JA WestenbergMar 7
Every "future of work" startup is trying to fix Slack which was built to fix email which was built to fix meetings. At some point you have to consider the possibility that it's not the software. Maybe work is just like this. Maybe the meeting could've been an email and the email could've been nothing.
Show threadBenoît Jones

@Daojoan
I think the problem with a lot of work is that the objectives are intangible and nonaligned. This leads to interminable and inconclusive emails and meetings.

I work in construction, on a construction site. Everyone in our team knows what the (very tangible) objectives are (to build the tunnel safely and to the specified quality) and we all agree on that. Our meetings are as short as possible and very focused. Some are 2mins, some are 10mins, some are 45mins, but rarely longer.

Mar 7 at 6:39amWeb
Show threadOpen RiskMar 7
@huxley @Daojoan there is a name (even a book) for a lot of such work: Bullshit Jobs. It is not an attribute specific to the digital era but it's interesting to think how it might mutate in the age of "AI" - the ultimate bullshit generator.
Show threadBenoît JonesMar 7
@openrisk @Daojoan I have read Bullshit Jobs by David Graeber, and it makes similar arguments about 'meaningful work' but I think my point was slightly different in that it highlighted the need for aligned objectives.
Show threadOpen RiskMar 7
@huxley @Daojoan yes, there is a broad cluster of pathologies. I suppose you mean phenomena like internal organizational politics and such, that manifest in all hierarchies. Ultimately the incentives people have to participate, how their individual aspirations align with group objectives etc. "Digitizing" this mess has not the slightest chance of changing the dynamics 🤣
Show threadBenoît JonesMar 7

@openrisk @Daojoan
Yes, first, values need to be aligned. Then also metrics and incentives need to be aligned, otherwise people are trying to do the right thing against their self-interest, or selfishly doing the wrong thing.

There is another book called 'The subtle art of not giving a f*ck' by Mark Manson, which explains why it is better to first focus on values and metrics, rather than objectives and goals.

Show threadBenoît JonesMar 7
@openrisk @Daojoan
And you are right that digitising or using a different app doesn't change the underlying climate that drives behaviours.
Show threadOpen RiskMar 7

@huxley @Daojoan

In my unapologetic optimism I think there *is* great hope in digital tech.

While some fundamentals about our nature will never change, almost everything else society builds on top is malleable: conventions, contracts, means of book keeping etc., All these social behaviors are using whatever information technologies are available - and are in turn shaped by them.

But we are still in the phase of breaking things fast (and doing broken things faster) rather than building new.