5 ms·

Remote work at scale doesn't work well in India due to general distrust.

sokoloff 4y ago
Is America known for our deep and abiding inherent trust of our fellow countrymen? (I don’t believe we’re known for that, yet remote working works here, at least to a very large degree.)
- frostburg 4y ago
  I'm always suspicious of post-hoc cultural explanations, but I think that the argument would be that you don't trust other americans to not shoot you, but you generally trust them to work.
  - pyinstallwoes 4y ago
    This is a terrible analogy.
    - frostburg 4y ago
      Yes, hence me stating that I don't actually believe in that line of explanation.
  - aksss 4y ago
    Wow, I would say the reverse insomuch as I don’t trust the majority of my fellow random Americans, without adequate oversight, to work a) hard and b) with detailed compliance to process and procedure. I absolutely trust the majority of my fellow random Americans to not shoot me, and I live in a state with constitutional concealed carry and a city where it’s not abnormal to see open carry.
  - xen2xen1 4y ago
    I live in a small town in a state where you don't even need a gun permit, guns of all kinds are very popular, and I have no fear of being shot. That may have only been a cheap side part to of your comment, but, dang.
    - yao420 4y ago
      On the other hand I’m in Texas and after passing the open carry we’ve seen a huge rise in gun violence related to road rage. The H‑E‑B grocery store near me had murder happen because someone ‘stole’ the parking of an angry person with a gun. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/road-rage-shootings-guns-texas.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/r...
  - mahastore 4y ago
    is this supposed to be funny?
- endominus 4y ago
  In comparison to some other places I've been to, yes, absolutely. There is a much, much greater assumption in the US that the person you're talking to is actually being honest with you than there is in some other countries. As an example, take the "dishonest used car salesman" stock character - in many other places, that is the default expected behavior of anyone selling you anything. Like going to a bazaar; the price you get will be an absolute rip-off, and you are expected to know this and argue with the store owner. That lack of trust feeds into all levels of a society. Americans might have some high-level trust issues regarding political differences, but nothing like the bone-deep understanding that everyone outside of your family or tribe is actively and constantly trying to deceive, manipulate, and take advantage of you that people who grew up in real low-trust societies have ingrained in themselves. (exceptions might be people growing up in low-trust enclaves within the greater US society - as I understand it, this is part of the reason why some inner city communities struggle to cohere and advocate for themselves effectively, under the term "crabs in a bucket syndrome"). Stuff like the Theranos revelations or that a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program is shocking to most Americans; it's par for the course in some of the places I've lived.
  - imbnwa 4y ago
    "Stuff like the Theranos revelations or that a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program is shocking to most Americans; it's par for the course in some of the places I've lived." I've only been in this industry six years at your average Java Spring SCRUM shop but I also find myself shocking at the claim 'a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program', like what do we mean when this gets said?
    - sokoloff 4y ago
      The applicant who can’t program often (hopefully/ideally) stays an applicant for a long time and many applications. The applicant who can is more likely to be hired. It’s no surprise that the average applicant’s skills are relatively weak.
      - 4y ago
- searchableguy 4y ago
  I don't have any insight on the culture side of US and I will refrain from making any conclusions. So let's take culture aside, you have to consider power imbalance between workers in both of those countries. In India, 10 people will line up to take your job at a moment's notice regardless of the city and conditions. Management won't begrudgingly agree to remote work if they have options and distrust workers (usually the case here).
- gomox 4y ago
  When compared to most western cultures other than Saxons and Scandinavians, I would say yes, very much so.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  Generally speaking (though that is changing somewhat) American's are known to be Workaolics, taking fewer vacation days, working more hours, etc etc etc. I dont know about trust per say, but there is I think more of social resistance to co-workers who would be perceived as "not pulling their weight", which I think would contribute to work from home success here That said I can not speak to the culture in India so it may be the same there, no idea

Is America known for our deep and abiding inherent trust of our fellow countrymen? (I don’t believe we’re known for that, yet remote working works here, at least to a very large degree.)

frostburg 4y ago
I'm always suspicious of post-hoc cultural explanations, but I think that the argument would be that you don't trust other americans to not shoot you, but you generally trust them to work.
- pyinstallwoes 4y ago
  This is a terrible analogy.
  - frostburg 4y ago
    Yes, hence me stating that I don't actually believe in that line of explanation.
- aksss 4y ago
  Wow, I would say the reverse insomuch as I don’t trust the majority of my fellow random Americans, without adequate oversight, to work a) hard and b) with detailed compliance to process and procedure. I absolutely trust the majority of my fellow random Americans to not shoot me, and I live in a state with constitutional concealed carry and a city where it’s not abnormal to see open carry.
- xen2xen1 4y ago
  I live in a small town in a state where you don't even need a gun permit, guns of all kinds are very popular, and I have no fear of being shot. That may have only been a cheap side part to of your comment, but, dang.
  - yao420 4y ago
    On the other hand I’m in Texas and after passing the open carry we’ve seen a huge rise in gun violence related to road rage. The H‑E‑B grocery store near me had murder happen because someone ‘stole’ the parking of an angry person with a gun. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/road-rage-shootings-guns-texas.amp.html https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2022/04/12/us/r...
- mahastore 4y ago
  is this supposed to be funny?
endominus 4y ago
In comparison to some other places I've been to, yes, absolutely. There is a much, much greater assumption in the US that the person you're talking to is actually being honest with you than there is in some other countries. As an example, take the "dishonest used car salesman" stock character - in many other places, that is the default expected behavior of anyone selling you anything. Like going to a bazaar; the price you get will be an absolute rip-off, and you are expected to know this and argue with the store owner. That lack of trust feeds into all levels of a society. Americans might have some high-level trust issues regarding political differences, but nothing like the bone-deep understanding that everyone outside of your family or tribe is actively and constantly trying to deceive, manipulate, and take advantage of you that people who grew up in real low-trust societies have ingrained in themselves. (exceptions might be people growing up in low-trust enclaves within the greater US society - as I understand it, this is part of the reason why some inner city communities struggle to cohere and advocate for themselves effectively, under the term "crabs in a bucket syndrome"). Stuff like the Theranos revelations or that a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program is shocking to most Americans; it's par for the course in some of the places I've lived.
- imbnwa 4y ago
  "Stuff like the Theranos revelations or that a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program is shocking to most Americans; it's par for the course in some of the places I've lived." I've only been in this industry six years at your average Java Spring SCRUM shop but I also find myself shocking at the claim 'a high percentage of programming jobs applicants can't actually program', like what do we mean when this gets said?
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    The applicant who can’t program often (hopefully/ideally) stays an applicant for a long time and many applications. The applicant who can is more likely to be hired. It’s no surprise that the average applicant’s skills are relatively weak.
    - 4y ago
searchableguy 4y ago
I don't have any insight on the culture side of US and I will refrain from making any conclusions. So let's take culture aside, you have to consider power imbalance between workers in both of those countries. In India, 10 people will line up to take your job at a moment's notice regardless of the city and conditions. Management won't begrudgingly agree to remote work if they have options and distrust workers (usually the case here).
gomox 4y ago
When compared to most western cultures other than Saxons and Scandinavians, I would say yes, very much so.
phpisthebest 4y ago
Generally speaking (though that is changing somewhat) American's are known to be Workaolics, taking fewer vacation days, working more hours, etc etc etc. I dont know about trust per say, but there is I think more of social resistance to co-workers who would be perceived as "not pulling their weight", which I think would contribute to work from home success here That said I can not speak to the culture in India so it may be the same there, no idea