The Daily WTF: Curious Perversions in Information Technology

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

[Quote]TRWTF is that there's an innate assumption in these comments that people can just afford to quit a job because it sucks without first having another job to go to. [/Unquote]

Unless you are just starting out, or have recently had a major disaster, one should have at least six months living cash on hand..with nine to twelve months preferred.

People think this is difficult, or "impossible" but it is actually quite easy to build up this type of buffer.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

s73v3r:
Richard:
Asked and answered, your honor.
Not answered to any satisfaction. Your reasoning is completely faulty, and based on the faulty and incorrect assumptions that all people are perfectly rational.

Nope. Just that the irrational ones will lose out to the rational ones over time, unless an external force steps in to protect the losers.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Remy Porter:
The job description for every position included a line "And any other duties assigned."

I actually treat that line as a minor warning flag when I see it in a job description. The reason is that if the company does any sort of performance-based compensation, work that falls into that bucket is best-case worthless to you, and worst-case actively harmful to you. After all, if you're measured on meeting a deadline, but you've been "other duties"'ed into mopping floors for four hours, you know that if you're two hours overdue they won't credit you mopping time. (I haven't been mopping floors, but I have missed out on bonuses because my boss had me doing everything but what I was measured on. And the boss that's all for "versatility" and "agile" when he needs something done becomes terribly by the book when there's money to be handed out.)

In the same way you're not supposed to have a misc. file (because everything ends up in it), you should try not to have a "miscellaneous" category on your job profile.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Your Name:
You know, come to think of it, why not have a small coffee machine at each desk, for greater time efficiency? It's not like they're expensive nowadays.

Unless you're running plumbing to each desk, you'll still be running back and forth for water to feed the coffee maker. (I have a press at my desk, but I don't really save time - I just get better coffee.)

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

s73v3r:
Depending on what market you're in, often price is the only thing that consumers really care about. Thus, the one that can produce things cheapest will win, or at least have some significant market share. A lot of companies feel that treating their workers like shit allows them to make things cheaper.

I think we're forgetting that this thread began with Robyrt's claim that musicians would be more productive if their employers treated them better. "More productive" == "Can produce more output for the same cost, or the same output for lower cost".

shadowman · 2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Joel Spolsky wrote an interesting article that mentioned a slightly-new breed of young Silicon Valley startup entrepreneurs that are trying to be the next Steve Jobs. So they have basically adopt some of SJ's less-regarded traits, i.e. the rude, no-nonsense, arrogant personality, etc.

Also control-freak psychopathic management style -- this may or may not be really emulating Jobs, but it's what they perceive. I guess the thought is that if they adopt those traits, then they too will have the same success.

High-level cargo-culting.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

s73v3r:
B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

Now I admit that you should spent 95% of your time developing, but it's just no attitude to be too good for any kind of work. I'd fire such arrogant pricks immediatelly.

OH YEAH, YOU'RE SO ROCKSTAR DEVELOPERS. WHY NOT HAVE TWO BARELY DRESSED WOMEN WHO FEED YOU A COCKTAIL AFTER EVERY LINE OF CODE? ARROGANT ELITISTS.

I'm fucking shocked by your feelings of entitlement toward your employees. Just because you say something does NOT mean you get it that way. I don't give a fuck if the boss said I should clean; it's not in my job description, and I don't want to do it.

Bosses do not have total control over their employees. Anyone who thinks they do or should is someone who needs to be busted down to assistant night manager at a Denny's.

Well, regardless of the fact that you are a no hire anyway, that'd be a minus on your yearly bonus.

In the contracts in my country, the employers mostly write in job descriptions: "blabla to work as a Software Developer and to conduct any other just and reasonable tasks". And trust me, wielding a mop is a just and reasonable task for anyone. For the boss as well as for the employees. I wouldn't ask any employee for anything I wouldn't do myself. And if I can wield a mop and you bitch about it...well, minus on your bonus.

Coyne · 2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Your Name:
You know, come to think of it, why not have a small coffee machine at each desk, for greater time efficiency? It's not like they're expensive nowadays.

Well, Frank isn't providing them, because that would waste money and time (taking fingers off of keyboard to drink). Bringing your own would be a violation of the workspace personalization policy.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Frank:
Your Name:
You know, come to think of it, why not have a small coffee machine at each desk, for greater time efficiency? It's not like they're expensive nowadays.

Are you stupid? They are goddamn developers, and I want them to develop, not drink coffee at their desk.

But I want them to mop the floor...

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

English Man:
Something's wrong here. No way Frank would allow someone to be hired without being there to do an interview himself.

If he did all those interviews himself, he wouldn't have time to run around the building and make everyone's life miserable.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.

NEVER use the musicians union as an example of anything good. I played with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. We were on a train to Alice Springs (about 9 hours) for a tour when they had to stop the train because of a union stipulation that the musicians need to be stationary for their meal breaks. Hate to think what would have happened if we were flying.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

geoffrey:
Audrius:
geoffrey:
corroded:
B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

If it's not in my job description, and I don't want to do it, you can fucking well ask someone else... or do it yourself. Since you're a manager, clearly, you're probably the most useless twat in the building, so why don't you mop.

I'm sure that team-player attitude has gotten you really far in life.

But he has a valid point. If it is not in my job description - I do not do it. I had too many examples where being "team player" adds additional responsibilities outside of your job description. If company is nice, team and especially management staff are good lads then yeah I could help with something different. Making it mandatory, especially it it is coming from the individuals like Frank, and you obeying it does not make you the team player.

Do you think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs hid behind their job descriptions through their careers? This is what separates the wheat from the chaff. The wheat only acknowledges one universal job description for any job -- "I do work my employer needs; my employer pays me."

OK, I can give you a good example why people like Frank should never get anything that is not in your job description. My friend was working in a truck dealership, his hob was to take and deliver new/repaired/etc truck to and from companies client. His boss asked if he could maybe wash one of the trucks before delivering it. Allright, no problem, job done. Then the second time came, the third and suddenly it was as if it was his job to do. He refused once and that wasn't met nice. During the long period in that company he got lots of nice "promotions" without actually getting any pay rise and or new/updated job contract signed.

What I want to tell you is that this: it is nice an all to be a good person and help your colleagues and do out-of-job type of support. But company is not a person, the point lots of people tend to forget. In this story company=Frank. If he does not have people skills that is his problem, someone needs to tell him to f***-off. The worst thing you can do to others is to not point them their shortfalls. No bitching or anything like that...

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Wow, the corporate apologists are coming out of the woodwork today. F--k Frank and anyone who thinks any boss has the right to behave that way.

I'm a damn good developer and I make more than enough money to fund a lifestyle I enjoy. I'm good because I use my mind. Yes, I am a special little snowflake, so suck it all you mindless drones. I've trained long to do what I do and I don't want to mop floors. It's not about being elitist - I don't want to do neuro-surgery either - it's about doing what I WANT TO DO. It's as simple as that. Life is too short to do things you don't want to just to boost someone's ego, or bottom line.

Work is a team activity and productivity is highest when team members have mutual respect for each other. People like Frank are a liability. I've had great jobs, and bad ones. I've even worked with people like Frank before (I'll get to that in a bit).

I move on from jobs after a while(even good ones), when I feel I can't learn anything new, as I get bored quickly otherwise. I work for money, but also for my own education and occasionally even my own entertainment. It's my life and I'm not about to waste it on someone else's bulls--t. When faced with someone like Frank, my reaction would depend on my mood and what other jobs are available at that moment. I'm ALWAYS looking at potential jobs. Anyone who isn't is giving away too much of their power.

I can think of two instances in the last 15 years where I had to deal with someone like Frank. In one case, he took over from a previous manager who was good. After he screamed out his little tirade about how things 'were going to change' to us, I simply quit and walked out the door in the middle of the day, saying my goodbyes to coworkers as I went. I was in a good mood that day. Another time both a manager and the company owner REALLY pissed me off. I played the good little soldier long enough to set several things in motion so that the day I did walk out, not only did the manager get fired a day later, the entire company went under six months later. I didn't do anything illegal, I just set them up to fail in the best possible passive-aggressive manner.

Good developers are good because they are smart and creative. Don't let the drones convince you of anything different.

2012-04-10 Reply Admin

Holy shite that Frank guy sounds like A-class assburgers case. I've had the misfortune to meet a few in work setting

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Nagesh:
ubersoldat:
New blood gets mop duties.
OMG, so epic!!! Now run!!!

Wow I don't believing this at all. In India we have cleaning crew coming in every day twice to clean floor and carpet. Is this America or some other god forsaked country?

Hey, here in Uhmerrca we have a cleaning-crew caste as well, only they speak Spanish instead of Hindi. Unlike India though, our untouchables are at the top of the heap, not the bottom.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Yes, "American" is the perfect term for people from the US, since everyone knows that America contains only one country and the rest of the double continent is uninhabited.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

No need for elevators. He slipped on the freshly mopped stairs.

oheso · 2012-04-11 Reply Admin

B00nbuster:
OH YEAH, YOU'RE SO ROCKSTAR DEVELOPERS. WHY NOT HAVE TWO BARELY DRESSED WOMEN WHO FEED YOU A COCKTAIL AFTER EVERY LINE OF CODE? ARROGANT ELITISTS.

You mean I have to let Tina go? Naomi and Roxanne will miss her very much.

dkf · 2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Anonymous Penguin:
Yes, "American" is the perfect term for people from the US, since everyone knows that America contains only one country and the rest of the double continent is uninhabited.

The preferred terms are Merkin or (if referring to someone from south of the Mason-Dixon line) Yankee.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Wow....this company should have been great in countries where democracy is flourishing...like China ! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA trollface

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

geoffrey:
Audrius:
geoffrey:
corroded:
B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

If it's not in my job description, and I don't want to do it, you can fucking well ask someone else... or do it yourself. Since you're a manager, clearly, you're probably the most useless twat in the building, so why don't you mop.

I'm sure that team-player attitude has gotten you really far in life.

But he has a valid point. If it is not in my job description - I do not do it. I had too many examples where being "team player" adds additional responsibilities outside of your job description. If company is nice, team and especially management staff are good lads then yeah I could help with something different. Making it mandatory, especially it it is coming from the individuals like Frank, and you obeying it does not make you the team player.

Do you think Bill Gates or Steve Jobs hid behind their job descriptions through their careers? This is what separates the wheat from the chaff. The wheat only acknowledges one universal job description for any job -- "I do work my employer needs; my employer pays me."

Hi Jeff - I know this is a troll but here we go anyway. What you are describing is not being a team player - it's called Stockholm Syndrome (GoogleTM it)

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

B00nbuster:
OH YEAH, YOU'RE SO ROCKSTAR DEVELOPERS. WHY NOT HAVE TWO BARELY DRESSED WOMEN WHO FEED YOU A COCKTAIL AFTER EVERY LINE OF CODE? ARROGANT ELITISTS.

I realized pretty soon that I simply couldn't handle so many cocktails. So I had to find other things for them to do. From "The Guild" I got the idea of a personal hand masseuse. I also watched "Password Swordfish".

I work very hard these days. But I'm also very exhausted at the end of the day...

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Steve The Cynic:
The alleged problem caused by developers customising their desktops (no automatic familiarity with the layout on a colleague's machine) is trivial to solve, of course. Roaming profiles have their problems, especially if you have a mix of Windows versions - profiles rarely roam cleanly in this case - but they are the best solution to this problem.
All of which assumes (1) a Windows-based network, (2) an NT-style domain, and (3) a semi-competent admin. Of course, the admin is probably Frank, but that's just one more reason to go.

Devs+windows=fail

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

the beholder:
FrostCat:
anon:
The real WTF isn't this company. The real WTF is not walking out on day two.

Or else, walking out instead of mopping the floor.
This. I would be somewhat annoyed by a boss micromanaging coffee breaks when I'm out of a resource - knowledge, in this case - I need to do my job. I would be extremely bored by a freaking 4 hour-long design meeting, in which 3 hours are purely about things that do not concern me now or in a near future, but that's still within acceptable boundaries. I would also hate to go through said 4-hour long meetings without as much as a 5 minutes break, but I still wouldn't jump the boat yet.

But the cleaning part? It's too much stupidity to bear

Meh . when someone asked me why I was outside smoking I told them I was busy thinking about the software design and just had a great idea - which was actually true.

Apart from that, I woudldn't ever work with the company provided mouse and mousepad to begin with - and would leave if anyone insisted I did so /

The only reason you wouldn't jump the boat is if you're stuck between hammer and anvil - I'm not and I don't think i'll ever be, after all there are IT jobs aplenty and I can do most of em quite nicely.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.

"squirrelly", thanks you made my day.

BTW I am quite often fully focused for hours on end, and I believe that happens to most devs - now I might have issues after 15 minutes of meeting but w/e who cares.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

ffelthc what:
Anon:
TRWTF is that the begin part about trying to get a meeting with Bill seemed to be completely unrelated to the rest of the story. Seriously, WTF?!?
Oh, wait, it started with him trying to setup a Friday meeting, and then he couldn't because he had the Friday mop-and-slop. So he lost an entire Friday and part of Monday.

I should really read more carefully.

I understood that Bill wasn't willing to spend time educating the newbie until after the Friday afternoon cleaning session, because the chances were so high it would be wasted time when the newbie didn't come back on Monday.

Personally, I wouldn't have the slightest problem with cleaning the office. You're getting paid developer money to wander round with a mop daydreaming on Friday afternoon, resting up for the weekend, instead of trying to cudgel a last bit of work out of your tired brain at the end of the week? Sounds great to me. It's not like there's suddenly going to be a rush surprise clean-up job keeping you at your desk all evening.

Personally, I accept the lowly dev wage for only one reason : because I have fun developing . There's no way I'd do boring stuff for that price if I can avoid it, and I can - yeah I'm a lucky asshole and I love it.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Richard:
Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.
If it truly makes people more productive overall, the union wouldn't have to mandate it. The employers would require it, in their own self interest.

Nah . else they'd have to require decent oxygen flow, happiness @ work, etc. etc. - google seems on the right track but they aren't there yet

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

Now I admit that you should spent 95% of your time developing, but it's just no attitude to be too good for any kind of work. I'd fire such arrogant pricks immediatelly.

OH YEAH, YOU'RE SO ROCKSTAR DEVELOPERS. WHY NOT HAVE TWO BARELY DRESSED WOMEN WHO FEED YOU A COCKTAIL AFTER EVERY LINE OF CODE? ARROGANT ELITISTS.

yeah that sounds like a good plan .. why don't you go get lotsa moneys, pay my expensive rockstar dev rate just to tell me those lines after .. sounds good to me.

Real Rockstar devs are worth their arrogance, and much much more, learn to take advantage of their weaknesses (attitude and such)and you'll make much more out of it.

Thirdly, devs are not higly paid individuals, owners and CEO's are.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Richard:
Zapp Brannigan:
Richard:
Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.
If it truly makes people more productive overall, the union wouldn't have to mandate it. The employers would require it, in their own self interest.
If employers weren't sometimes their own worst enemy, unions wouldn't be needed.
Let's imagine two companies, Acme and Bozhead. They make the same product. Acme arranges the pay, breaks etc. to maximize employee happiness and productivity. Bozhead is run by a-holes.

Wouldn't the best employees gravitate toward Acme?

Wouldn't that leave Bozhead staffed mostly by losers?

Wouldn't Acme's happier smarter more productive employees be able to produce more product at a lower price than the grumpy Bozhead losers?

Wouldn't Acme succeed and Bozhead fail?

So why do we see so many Bozhead companies? There must be something interfering with the natural, necessary process that allows Bozheads to fail.

A. Bailouts (taxpayer funded).

B. Gargantuan bewildering regulations (enforcement taxpayer funded) that present a huge barrier to entry, ensuring that once Bozhead gets a foothold in a particular market, Acme can never come along and challenge them.

C. "Intellectual property" laws (enforcement taxpayer funded) that ensure no two companies can sell the same product, thereby eliminating competition and preserving a-hole companies.

Can anyone start to see a theme here?

Google is the latest fastest growing IT company in the world, it has achieved that mostly by going the Acme route, by going with young ideas rather than the usual old senile management way, and showed that it works.

Only a matter of time before employers start following after google and several others show the way.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

JLC:
KattMan:
B00nbuster:
OH YEAH, YOU'RE SO ROCKSTAR DEVELOPERS. WHY NOT HAVE TWO BARELY DRESSED WOMEN WHO FEED YOU A COCKTAIL AFTER EVERY LINE OF CODE? ARROGANT ELITISTS.

Wait you mean most of us don't have barely dressed girls feeding us at our desks? I negotiated up, they aren't dressed at all.

That's just unsanitary.

Nah . drug lab workers aren't dressed at all and it's all medical sanitary . more or less.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Audrius:
geoffrey:
corroded:
B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

If it's not in my job description, and I don't want to do it, you can fucking well ask someone else... or do it yourself. Since you're a manager, clearly, you're probably the most useless twat in the building, so why don't you mop.

I'm sure that team-player attitude has gotten you really far in life.

But he has a valid point. If it is not in my job description - I do not do it. I had too many examples where being "team player" adds additional responsibilities outside of your job description. If company is nice, team and especially management staff are good lads then yeah I could help with something different. Making it mandatory, especially it it is coming from the individuals like Frank, and you obeying it does not make you the team player.

Geoff has successfully trolled you, good stuff.

Teamplayer is a word employers and bosses like to use to define work-slaves, the kind of idiot who will accept anything because he thinks he owes the company everything.

Also, don't feed the trolls goddamit !

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

s73v3r:
Jay:
DaveK:
Richard:
Zapp Brannigan:
Richard:
Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.
If it truly makes people more productive overall, the union wouldn't have to mandate it. The employers would require it, in their own self interest.
If employers weren't sometimes their own worst enemy, unions wouldn't be needed.
Let's imagine two companies, Acme and Bozhead. They make the same product. Acme arranges the pay, breaks etc. to maximize employee happiness and productivity. Bozhead is run by a-holes.

Wouldn't the best employees gravitate toward Acme?

Wouldn't that leave Bozhead staffed mostly by losers?

Wouldn't Acme's happier smarter more productive employees be able to produce more product at a lower price than the grumpy Bozhead losers?

Wouldn't Acme succeed and Bozhead fail?

So why do we see so many Bozhead companies? There must be something interfering with the natural, necessary process that allows Bozheads to fail.

A. Bailouts (taxpayer funded).

B. Gargantuan bewildering regulations (enforcement taxpayer funded) that present a huge barrier to entry, ensuring that once Bozhead gets a foothold in a particular market, Acme can never come along and challenge them.

C. "Intellectual property" laws (enforcement taxpayer funded) that ensure no two companies can sell the same product, thereby eliminating competition and preserving a-hole companies.

Can anyone start to see a theme here?

Yes, it's the very obvious chip-on-your-shoulder. Asshole bosses aren't assholes because government makes them that way, they're assholes because they are assholes and they like being assholes. Stop blaming society for their character defects.
And the reason that Bozhead companies are still around is because Acme can't go on expanding forever and as long as most firms are Bozheads and few are Acmes then most people apart from the lucky few will have to get jobs with Bozhead companies. And then the fat smug complacent self-regarding Bozhead CEOs will pat themselves on their fat smug complacent self-regarding backs and tell themselves that the company is thriving because of their asshole management technique.

Very many decisions in business are made based not on the nice rational Adam-Smith-ian principles that you imagine them to be, but on irrational and emotional grounds as a result of vanity and self-delusion by egotists who think of themselves as some kind of Nietzschean supermen.

You seem to have missed Adam Smith's point. He didn't say that all business owners are infinitely wise and intelligent. What he said was that in a free market, the businesses that are better run tend to prosper -- "better run" meaning able to produce quality products at a low price, retain highly-qualified employees, etc. -- and the businesses taht are poorly run tend to fail, thus freeing up resources to be made available to the better-run businesses. If ALL business owners were geniuses, most of what AS said would be irrelevant.

In real life, even in an ideal free market, the poorly-run businesses do not instantly fail because they rarely have absolute zero productivity. It is not a matter of some companies are 100% good and others are 100% incompetent. Markets are complex, so it takes time to shake out what works and what doesn't.

In Richard's scenario, when the government intrudes in the marketplace, it could theoretically help speed up the process of shifting resources to the more efficient businesses. But to do that, two conditions must be true:

(a) Politicians and government officials understand this particular industry better than the people who are actually working in it or consuming it's products. Government people tend to just take it for granted that one man who studied law in college and has spent his whole life in politics, and who just spent a few weeks (or a few hours) reading about the latest ideas in, say, how to produce energy, now knows more about it then the collective knowledge of a thousand people who have been actually doing it 40+ hours a week for decades. Oh, and that magazine article he read that he is basing all his decisions on was probably written by an academic who has never done any of this in real life either.

(b) We must assume that the government's goal is to improve efficiency or productivity. But of course 90% of the time that isn't the government's goal. The real goal is to pay back campaign contributors, or buy votes for the next election, or, at absolute best, to pursue some utopian scheme of how the politician wishes the world really worked. Like

You mention that the "better run" businesses would prosper, because "better run" means being able to produce more products at a lower price, and retain better talent. But that can often be at odds with one another. Depending on what market you're in, often price is the only thing that consumers really care about. Thus, the one that can produce things cheapest will win, or at least have some significant market share. A lot of companies feel that treating their workers like shit allows them to make things cheaper.

I don't believe your assumption A is valid in the least. There's a reason Congress tends to hold lots of hearings on things.

As for B, I don't think perfect efficiency should be a concern to the government. China is pretty God damned efficient, but I don't think you'll see anyone here, at least who's not a member of the 1%, who would want to have labor conditions like China's. Government should care more about making things better for the people than caring about efficiency.

I've read this way too much in these comments. The price as the only thing consumers care about ?

HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING ?

seriously, all those people buying iPhones, samsung Galaxies, Philips TV's, Scottex, Mars, Coca-Cola, etc. etc.

The main thing consumers care bout is making the "right" purchase, and oftentimes this is directed by brands and advertising.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

M:
Wow, the corporate apologists are coming out of the woodwork today. F--k Frank and anyone who thinks any boss has the right to behave that way.
I'm a damn good developer and I make more than enough money to fund a lifestyle I enjoy. I'm good because I use my mind. Yes, I am a special little snowflake, so suck it all you mindless drones. I've trained long to do what I do and I don't want to mop floors. It's not about being elitist - I don't want to do neuro-surgery either - it's about doing what I WANT TO DO. It's as simple as that. Life is too short to do things you don't want to just to boost someone's ego, or bottom line.

Work is a team activity and productivity is highest when team members have mutual respect for each other. People like Frank are a liability. I've had great jobs, and bad ones. I've even worked with people like Frank before (I'll get to that in a bit).

I move on from jobs after a while(even good ones), when I feel I can't learn anything new, as I get bored quickly otherwise. I work for money, but also for my own education and occasionally even my own entertainment. It's my life and I'm not about to waste it on someone else's bulls--t. When faced with someone like Frank, my reaction would depend on my mood and what other jobs are available at that moment. I'm ALWAYS looking at potential jobs. Anyone who isn't is giving away too much of their power.

I can think of two instances in the last 15 years where I had to deal with someone like Frank. In one case, he took over from a previous manager who was good. After he screamed out his little tirade about how things 'were going to change' to us, I simply quit and walked out the door in the middle of the day, saying my goodbyes to coworkers as I went. I was in a good mood that day. Another time both a manager and the company owner REALLY pissed me off. I played the good little soldier long enough to set several things in motion so that the day I did walk out, not only did the manager get fired a day later, the entire company went under six months later. I didn't do anything illegal, I just set them up to fail in the best possible passive-aggressive manner.

Good developers are good because they are smart and creative. Don't let the drones convince you of anything different.

Way too serious for TDWTF comments, but this one deserves to be featured / saved - nice ;)

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Audrius:
geoffrey:
corroded:
B00nbuster:
csrster:
A highly-educated friend once got a job designing exhibits for a science museum. On the first day they handed her a mop "because of budget cuts". It was also her last day.

I'm astonished by the arrogant attitude here. As a highly paid individual, when your boss gives you a mop you do that cleaning work. It's his decision.

I'd fire people with such an attitude just because of their sheer arrogance. If you are too good to wield a mop, you're certainly not good enough to develop my software. People like this can certainly not be trusted to do the dirty work when things take the wrong turn.

If it's not in my job description, and I don't want to do it, you can fucking well ask someone else... or do it yourself. Since you're a manager, clearly, you're probably the most useless twat in the building, so why don't you mop.

I'm sure that team-player attitude has gotten you really far in life.

But he has a valid point. If it is not in my job description - I do not do it. I had too many examples where being "team player" adds additional responsibilities outside of your job description. If company is nice, team and especially management staff are good lads then yeah I could help with something different. Making it mandatory, especially it it is coming from the individuals like Frank, and you obeying it does not make you the team player.

I assist until people take the piss, or take me for granted. I help others out all the time here... but its my choice after all. If I hid behind my job description for everything, I'd definitely not be a sysadmin now as well as a developer.

There is a difference between used as a doormat by your boss, which I'm frankly astonished so many people are happy to do.

It's a two way street, just because your boss tells you to do it, you don't have to. I choose the things that better myself, and never had make the choice to mop the floor or not... there is always something for me to do that is good for the business over mopping a floor, and there is probably a PA somewhere surfing youtube.

Hatshepsut · 2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Max:
Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.

NEVER use the musicians union as an example of anything good. I played with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. We were on a train to Alice Springs (about 9 hours) for a tour when they had to stop the train because of a union stipulation that the musicians need to be stationary for their meal breaks.

That rule probably came about for groups travelling by bus. Touring is hard going, and stopping for a meal (and a piss) rather than having a soggy sandwich in a cramped bus seat is quite a reasonable measure.

As for stopping a train to apply this rule: I don't believe it. When and where (specifically) did this happen?

Hate to think what would have happened if we were flying.

Boom-tish.

Hatshepsut · 2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Anonymous Penguin:
Yes, "American" is the perfect term for people from the US, since everyone knows that America contains only one country and the rest of the double continent is uninhabited.

I agree with the sentiment, but, well, there's only one country with "America" in its name. There are at least two with "United States" (or translation thereof). So "American" is arguably more valid than "USian".

But I do prefer "Merkin".

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

FrostCat:
anon:
The real WTF isn't this company. The real WTF is not walking out on day two.

Or else, walking out instead of mopping the floor.

Mop the boss's computer. It's not your job to start making up exceptions to his orders.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Franz Kafka:
Richard:
C. "Intellectual property" laws (enforcement taxpayer funded) that ensure no two companies can sell the same product, thereby eliminating competition and preserving a-hole companies.
Can anyone start to see a theme here?

Dick, that's not how IP laws work.

"Dick" is right.

Clearly, there's only one supplier, blessed by a state-policed and state-enforced monopoly on these products: -

Wet Water (TM) Zappy Electricity (TM) Flammable Gas (TM) Burny Coal (TM) Ironic Iron (TM) See-Through-Glass (TM) The Horseless Carriage (TM) The Telephonic Communicator (TM) The Difference Engine (TM) The Interwebs Browser (TM)

ad nauseam

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Richard:
<snip snip snip> C. "Intellectual property" laws (enforcement taxpayer funded) that ensure no two companies can sell the same product, thereby eliminating competition and preserving a-hole companies.

But without these laws, a person or small company would come up with a great idea and nothing would stop Google or Apple just walking off with it and continuing development with an almost unlimited budget.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

s73v3r:
Richard:
s73v3r:
Richard:
Robyrt:
This is why the musicians' union mandates a quick break every 90 minutes: that's about the amount of time you can expect full productivity from people before they start getting bored or squirrelly.
If it truly makes people more productive overall, the union wouldn't have to mandate it. The employers would require it, in their own self interest.

Because employers ALWAYS do what is right out of their own "self interest". There's never any kind of micromanaging asshole employers like the ones in the story, right?
Asked and answered, your honor.
Not answered to any satisfaction. Your reasoning is completely faulty, and based on the faulty and incorrect assumptions that all people are perfectly rational.

Please reboot your Irony Detector.

BTW, "self interest" has many facets.

Trade these freely and let me know the rational balance: -

etc.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

fixed:
Richard:
<snip snip snip> C. "Intellectual property" laws (enforcement taxpayer funded) that ensure no two companies can sell the same product, thereby eliminating competition and preserving a-hole companies.
But without these laws, a person or small company would come up with a great idea and nothing would stop Google or Apple just walking off with it and continuing development with an almost unlimited budget.

My primary objection is to the uber-BS assertion that patents & copyright are "enforcement taxpayer funded". Nikola Tesla would probably disagree.

Objection #2 is the utter-BS asssertion that, "no two companies can sell the same product". Plainly they can and do.

Sure, I like the idea that IP can be protected. If anything, it should be state enforced, so Joe Q Public doesn't have to sue Google (or Apple sue Microsoft...) and run out of money before the 10+ years in court are through.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Hatshepsut:
Anonymous Penguin:
Yes, "American" is the perfect term for people from the US, since everyone knows that America contains only one country and the rest of the double continent is uninhabited.

I agree with the sentiment, but, well, there's only one country with "America" in its name. There are at least two with "United States" (or translation thereof). So "American" is arguably more valid than "USian".

But I do prefer "Merkin".

Dagnabbit, I hadn't noticed that. Oh well, at least Merkin et al rolls off the tongue better than USAian would.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

I'm confused...

Was this a software development company, or the stage for some modern sitcom?

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

blueg3:
MrBester:
Googled "lumbergh", still no wiser. You want to make up new gerunds, fine. Just use something those who aren't USians might have a cat in hell's chance of understanding.

You want to make up new adjectives, fine, but the internationally-accepted term for people from the US (in English) is "American".

I kind of doubt that you actually searched for it. The top hit is a Wikipedia page (a good start) that clearly explains the character.

I'll go you one better; with the dictionary extension for Chrome (or Iron, in my case), all you have to do is highlight the word, and...

"William Lumbergh, commonly named Bill Lumbergh, or referred to as just Lumbergh, is a fictional character portrayed by Gary Cole in the 1999 film Office Space..."

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Made me laugh! So many bleep bleep bosses out there and I have had my share of similar mentalities. Nice to see someone was smarter than me, not to stick around to take the abuse for years to come.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

I don't think that was the point of the story....... it's just an end to a joke. No analyzing needed.

ObiWayneKenobi · 2012-04-11 Reply Admin

In real life the reason why the companies run by assholes still exist is because they do just enough to break even, and settle for mediocrity. So while "Acme" is doing great financially, "Bozhead" is just chugging along and putting on a front enough to still get named to Inc 500 and "best companies to work for" and things like that, despite the fact that it's run by idiots. So for all intents and purposes Bozhead appears successful due to smoke and mirrors and marketing BS.

THIS is the major problem with capitalism. All it takes to run a business is enough money to pump into it to stay in business. I've seen it first hand (see previous WTF "Hot Water Costs Money") where the company lost money every year for ten years and only stayed in business because the owner had enough money to put that much back into the business to even things out.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

Yes, Very special indeed! That is what really makes the world go round. Controlling AHoles are a dime a dozen, since everyone has one.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

All that negative and demeaning structure in jobs is nothing more that CONTROl issues by very self centered OCD personalities that aren't getting laid.

2012-04-11 Reply Admin

What kind of developers are these lunatics? This is the craziest story I have ever read. None of it makes sense.

Difficult Personality

Leave a comment on “Difficult Personality”