 5y ago
  ;) heh. I can't relate because I've been freelance since 2001, but I do remember how much I hated the fact that my bosses bought new cars and took trips and took credit for my work while I was making $8.50/hr as a junior webmonkey. Guess I never saw the future in it. But if I knew I'd be flying first class now, maybe I would reconsider... In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it?
  - otoburb 5y ago
    >>In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it? Yes, but the caveat is that most people don't know how to calculate their worth relative to the organization(s) they work with/for, and of those that do, the majority probably don't know how to negotiate/ask.
  - beaconstudios 5y ago
    > In all seriousness, though, aren't people mostly paid what they're worth if they know how to demand it? No - effectively all employees are paid less than their value to the company. This is where profit comes from.