5 ms·

the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker

by readme 4y ago

stavros 4y ago
I don't know if it's less work, but certainly the assembly worker definitely delivers more value. Only one of the two killed the company.
- squeaky-clean 4y ago
  That kind of demonstrates the importance and value of a good CEO though. A couple dumb decisions by an assembly worker won't kill a company. A few bad decisions by a CEO can.
  - Gigachad 4y ago
    I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. A complete dud at McDonalds in the kitchen might cost a few thousand on average but the further you go up, the greater the damage or benefit potential gets.
    - JadeNB 4y ago
      > I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. I think that the world's, or at least the US's, teachers are a glaring counterexample.
      - badpun 4y ago
        The problem is that the value that teachers create is hard to compute and hard to capture, so in the end, no one is willing to pay for it.
        specialist 4y ago
        David Graeber, of Bullshit Jobs fame, makes the distinction between service work and caring work. Doing things vs taking care of other humans. Part of his thesis is that society undervalues the labor of caring workers, because they get so much "job satisfaction". Teachers and nurses are examples of caring work. I lean towards Graeber's thesis, mostly because I haven't read any other explanation for this pathology, so Graeber wins by default.
        baud147258 4y ago
        > no one is willing to pay for it parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children
        quesera 4y ago
        Private school teachers are often paid less than public school teachers, and do not have a union or a pension.
        JadeNB 4y ago
        > parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children Exactly—people aren't willing to pay for someone else's education, but everyone needs an education, so teachers who care enough that they are willing to teach for minuscule pay wind up squeezed between societal apathy and societal need.
  - JadeNB 4y ago
    > That kind of demonstrates the importance and value of a good CEO though. A couple dumb decisions by an assembly worker won't kill a company. A few bad decisions by a CEO can. A few dumb (or malicious) decisions by an assembly worker can cause enormous damage and incur enormous cost.
  - eloisant 4y ago
    Except the bad CEO still gets a big salary, and a golden parachute when he leaves the sinking ship of the company he killed. And then proceed to get hired as CEO for the next company.
RajT88 4y ago
A lot of CEO's at places I have worked didn't really make decisions. They schmooze the biggest customers. Constantly, 12-14 hours a day.
- 1letterunixname 4y ago
  It's also on them to manage, handle, and be responsible for everything. Walk a mile in their shoes and then try say it's so "easy" honestly.
  - RajT88 4y ago
    I certainly wasn't suggesting they had an easy job. I agree it's quite a hard job. Just that it's not always the job some people think it is.
    - darkerside 4y ago
      Schmooze is a bit of a demeaning word, isn't it? If the CEO is learning from customers and helping the organization react accordingly, that sounds very valuable.
      - RajT88 4y ago
        Schmooze comes from yiddish, and it just means to chat or converse. Seems fair to me. You can chat and converse idly, or with an agenda. Not demeaning at all, just descriptive.
        darkerside 4y ago
        > talk with someone in a lively and friendly way Demeaning isn't the right word, but it sure seems condescending. Like calling programming "button pushing".
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- 4y ago
muzani 4y ago
The effects of a CEO is often lagging. If an assembly line worker stops working, you see the results immediately. If a CEO stops working or does something very negative, you might see the effects years later. You'd think that losing key staff would kill the company overnight, but even in this situation, it took 4 years between being doomed and actually dying.

the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker

by readme 4y ago

the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker

I don't know if it's less work, but certainly the assembly worker definitely delivers more value. Only one of the two killed the company.

squeaky-clean 4y ago
That kind of demonstrates the importance and value of a good CEO though. A couple dumb decisions by an assembly worker won't kill a company. A few bad decisions by a CEO can.
- Gigachad 4y ago
  I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. A complete dud at McDonalds in the kitchen might cost a few thousand on average but the further you go up, the greater the damage or benefit potential gets.
  - JadeNB 4y ago
    > I think most job salaries can be linked directly to how much of a difference the employee can make. I think that the world's, or at least the US's, teachers are a glaring counterexample.
    - badpun 4y ago
      The problem is that the value that teachers create is hard to compute and hard to capture, so in the end, no one is willing to pay for it.
      - specialist 4y ago
        David Graeber, of Bullshit Jobs fame, makes the distinction between service work and caring work. Doing things vs taking care of other humans. Part of his thesis is that society undervalues the labor of caring workers, because they get so much "job satisfaction". Teachers and nurses are examples of caring work. I lean towards Graeber's thesis, mostly because I haven't read any other explanation for this pathology, so Graeber wins by default.
      - baud147258 4y ago
        > no one is willing to pay for it parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children
        quesera 4y ago
        Private school teachers are often paid less than public school teachers, and do not have a union or a pension.
        JadeNB 4y ago
        > parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children Exactly—people aren't willing to pay for someone else's education, but everyone needs an education, so teachers who care enough that they are willing to teach for minuscule pay wind up squeezed between societal apathy and societal need.
- JadeNB 4y ago
  > That kind of demonstrates the importance and value of a good CEO though. A couple dumb decisions by an assembly worker won't kill a company. A few bad decisions by a CEO can. A few dumb (or malicious) decisions by an assembly worker can cause enormous damage and incur enormous cost.
- eloisant 4y ago
  Except the bad CEO still gets a big salary, and a golden parachute when he leaves the sinking ship of the company he killed. And then proceed to get hired as CEO for the next company.

RajT88 4y ago

A lot of CEO's at places I have worked didn't really make decisions. They schmooze the biggest customers. Constantly, 12-14 hours a day.

1letterunixname 4y ago
It's also on them to manage, handle, and be responsible for everything. Walk a mile in their shoes and then try say it's so "easy" honestly.
- RajT88 4y ago
  I certainly wasn't suggesting they had an easy job. I agree it's quite a hard job. Just that it's not always the job some people think it is.
  - darkerside 4y ago
    Schmooze is a bit of a demeaning word, isn't it? If the CEO is learning from customers and helping the organization react accordingly, that sounds very valuable.
    - RajT88 4y ago
      Schmooze comes from yiddish, and it just means to chat or converse. Seems fair to me. You can chat and converse idly, or with an agenda. Not demeaning at all, just descriptive.
      - darkerside 4y ago
        > talk with someone in a lively and friendly way Demeaning isn't the right word, but it sure seems condescending. Like calling programming "button pushing".
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
4y ago

muzani 4y ago

The effects of a CEO is often lagging. If an assembly line worker stops working, you see the results immediately. If a CEO stops working or does something very negative, you might see the effects years later. You'd think that losing key staff would kill the company overnight, but even in this situation, it took 4 years between being doomed and actually dying.