"We have omitted from this list countless other studies that have shown [diminishing productivity] across the board in a great number of fields. Furthermore, although they may exist, we have not been able to find any studies showing that extended overtime (i.e., more than 50 hours of work per week for months on end) yielded higher total output in any field."
Given that AI is supposed to be all about "work smarter, not harder", it's kind of ironic to see an AI company cracking the whip to get employees to "work harder! work harder!"...
Somewhere around 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted 15 hour work weeks. Yet we work more and more. Do you also get the nagging suspicion that we could create such a scenario, but allow society to trick us out of said lifestyle?
You do *not* want to keep the upstream pipes completely full. Not completely full, anyway. That’s a sure way to tank quality.
Kinda full? Sure… Somewhat close to full? Absolutely. But no slack at all is insidiously harmful.
There’s a whole deep discussion about what gets incentivized as things go up the chain and capital and labor and all that “so lemme get this straight … with this ‘generous’ stock option grant, if we kill ourselves meeting the target, you get an island and I can pay off my 19 year old car and get a seat on a charter boat so I can see your island — from a distance?”
We’ve done better. We ought to go back to doing better.
Learning this completely changed the way I manage the cabinet shop I work for. It applies to all kinds of things even managing my house and getting the laundry done!
Thanks, boss. I find the delusion that humans can add any incremental value at that unsustainable pace laughable. The whole disgusting Windsurf debacle is the gust front of the looming trough of disappointment. For all the people who’ll be crushed in it, I hope I’m wrong about the crash.
This is classic Theory of Constraints. I'm sure you've seen the "Nobody Ever Gets Credit for Fixing Problems that Never Happened" paper?
https://web.mit.edu/nelsonr/www/Repenning%3DSterman_CMR_su01_.pdf
If 80h a week is what they measure, that's what they're going to get.
Like the donuts "eaten" over the weekend in the opening story. The clocked hours will be there.
The value? Not so much.
Let's see how it works for them long term. Any bets?
As a reference:
https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/crunchmode/econ-crunch-mode.html
"We have omitted from this list countless other studies that have shown [diminishing productivity] across the board in a great number of fields. Furthermore, although they may exist, we have not been able to find any studies showing that extended overtime (i.e., more than 50 hours of work per week for months on end) yielded higher total output in any field."
If I can bake a cake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, shouldn't I be able to bake a cake in 30 minutes at 700 degrees?
Or if you get 9 women together you can make a baby in a month.
Given that AI is supposed to be all about "work smarter, not harder", it's kind of ironic to see an AI company cracking the whip to get employees to "work harder! work harder!"...
Somewhere around 1930 John Maynard Keynes predicted 15 hour work weeks. Yet we work more and more. Do you also get the nagging suspicion that we could create such a scenario, but allow society to trick us out of said lifestyle?
I came here to comment it's Theory of Constraints, but it was too late; anyway, thanks for the pipe analogy, it is a nice way to explain ToC :)
Nice post. I love Deming's ideas; such a prophet
Two quibbles:
You do *not* want to keep the upstream pipes completely full. Not completely full, anyway. That’s a sure way to tank quality.
Kinda full? Sure… Somewhat close to full? Absolutely. But no slack at all is insidiously harmful.
There’s a whole deep discussion about what gets incentivized as things go up the chain and capital and labor and all that “so lemme get this straight … with this ‘generous’ stock option grant, if we kill ourselves meeting the target, you get an island and I can pay off my 19 year old car and get a seat on a charter boat so I can see your island — from a distance?”
We’ve done better. We ought to go back to doing better.
I thought we already figured this out in this industry: @bottleneck. Humans are too good at forgetting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Props for calling out Drucker and Deming. They are at the top of my management thinkers list. Keep the posts coming!
Learning this completely changed the way I manage the cabinet shop I work for. It applies to all kinds of things even managing my house and getting the laundry done!
This resonates in so many ways!
Thanks, boss. I find the delusion that humans can add any incremental value at that unsustainable pace laughable. The whole disgusting Windsurf debacle is the gust front of the looming trough of disappointment. For all the people who’ll be crushed in it, I hope I’m wrong about the crash.
Congratzi on the house! That’s baller. 🙌