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Am I the only one who thinks the idea of completely unplugging oneself from their work during a vacation is wrong, particularly in the case of high tech industr

Am I the only one who thinks the idea of completely unplugging oneself from their work during a vacation is wrong, particularly in the case of high tech industry professionals? It sounds nice in concept, but in reality is impractical - business doesn't sleep; especially the high tech industry. The debt just keeps piling up. I agree with the idea of trying to avoid trivial things during vacation, but if a non-trivial or business-emergency occurred and I could be of use I would hope someone would get in contact with me to resolve it - even if that means interrupting my private-life to work. In my mind that is one of the key differences between a professional and a drone - the ability to be flexible - on the other hand a lot of places do not treat their workers as professionals and see them merely as drones, for those places I say unplug and do not look back.

tbrownaw 14y ago
So are you saying that professionals are defined solely by their economic output, or just that they don't deserve respect? Places that actually seriously care about emergencies (like the Nuclear Power Plant my dad works at) plan ahead to have people available when needed. For example having people take turns carrying a pager (this was before there were cell phones), on a known, planned schedule. I'm one of the more senior people in my group at work, so when things go wrong I tend to get called to help fix them. This is annoying. It's not a sign of how wonderfully important I am. It's a sign that (1) I don't push back hard enough, and (2) my work is not considered important enough to rate a high bus factor.
einhverfr 14y ago
Well, if you are self-employed, you can't unplug. That much is true. But if you are in a business with others who can cover for you it's good practice in case tragedy strikes. If the business can't survive without each member, that's a heck of a lot of risk. It's better to have someone else in the business able to resolve those emergencies than have no idea what to do when you fall off a building or get hit by a bus. And if you are the CEO, think of that as training time for the the next guy.

tbrownaw 14y ago

So are you saying that professionals are defined solely by their economic output, or just that they don't deserve respect? Places that actually seriously care about emergencies (like the Nuclear Power Plant my dad works at) plan ahead to have people available when needed. For example having people take turns carrying a pager (this was before there were cell phones), on a known, planned schedule. I'm one of the more senior people in my group at work, so when things go wrong I tend to get called to help fix them. This is annoying. It's not a sign of how wonderfully important I am. It's a sign that (1) I don't push back hard enough, and (2) my work is not considered important enough to rate a high bus factor.

einhverfr 14y ago

Well, if you are self-employed, you can't unplug. That much is true. But if you are in a business with others who can cover for you it's good practice in case tragedy strikes. If the business can't survive without each member, that's a heck of a lot of risk. It's better to have someone else in the business able to resolve those emergencies than have no idea what to do when you fall off a building or get hit by a bus. And if you are the CEO, think of that as training time for the the next guy.