S. Lerner wrote:
>
[snip]
> >Study: Americans Work Longest Hours
> >By Geir Moulson
> >Associated Press Writer
> >Sunday, September 5, 1999; 8:01 p.m. EDT
> >
> >GENEVA (AP) -- Americans work the longest hours in the industrialized
> >world, overtaking the Japanese, according to a United Nations study
> >released Monday.
> >
> >But the U.S. lead in productivity is being whittled away by their European
> >and Japanese rivals, who are working less while Americans stay on the job
> >more, said the report by the International Labor Organization.
> >
> >Hard-working Americans run a risk of burning out, said the ILO's Lawrence
> >Jeff Johnson, co-author of the 600-page ``Key Indicators of the Labor
> >Market'' report. The report was based on figures covering the years
> >1980-1997.
[snip]
> >``As an American myself, working long hours is part of the culture,''
> >Johnson said. ``Whether it's correct, whether it's value-added, in the
> >long
> >haul, who knows.''
> >
> >``People do burn out,'' he said. ``If they keep working this hard for
> >these
> >long hours there is burnout and there is diminishing returns.''
[snip]
Working *hard* versus working *smart*.
Poor management planning can send vast armies of workers to
go out and bust their -sses in endeavors concerning
the outcome of which the
*best* we can hope for is that the project will fail, so that
we and those who come after us will not inherit its consequences.
Sometimes the best expectable outcome is *waste*.
And "working smart" does not primarily mean being technically
clever. It means, first of all, analyzing the encompassing social
horizon and doing what will optimize the inclusive
conditions of all the people's form of life. (E.g., not
designing more fuel efficient cars, but designing a
social world in which people can walk or use the
phone to get to the places
they need to get to.)
I cannot
believe that the current fetishism of "decreased cycle times"
can be anything other than a euphemism for accelerating
haste accelerating accelerating waste. An ever-
accelerating vicious circle which will not
have the felicitous outcome of the nursery rhyme
tigers turning into butter!
As I wrote recently, bosses like to see
"-sses and elbows", although there is a story
(I hope it's true) about when the Industrial Efficiency
experts were contracted by Ford Motor Company, and they found
this guy with his feet propped up on his desk
looking into space. They asked management about this,
and were told to leave that man alone, because he had
had an idea which saved the company millions of dollars,
while sitting in just that position. The exception
and the rule (ref.: Bertold Brecht).
\brad mccormick
--
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
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