November 22, 2022

Perhaps not unreasonable.

ADDED: AND:

47 comments:

tim in vermont said...

I had a manager once who said in a team meeting, and this is an exact quote "Just because something is a top priority, don't let it get in the way of things you've got to do." This would have been one of those "things you have to do." Slightly cringe, but Elon has a vision.

One thing I have noticed about Twitter is that the "DNC Corner," on the top right of the "trending," is gone. That's where they always put the latest stories that were part of whatever propaganda campaign the DNC was pushing that day.

tim in vermont said...

Accomplishment reports under Old Twitter.

Mon: Put Trump-bashing editorial at the top of the trending list, removed two stories embarrassing to Democrats, and banned several accounts who asked impertinent questions about Hunter Biden personal business, such as why did he co-mingle accounts with his father. Nobody's business!
Tues: Made sure that latest puff-piece for Biden from the New York Times was at the top of trending, removed several trending hashtags that ridiculed it. Deboosted several more accounts who purported to "fact check" the story by brining up stuff that nobody should care about.
Wed: Same shit, different day....

Heywood Rice said...

What are signs of a micromanager?

A micromanager may:

Resist delegating work.
Become overly involved in the work of their employees.
Discourage independent decision-making.
Ask for frequent updates.
Expect overly-detailed reports on a regular basis.
Look at every detail rather than focusing on the bigger perspective.
Prefer to be cc'd on every email.

Bill R said...

At my last gig, they had you submit a "Weekly Status Report" to your manager with...

1) What you accomplished.
2) What you plan to accomplish next week.
3) Problems management can help with.
4) Opportunities management can exploit.

It was hard to get used to but once in the habit, it was a useful self discipline.

Note to twitter employees: Your manager has to submit a similar document. He will roll up the status reports and his manager will do the same. If you want to become visible in the corner office several levels above, clarity and brevity are your friends.

gilbar said...

Every time i rewatch that video (that ends with the "red wine, on taPPPP*), i think to myself;
was it Really, only 75% of twitter employees that were redundant?

Enigma said...

That's not rare. Weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual activity reports are routine for many organizations. I wonder if the employees know about hourly billing (e.g., legal fees) and charge codes (i.e., specific tasks and projects).


Expressing shock about this (or posting it as breathless breaking news) reveals ignorance and inexperience.

gilbar said...

okay, i noticed, that in the red wine on taPPPP* video, there doesn't seem to be ANY males, in the entire video.. I think, that MAYBE the line cook Might be a guy, the cook is behind the line, and seems to be wearing a mask (1st i thought it was a beard, but i'm pretty sure it's just a mask).
So, anyway.. IF there IS an apparent male in the video, they are a servant (cook)
LADIES RULE!! Nothing says "productive tech company", like women drinking mochas and espressos, and of Course!) red wine.. That is on taPPPP*

Ann Althouse said...

It's like awkward males were straining to get women to come to their place.

PB said...

OMG! Weekly status reports? How tyrannical? Let your boss know what you've been doing and if you're going to meet your goals and objectives?

That surely melts snowflakes.

Lucien said...

Gee, I wonder . . . has Musk ever run any other companies; because if he’s such a terrible manager, they must have been total flops.
It’s kinda like when Kavanaugh had been an appellate judge for years, and people decided to look at confirmation testimony to guess at what his judicial temperament might be.

tim in vermont said...

Alcohol shuts down first the part of the brain that is used for coding. But I am pretty sure that most of the coding that went on was to create tools for the wine moms to use, so that they could do narrative control with mouse clicks. Red wine would help in that process, because it puts you more in touch with your subconscious mind by shutting out the noise from the thinking mind, and the subconscious is the source of "feelings."

Ron Winkleheimer said...

What Enigma said.

In previous jobs I had to charge my time to specific projects. In my current job the team I belong to has a daily stand up meeting where you report on what you worked on the day before and what you plan on working on that day. It is also used to report any issues you may be running into.

tim maguire said...

Virtually every critic of Musk at Twitter knows basically nothing about how to run a company. One of the biggest indictments of old Twitter is how many of those critics were running Twitter before Musk go there. Musk is the tide that went out, revealing who wasn't wearing pants.

Tank said...

'leaked email"

Yeah, that's a request to be fired.

gilbar said...

Ann Althouse said...
It's like awkward males were straining to get women to come to their place.

actually, i kinda thought that TOO!

Ladies! are you attractive? Would a geeky gawky nerd think you're attractive?
THEN JOIN US AT TWITTER! The food is phenomenal! And, the red wine? It's on taPPPP* !!
Note: There are LOTS of rich guys working here, geeky gawky nerdy guys.. But RICH!!!

Temujin said...

I love the last shown tweet to Elon from Blue Check Patrol. Imagine coming up with a 'Breaking' tweet that someone's boss wants weekly updates on their productivity? Hell...anyone in a sales position would just roll their eyes. It was a way of life for years. Sales reports, forecasts, etc. Forget what you did last week. What are you gonna do this week?

Who doesn't get judged regularly on their work quality, productivity, competence? Well...I mean beside people at large tech companies, people in academia, and people working for government at any level?

Quayle said...

You can’t classify it as micromanagement until you know if he permanently does it, or if this is only temporarily. If temporarily, then it is a “getting up to speed” or “getting the full picture in my head” activity.

Howard said...

This is me being very triggered about Althouses obviously sexist remark describing the awkwardness of your stereotypical high-tech nerdy male. Maybe just maybe this is Management's way of trying to calm down those aggressive awkward males so that they get more in touch with their feminine side.

Gusty Winds said...

Tim in Vermont said...One thing I have noticed about Twitter is that the "DNC Corner," on the top right of the "trending," is gone. That's where they always put the latest stories that were part of whatever propaganda campaign the DNC was pushing that day.

The change in trends is unbelievable. I always knew they were just Twitter pushing left wing propaganda. Not organic. I wonder how organic those trends are now under Musk? If they are more organic and show what people are really talking about, and not bot driven, it's a massive change.

Last weekend Ray Epps was trending on and off #1 for two days. This morning Ivermectin is trending #1 with Vaccines #2. Also "Suddenly Died" has been trending a lot. There is a documentary coming out about the strange textured blood clots morticians are seeing due to the mRNA shots.

rehajm said...

I wonder if the employees know about hourly billing (e.g., legal fees) and charge codes (i.e., specific tasks and projects).

Yah, billable hours is a wonderful metric. Not many companies can use it so you gotta have something else. Musk seems on the right track...

The coming recession will help clear things up, too...

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
It's like awkward males were straining to get women to come to their place.

I'd imagine many of those productive "awkward males" can just pay women to come to their place. And plenty will respond to the call. Plus, it's guaranteed they leave.

Ask Hunter Biden.

rehajm said...

Quayle said...
You can’t classify it as micromanagement until you know if he permanently does it, or if this is only temporarily. If temporarily, then it is a “getting up to speed” or “getting the full picture in my head” activity


Yes- autonomy is for motivated staffers. Musk is trying to identify them…

n.n said...

Breaking news: Blue collar accountability comes to white collar jobs

Ron Winkleheimer said...

Also, the advice everyone gives for creating a resume and responding to interview questions is to showcase the value you added to your previous employers' bottom line. No one cares if you did a bunch of "stuff." How did you save the previous employer money and/or increase their revenue. Did you automate something that was previously handled manually? How much time did that save? Did you improve a product so that customers used it more? How much money did that add to the bottom line?

Jamie said...

It [providing a brief weekly status report] was hard to get used to but once in the habit, it was a useful self discipline.

But self discipline is the death of creativity... right, Heywood? Do you ever make a shopping list so that when you're cooking something, you know you have everything you need? Or a household budget, so you know that after you pay bills you can afford that vacation?

rehajm said...

How did you save the previous employer money and/or increase their revenue. Did you automate something that was previously handled manually? How much time did that save? Did you improve a product so that customers used it more? How much money did that add to the bottom line?

…all important questions when someone makes a priority of earnings. A recent phenomenon at Twitter…

Dude1394 said...

Wow, in the tech industry for 30+ years. I cannot remember a time when I did not create weekly reports. Thry became the basis of my yearly performance reviews, and the basis of resume building.

Fred Drinkwater said...

A brief history of Silly Valley:
ROLM Corp 1983 weekly team status and project status
Adobe 1994 weekly team status and project status
Konica-Minolta 2002 daily 8 AM project status
Good-Visto 2008 daily standups, weekly global status

The sole exception was Tencor Instruments, where meetings were not needed because I worked directly with literally everyone in the company except the CEO, everyday.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

A weekly creative writing assignment like this is perfect for quiet quitters.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Leland said...

My company put some of that stuff in. We had the "log cabin" room, foozball, and "quiet rooms" (really less yoga and more for nursing mothers and Muslim prayer). With the possible exception of the quiet room (which I never checked), the other stuff didn't/doesn't get used (cabin is gone). We recognized the items for what they were, incentives to stay at work rather than get work done and go home to families that really cared about us.

As for wine on tap, my company has nothing against having a drink at the end of the day and, for social settings, would allow you to expense it. However, they do care about the liability of encouraging employees to drink and drive. Uber is encouraged for social events. Yet alcohol on tap? Yeah, hard no. It really isn't a behavior that encourages safe employees.

n.n said...

Modern model of productivity: invented... reinvented the better mouse trap. That said, prices are progressive, mandates are massive, and socializing is occupation, six digits, with bonuses, #MeToo time, and don't spare the baby, please.

n.n said...

It's like awkward males were straining to get women to come to their place.

Some aggressive women, too. Keep women affordable, available, and taxable, and the "burden" of evidence planned, sequestered in darkness. Women have broken the glass ceiling. Welcome, laments, of all people, Schumer: We're not viable. Immigration reform, NOW.

PM said...

There was a stocked bar in the office where I worked.
It opened at 5:30. Now and then it would fuel good ideas.
It closed permanently the day bartenders in town became liable when their patrons were caught drunk-driving home.

holdfast said...

The funny thing is, I bet that videos like that were either encouraged or actually required as part of recruiting efforts. Oh, well, the seasons change.

holdfast said...

The funny thing is, I bet that videos like that were either encouraged or actually required as part of recruiting efforts. Oh, well, the seasons change.

JAORE said...

I recall a funding proposal I was given to review in my former (working) life. The recipient would "endeavor", "encourage", "facilitate", blah-blah-blah.

My review was short and simple.... There are no deliverables.

The proposal was rejected.

I suspect a LOT of Twitter folk don't deliver anything at all.

tim in vermont said...

That was funny, Left Bank.

Got my first blue check follower today, not a rent-a-check guy either.

JK Brown said...

Management controls - everything management does to ensure employees are working toward the goals of the company while on the job.

I thought just yesterday how Musk's changes at Twitter are really just a manifestation of the projected the 'Revenge of the Material Economy' article by Joel Kotkin. Sure a Twitter trimmed down to a nimble fighting force is still working with bits and bytes, but it is down to the people who make, move and maintain those bits and bytes, just like those in the material economy make, move and maintain physical things.

wildswan said...

Did Twitter really conquer the problem of serving hot, tasty food from a steam table? The world needs to know this secret. Elon could open Twitter Job fast-food places with amazing food from a steam table financing green breakfast gunk, wine on tap and video games. Patrons could knock out whatever is trending on Real Twitter on a Glory Days game app.

Joe Smith said...

Most bosses I had set expectations for the week/month and expected progress reports.

Kind of normal stuff...

One (great) boss told us, 'Here are the things to get done for the week.' If we did them, he didn't care what we did with the rest of our time; golf, jogging, whatever.

Tomcc said...

Two thoughts: I think the "day in the life" video is parody, and one of my favorite movie lines: "You've never worked in the private sector...they expect results!".

Jason said...

@Joe Smith...

That's how salaried (exempt) employment is supposed to be! By law, actually. If you show up for half a day (or one hour... I forget which) you're entitled to your full salary for the week.

Everybody knows if you don't deliver you won't get your weekly salary for long. Back to the time clock with you! At some other company!

I always tried to give people challenges that are within their capabilities, or just outside them so they have to stretch... and then tell them "I'm not going to tell you how to suck the egg. As long as y'all suck the hell out of the egg, and it fits within the boss's intent two levels up."

Make sure they know the boss's intent.

And make sure they have the resources and mentoring to accomplish and outperform. People surprise to the upside all the time.

Mason G said...

"Did you improve a product so that customers used it more?"

Whoever had the idea to add "Lather, rinse, repeat" to shampoo bottles was onto something.

Larry J said...

https://youtu.be/C2UK0l6TwVs

Freeman Hunt said...

People on my Facebook feed post about how Twitter is being destroyed and Musk is a total failure, and then I go over to Twitter, and it's exactly the same. Nothing noticeable has changed. Seems to be doing just fine.

Mason G said...

"People on my Facebook feed post about how Twitter is being destroyed and Musk is a total failure..."

Well... they've still got Facebook, so that should be enough. Right?