[lbo-talk] Maximise or satisfice? (was:stupid americans?

[joanna bujes]

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>On Tue, 28 Sep 2004, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
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>>If I were to accept, as you do, that managers and workers differ, I would
>>need to identify factors that explain that difference.  For example, that
>>managers have X, Y and Z and workers do not, or the other way around.  Or
>>something of that sort.
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The difference is that worker's have to deal with the product and 
managers don't. Workers make the product, implement the service, etc. 
Example, the company for which I work was putting out a very 
high-falutin computing product, which was really an amalgam of disparate 
pieces, which some mucky muck decided should be sold as a "system." 
Well, it wasn't a system, there was zero time spent on integrating the 
various pieces, making sure they didn't make conflicting demands on the 
underlying O/S, etc. There was zero time making sure they even worked 
together. There was not even any testing of the "system" because it was 
assumed that if the pieces were tested separately (successfully), they 
would also work together. Well, they didn't. Who found out? Not the five 
layers of managers, not the engineers, and not the testers. It was some 
tech writer, trying to document something that realized that they 
didn't. Tech writers are often the canaries in the mine.

So, that's basically the difference. It doesn't matter how smart you are 
or if you went to Yale. If you are running a computer company but don't 
understand how computers work, and you don't listen to those who do, 
there are going to be problems. Constantly.

Meanwhile, the yertle the turtle workers prop it all up.

Joanna


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