Disconnected 136
| Disconnected: Haves and Have Nots in the Information Age | |
| author | William Wresch |
| pages | 268 |
| publisher | Rutgers University Press |
| rating | 7/10 |
| reviewer | Jon Katz |
| ISBN | 0-8135-2370-2 |
| summary | disparities in information distribution and transmission |
Are you a cultural isolate? According to Disconnected: Haves and Have Nots in the Information Age, by William Wresch, "isolates" comprise between 27% and 50% of the members of most corporate and private organizations.
"Many individuals," he writes, "have tenuous connections to the organizations they work for. They want no more to do with that organization than their job, or their paycheck, requires. They don't show up at the company picnic, read the company newsletter, or tune in to the company grapevine."
Wresch suggests that this is so because despite the explosion in new information technologies, most companies don't know how to get their employees to communicate with one another. He says it's impossible to imagine any Japanese organization reporting 7% alienated employees, much less 50%. U.S. organizations not only have huge numbers of isolated employees but still manage to survive and prosper.
Wresch cites Lucasfilms which discovered through internal research that there was almost no horizontal communication between editors, cinematographers, and artists, to which it responded by carefully restructuring its softball teams so that no team could have more than one person from the same department.
Curiously, Wresch portrays "isolates" as problem employees in need of curing. (I consider myself an isolate. I am quite happy to belong to an organization, but have no interest in showing up at the company picnic, reading the company newsletter, or wiring into the company grapevine. Nor do I want to join the company softball team (the idea of a Slashdot softball team is pretty amusing) to make me more social or communal. Working alone, or from something of a distance seems to me as valid a choice as being the kind of rah-rah team players the Disney Corporation breeds and encourages.)
But Disconnected is still a thoughtful, provocative study of a world in which there are vast and growing disparities between what people know and how they know it. His portrayals of information realities in other parts of the world are startling, an information context most Americans are losing touch with. He writes of "information exiles" whose culture or geography keep them disconnected from the information age. He also reminds us that our own techno-rich culture is still, in many ways, an anomaly in the world. He contrasts the way information moves around in the info-rich West with the way information moves (or doesn't) in Namibia, where he spent some time working and researching.
What will happen to the disconnected of the information age, he wonders? "As subsistence farming and handicrafts persisted through the industrial age, will the disconnected carry on, barely feeding themselves, producing the primitive and quaint for middle-class coffee tables? Early indications are that the disconnected will fare far worse than their predecessors in previous revolutions. The gap between the rich and the poor, the knowing and the ignorant, will be larger, the room along the margins far smaller."
Disconnected is a reminder that our own information experiences -- especially those in America, Asia and Western Europe -- aren't yet remotely typical of the world, where laborers often stand on street corners for hours, even days,waiting to hear some news about possible jobs. And even in our own hi-tech cultures, there are curious disparities between information haves and have-nots. Wresch, a computing professor at the University of Wisconsin, also raises a number of useful ideas about closing the information divide, from community computing centers to the conversion of civic and public affairs offices to electronic centers of information dissemination.
"Cultures of isolation aren't the only problems of personal information channels," he writes. "Since these channels are largely invisible, they can be filled with myths, lies, and hatreds. Few outsiders even know what is being said, nor do they have opportunities to correct even the most egregious errors. Yet error-prone or not, these are channels that supply much of the world's information."
You might not always agree with Wresch's conclusions, and he raises many more questions than solutions, but "Disconnected" is an interesting book (the writing isn't great but workable) which looks at information technology from an original perspective, especially for a computing academic. The book tells some uncomfortable truths about information and technology, and as happy as we are to play with our information-scarfing new toys and tools, it's an important reality check. Wresch essentially is writing about the forgotten people in the Information Revolution, the info-refugees and exiles, the people who fall between the cracks, unable or unwilling to use technology to collect information in an accessible or beneficial way.
Purchase this book at ThinkGeek.
Isn't this why IBM has their worldwide campaign? (Score:2)
Is he talking about introverts? (Score:1)
I'm confused here, first Katz talks about people who don't want to play software, then he talks about information have nots.
You can have a rich social life without playing softball on the company team. For instance, I correspond about my interests with people all over the world, and every few years I actually meet one of my correspondents in the flesh.
And just last weekend I talked to a woman while buying donuts, I'm hardly a social malcontent just because I don't play softball.
And I know how to use a browser, because that's how I meet my friends, in the chat rooms.
Thsi review made my head hurt.
Re:Isn't this why IBM has their worldwide campaign (Score:1)
Well ppbbbpbbtt!!! (Score:3)
Sorry boss, but I have a life, and it isn't my job. I know the folks who keep up with the grape vine in my department, and I talk to them just enough to figgure out what is going on here. Those who work with me closely know where I'm the expert, and I know the experts I normally work with. I know that this product must do something useful, but it doesn't matter, my job is to make sure the fans are running, and if not warn the customers. I don't need to know anything about what the customer would buy this box for. I know mky co-workers are smart people and will see their part works, and the grapevine people are watching over the whole thing to make sure I can spend my time working with fans (and many related things), not worring about how I will affect them.
There are only so many man-months in my life, and If I had to personally know everyone on this project The number avaiable for me to concentrate on fans is greatly reduced.
I like to fish. I like enjoy creating a program. I don't enjoy talking to many people or meeting new people. I know folks who do enjoy that type of work, and so I let them be my connection to the rest of the company. It works good for all of us.
Fortunatly my boss knows that I work to feed and shelter me. We would both be retired if we didn't have to eat and have warm cloths on our backs. We both have friends who do not work in the same building as us. We both know that we spend about half our waking hours at work already.
PS, for those who don't get the subtilties of english, pppbbbbt is the closest I can come in words to sticking my tongue out at those who think I should live according to what they think is important.
New Game (Score:5)
In this exciting computer game adventure, JonKatz is trapped in the socialist-devout readings section of the University of Wisconsin library, forced to write book reviews from nearsited, geek-angst drivel.
Do you help JonKatz excape to the Christian reading room for the salvation of his soul, or seek the Objectivist section for the restoration of his mind? Or let him rot as he reads of hatred for Western civilization and professes the superiority of the uneducated rice-paddy masses.
Only your guidance and your quick reactions gives Katz any hope!
Sure to be an arcade classic. In stores soon.
So What? (Score:2)
So, what's his point? (Score:1)
Stress perhaps??? (Score:1)
How to make a sig
without having an idea
"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
I do like the idea of a slashdot softball team. I'll play left field.
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Re:Slashdot needs a spell checker (Score:1)
It is a matter of choice (Score:2)
If I do not want to be part of the corporate culture(i.e. going to the picnic) I should not be thought of as alienated. I DO have a life and I want to have friends I do not see every day. But I am in the IT field.
Many peoples jobs are not able to be performed in an isolated environment for those workers alienation can seriously impact their work and spill over in to thier private life(go postal).
In the end it boils down to a matter of choice. I like to be isolated to work but sometimes I do the Company thing.
Re:Isn't this why IBM has their worldwide campaign (Score:2)
The previous poster had it right.
This sounds just like the University of Wisconsin (Score:1)
The University of Wisconsin (and Madison, and Wisconsin, and the Midwest in general) is pathologically sports-obsessed. That kind of thinking is one of the reasons I left town. Now I'm a couple blocks off the campus of MIT. The only time MIT goes to the Rose Bowl is when CalTech hacks the scoreboard, in which case MIT gets creamed.
Yes, I'm a "cultural isolate" (Score:2)
So frickin' what????
The author portrays "isolates" as a problem in his book most likely because he's a management weenie whose life is defined by their job. Mine isn't -- for me my job is strictly a business transaction. I work, they pay me. Period. If you want me at the picnic, pay me to show up. I don't work to make friends, I already have friends.
I wonder if in his book the author ever attempts to justify the assumption that being an "isolate" is a bad thing. I highly doubt it.
Not by choice (Score:1)
Not all "isolates" are isolated by choice. I happen to live in a very small town because of my SO's occupation. I telecommute as a software developer and have a near-constant flow of emails and periodic phone communication with the main office, but I don't take part in staff meetings, much less social events.
Locally, I have no peer group because chicken farmers (at least the ones I know) don't write code. There are people to socialize with, but I have zero face time with /. types.
I guess I qualify for this broad generalization, but the stereotype doesn't necessarily address the cause.
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Is he talking about introverts? (Score:1)
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Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:1)
Also, the book was written in 96 - I wonder why Katz doesn't discuss if it is still relevant today...
But.... (Score:2)
---
Confusing "isolates" with technilliterates? (Score:3)
...SNIP
Early indications are that the disconnected will fare far worse than their predecessors in previous revolutions. The gap between the rich and the poor, the knowing and the ignorant, will be larger, the room along the margins far smaller."
Without having read the book, from Katz' review it sounds like the Wresch confuses "cultural isolates" with ignorance. Sure, channels of information will be different between social groups, but that doesn't mean one group of information is any less valuable than another.
I'm not sure whether this is just Katz' spin or the author's opinion, but I'm really getting tired of reading about the poor technilliterates. Almost every non-technical person feels like they don't know enough about computers. However, almost all of them know enough to do what they need to do with computers. We still need people to build roads, design buildings, make coffee tables, airplanes, etc. Not everyone needs to be a programmer. Sure, some of these skills require some basic computer skills, but people learn what they need to learn to do these things. Most people studying aerodynamics are not going to have any trouble learning CAD. Someone with the talent to write the next great work of literature will figure out Abiword (or whatever) without too much trouble.
The problem is not with "technical literacy". The problem is with education in general. Teaching people to read is far more important than teaching them to use computers, and is a far more difficult thing to learn. People who can read well can teach themselves all they need to know about computers, which may very well be nothing.
My basic lack of connectivity (Score:2)
I had an internet connection at my home for a little while with freewwweb and thought it was rather nice. No more having to dick around with floppies just to get a program broken up into disk sized chunks. No more being forced to wait for a computer to borrow. In fact it was incredibly nice.
Then the bastards decided to sell out and screw their clients. I faithfully went to their portal every day and they still went down the sewer in the end.
What irritates me is that a company is funding the development of network infrastructure and connectivity when people who live in the USA are still without net access. It's kind of like dealing with African refuges when we have homeless, poor, and disadvantaged right here at home.
And I doubt that IBM was solely responsible for upgrading the technology of India. I think that the period that India was a British colony had something more to do with it becomming a better and more influential world power and going from 13th to 19th century technology.
Oh and computers as we know them were invented in roughly the last quarter of the *20th* century not the 19th, Babages difference engine dosn't count.
Disconnected By Choice (Score:1)
Re:Is he talking about introverts? (Score:1)
Corporate culture doesn't WANT you to have a rich social life. Corporate culture wants you to "hive-in" to the company "family." If the only people you regularly associate with are also your coworkers, it helps to blur the lines between job/home until you suddenly don't mind working 10+ hours of overtime a week, because you're still just hanging out with your buddies.
I play music. I have for more than half my life. (I'm 25) When 5pm hits, I'm out the door. I go practice or I go record something, or I go to a club. I'm not interested in going to a bar with the guys from work, or bowling or anything. I'm not interested in standing around in the lobby gossipping about who got breast implants and who got fired and who got caught with so-and-so's wife.
If all of that makes me a "Isolate" so be it. I always have been. Work is job. Work is not life. Work is a means to provide me with the cashflow I need to do what *I* want to do with life. If I could figure out a way to cut out the work and still have the cash, I'd walk away and never look back.
I'd rather spend my days reading, playing my songs, exercising, meditating.
(anybody wanna sponsor me?)
-The Reverend
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:1)
-Mark Gordon
Taking class to a global level (Score:2)
Most of it didn't really hit home with me. It's obvious that a large portion of the world remains unconnected and lives a simpler life, and that many of them may not be aware that a network like the internet even exists.
The book basically takes the division of classes to the next level, going beyond the advantage those with technical knowledge have above the less-educated, and taking it to a global area with comparisons to villages in Africa. There are more cars in the state of New Jersey than all of Africa.
Don't differences like this make it obvious enough? For the geek reader, this book gets a 4/10
Thank you, and I'm appalled (Score:1)
for this some mod modded you as redundant?
You lost kharma because some mod doesn't understand numbers?
Boo. hiss.
Social aspects of work (Score:1)
the lines between job/home until you suddenly don't mind working 10+ hours of overtime a week, because you're still just hanging out with your buddies.
Maybe it's a culture thing but none of my family ever worked in an office. The one difference is that when work ended my dad always returned home. He was never the type to hand around the job gossiping or being something that the company wanted him to be.
My grandfather was more like a person who enjoyed social aspects of his job. He spent long hours doing his job but it was more of love for his job and the ability to get work he enjoyed done. In this aspect he was more aloof.
Of course you want dedicated workers but I doubt in the real world anybody expects to be forcing you to do more and more work. Besides at least in the United States you get paid 150% of your normal salary if you in fact do work any over time. In this respect they *don't* want you to work any more time than normal.
"We DEMAND you have FUN.. on our terms!" (Score:3)
I can only wonder what they and places similar would do about those of us who would rather avoid softball (and other "but everybody likes x" activities).
Probably something about 'not a team a player' or other such dreck. Am I an 'isolate'? Perhaps. But let's get cause and effect straight first shall we? Maybe the 'popular' things are the same things I'd sooner visit a dentist than get involved in. (I have finally gotten my coworkers trained enough to not bother me with their "fun" things I find nauseating or painful.. took long enough too).
About apparent isolation the first question should be "Is it real?" and follow that with "And if so, is it a problem?" and only after finding 'yes' as an answer to both questions should a treatment be sought -- and of that it must be asked "Will this help, or it will cause resentment?" Just becuase some simpleton believes "everybody likes X" doesn't make it the case. (Quick: Does every geek like Star Wars? Does every male watch the Superbowl?)
I'm just tired of being seen as a nail by imbeciles that only have hammers.
Whose fault? (Score:4)
So far, every company that I've worked for has had a "downsizing" (or "reorganization" or "resource action" -- my favorite -- or whatever euphamistic label they want to attach to firing people). Given that, and the prospect that similar actions will continue, some find it pointless to become attached to people with whom they work.
Now, compound the above with the increase in hours worked per week. (Note: people in other countries may work more hours, but if you're used to working 40 hours a week and now work 50, you have less free time.) If your available free time is less, do you want to use it playing softball with the people you're already spending more time with? ("Gee, Chuck, I know you've just worked 70 hours a week for the last month, but I'm disappointed you skipped the picnic the company so generously arranged for us.")
Companies have for a long time shown less loyalty to employees than in the past. This is changing, now, because it's a "seller's market" for hi-tech employees. My feeling -- too little, too f**king late.
So what are your definitions (Score:2)
Personally Namabian tribesmen only have access to the information and knowledge of their peers. They spend their entire lives alone with their thoughts and live a substince life where basic animal urges rule the roost so to speak. As much as I want to have to constantly worry about where my next meal is comming from of what will happen to my life if the next season dosn't bring good rain I really don't.
The life of a farmer/herder/hunter&gatherer is a crappy one that not many people like. Farmers usually spend almost all their time working and worrying from sunup to sundown. I personally knew of a professor who was raised on a farm not to mention my own dad and basically you work from sun-up to sun-down until you are dead on your feet. It's not fun.
The inexact colloquial term you are looking for is "street smarts" which I do not equate with either information or knowledge.
Pot. Kettle. (Score:2)
Pot and kettle anyone?
Abashed the Devil stood,
And felt how awful goodness is
Re:Social aspects of work (Score:1)
You're assuming that the poor bastard working overtime is being paid hourly and isn't salaried...
-------
Chapter 4. (Score:2)
Re:Is he talking about introverts? (Score:2)
Heh, you think you're annoyed by the article... My situation is similar but even more extreme/ironic. I temp in large part because I want to stand exempt from any corporation's culture, because.... I'm a musician (25 years). However, unlike you I'm not rushing off from work to do solo work. I rush off to practice or gig with my 10+ member dance band and the 10+ member a cappella singing group. To refer to me as an "isolate" is hysterical.
If I'm so freeken "isolate" WTF do I spend all my spare time dealing with large groups of people?
Katz, don't confuse a healthy sense of alienation with being "isolated".
----------------------------------------------
Useless tidbits. (Score:2)
They may not buy many, but damn! They've got taste!
Au contraire (Score:1)
Re:My basic lack of connectivity (Score:1)
What irritates me is that a company is funding the development of network infrastructure and connectivity when people who live in the USA are still without net access. It's kind of like dealing with African refuges when we have homeless, poor, and disadvantaged right here at home.
Uhhhhhhm I'm sorry: precisely *what* makes you believe that you, as a resident of the USA, in some manner have a 'right' to connectivity, such that a company devoting resources to connectivity outside the US is an infringement on you?
Go out and buy a freakin' phone line and a modem. If you have a decent job, get DSL or a leased line. Don't complain in a public forum because other countries in the world are getting basic 8-year-old comms technology developed?
There is *NO* way anyone with a rational mind can argue that an american has any right to connectivity. You have what you pay for / invest time, energy and smarts in learning to use. That's life.
~cHris
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:1)
Oh yeah, not everyone at the UW is obsessed with athletics. Somebody must have gotten picked last for playground kickball quite a bit to get a chip on their shoulder that big!
Access to Information != Not Isolated (Score:2)
What are the isolates isolated from anyway? From what someone outside of their circle deems important. Do remote tribal people feel isolated? I would imagine that they feel far more connected with one another than those of us who are connected only through the ether. Aren't we all to some extent isolated (or insulated perhaps) from most of the rest of the world? By the definition (as I understood it) of this author, most of our leaders are isolates, depending on a cadre of 'connected' individuals to sort through the flotsam and jetsam of the information cesspool to locate the important information -- the kind of stuff one needs in order to make an informed decision.
I know, some of you will say, "I don't want to be dependant on others for my information. I do my own research." The fact is we who are 'connected' don't do our own research for most things. We cruise around the net looking for information that is provided by others and then we decide which information is valid and which is not (usually based upon our own mental filters rather than the validity of the data -- discounting sources here and accepting others that validate what we already believe).
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Re:yes indeed! (Score:2)
Re:Whose fault? (Score:2)
It's not just company picnics.
I freelance in medical information writing, and occasionally work in-house with my main client. It's a very typical tech setting, so typical that the "perk's" -- free sodas and snacks, fooseball -- have been lampooned in local recruiting adds. What I found surprising was how little work got done in the meantime, despite looming deadlines. Sure there was bonding with the CEO, but did that get the job done? I was glad to be on an hourly-rate clock to avoid all that.
I grew up near Disney, and have had my fill of the "Rah-Rah" crap. In my arrogant opinion, it only works with those firmly under the middle of the bell curve.
I have to disagree with those statistics (Score:2)
You see, you can't do regular survey work when looking for these data -- employees either don't bother to fill them out, or they do fill them out but lie, hoping to kiss up to management or simply not jeopardize their jobs.
You might think you could just measure attendance at these events. But people do have good reasons for not coming, like busy personal lives or kids to drive to soccer games, etc. And measuring attendance at alcohol-laced cocktail parties on Fridays doesn't help either, since most people do stop by on their way out, for a quick beer if nothing else.
So, we had to come up with a unique methodology to implement. And I bet you'll never guess what we used: bathroom breaks. We installed cameras in the ir-activation mechanisms on those automatic toilets the company had installed two years previously, and we cross-matched bathroom-goers with the company facebook. It turns out, so-called "corporate isolates" are more likely to take frequent bathroom breaks, where they can escape the banter of coworkers (and decrease productivity at the same time). Like I said, the range came out to about "40%-60%", and needless to say, management was not pleased.
An interesting footnote, though, was the number of managers who also fit the profile according to our methodology. You'd think they'd be more likely to interact with others, being managers and all, but you'd be mistaken.
But in that IBM commercial... (Score:2)
Problems with the medium (Score:2)
infringement on you?
Because a bunch of Indian peseants aren't the focus of society or industry for Americans to worry about when there are massive social problems right here at home. I say if the Indian people want access make them pay through the nose for it like we did in the early days of the internet. We shouldn't be bailing out another country and leave our own with slaves.
Go out and buy a freakin' phone line and a modem. If you have a decent job, get DSL or a leased line. Don't complain in a public forum because other countries in the world are getting basic 8-year-old comms
technology developed?
Check and double check. I have one land line and a 2400 baud modem. And I run linux. There should be not problem right? Wrong the rather stupid ISPs like Juno don't seem to get it through their head that they screwed me as a loyal customer when freewwweb closed. Linux was supported by them and worked extremely well. The the idiots take and "extent" the ppp protocol that is the mainstay for real communication and prevent anyone from using it. And they have the gall never to release a linux port despite need by a large number of people to have such a port done.
There is *NO* way anyone with a rational mind can argue that an american has any right to connectivity. You have what you pay for / invest time, energy and smarts in learning to use. That's life.
As long as the internet and it's inherent use are a prerequisite for doing *anything* and it becomes such a major issue and such you really do need it.
Take recent versions of windows. It's almost impossible to actually use some apps (like Word 2000) without registering first via an online connection first. Then windows "needs" to update itself via some form of online manner and also needs access. Not to mention to numbers of collegiate classes that are now going online for the interaction and using the web as a medium to turn solutions to problems (physics comes to mind). So yes I think that with all the emphasis on net connectivity and the fact that it's becomming a freebie option for almost all the net you *cannot* justify to me that it isn't a right. It's just simply baffling why people ignore linux with regard to the use of free ISPs. How damn hard is it to simply port your damn code to something that would give you more eyeballs. And don't give me the worn out excuse that linux makes it trivial to prevent seeing ads. You can program linux to prevent access without seeing ads. And you can bypass the ads on windows as well with a little bit of cleaver programming knowledge.
Is this a joke? (Score:2)
Based on this kind of reporting, it's a wonder that any of the book's stats are reliable.
So what if less Japanese feel "disconnected" than Americans? That in itself says very little, since there's a significant difference culturally beyond the confines of corporate life. A rough analogy would be:
"It's considered possible that a far greater percentage of Star Wars fans are familiar with Jabba the Hut than an equivalent group of Gone With the Wind buffs."
Japanese culture has a much stronger bias toward group membership, whereas the US is much more concerned with individuality as an ideal. This goes for school, social interaction and any number of other aspects of daily life. But I wouldn't say that this differeence is the some reason why more Americans feel disconnected, nor would I say that the different percentage proves anything beyond the author's proven ability to type the numbers "7" and 50".
The fact that the author uses meaningless stats like these to support what seems to be a pretty empty concept in the first place indicates that this is more an effort to sell books than to actually say something worth listening to.
Re:Isn't this why IBM has their worldwide campaign (Score:2)
Seriously wrong. India kicked IBM out of the country in the mainframe era because IBM wouldn't go for local ownership. As a result, computing in India skipped the mainframe era; for a long time DEC was the dominant vendor.
Working in isolation isn't always good. (Score:3)
The classic example is the Shaker barn raising. While the people are working together, they are essentially autonomous. People get together with a pile of wood in the morning and at the end of the day they end up with a barn. They've done so many of these things anybody can simply see the next thing to be done that he is capable of. When this kind of structure works, it is perfect because there is no wasted time put into management or meetings. So -- routine performance of easily partitioned tasks of moderate complexity work well in the autonomous mode.
On the other hand, consider the Bletchley park scenario. While each cryptanalyst works alone on a particular message, they may call in others with a special knack, and need to meet to develop and share new methods. Extremely difficult creative work then requires give and take and considerable interaction with coworkers.
Now consider the job of processing insurance claims. It is very routine, predictable, with measurable success metrics; on the other hand change does happen occaisionally and procedures must be altered. This is an environment tailor made for hierarchy (i.e. bureaucracy).
Now look at your own organization. It probably has elements of all three of these models, and perhaps others.
From a purely functional standpoint, different tasks require that organizations different social structures. Most require that people know each other and communicate on a regular basis. What goes on around the water cooler is often more important than appears. I once talked to a groupware expert who was working on a job for a large insurance company. New top management had looked at the org chart and identified a layer of management with no identifiable purpose. Using B-school logic, they eliminated it, only to find out that layer dealt with tasks having to do with vital interdepartmental coordination.
It's nice to have friends at work too. Many if not most people are happier being part of a team than being an anonymous productive factor.
Bravo. (Score:2)
The Divine Creatrix in a Mortal Shell that stays Crunchy in Milk
Corporations do not DESERVE to be our communities (Score:2)
Excuse me: American corporations do not DESERVE to be our communities.
All human beings have to a greater or lesser extent a hunger for community. It is an itch we all need to scratch, regardless of whether we are introverts or extroverts.
But just because we desire and enjoy and possibly even need it, does not make us stupid. And just as, even though thirsty we are smart enough not to drink poisoned water, many of us are clever enough not to try to sate our appetite for human connection on the poisonous pseudo-culture in the workplace!
In Western culture, there is this idea of not mixing business and pleasure. This isn't just some archaic uptightness -- it's a self-defense mechanism for employees. (See Miss Manners, of all authors, for technical explication.)
Community exterts tremendous power over its members. Your employer already controls your entire financial situation (and possibly your relationship with your doctor, and day care for your kids, etc.) The business/pleasure dichotomy keeps the business world from seizing the power of community, too.
Or put it another way, if the time you could have spent growing friendships outside of your place of employment you spend socializing with your co-workers.... if you try to leave that job, precisely whom do you know to network with to get a job somewhere else? If pissing off the boss means everyone you hang out with no longer wants to risk being seen with you, how often will you stick your neck out?
Of course corporations want more community in the work place -- they'd love for every time an employee thinks about quitting, they also think "but then I'd have to leave all my friends!" They want hostages!
And trust them (and apparently the author of this book) to deliberately confuse community with communications. Communications, boy-os, is something that starts from the top, and implies little about emotional interactions. Yah don't have to like each other to talk to each other about work. (That's called "Professionalism", BTW.) Community is completely about emotional relationships.
Yeah, corporate america keeps looking for ways to manipulate its workers into submission. Now it's community. Last year it was "family" [fastcompany.com], and, get this, religion.
Companies don't deserve that kind of power over us. And we are not defective for refusing to grant it them!- ---
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Do You Know Your Neighbor? (Score:2)
this disconnection starts.
I think this is a problem with our culture, brought on especially in population centers. It's been growing ever since transportation/communication advances gave us the luxury of being able to ignore the people around us (that is, those who live close or are otherwise in proximity to us) during the day. Why be neighborly when you can go/talk anywhere? So you learn to be personally disproximate. Then you start at work...
An example of the neighbor thing: the other day, my girlfriend and I dropped by her old apartment, to see if some mail had come there for her. When we got there, there was a guy wandering around inside with a flashlight. No lights on. Very strange. She knocked on the door anyway, and the guy was very short with her. We became suspicious, and even more so when he finally turned on a light, because that meant he _could_ have had the light on the whole time. We waffled about what to do, and then finally decided to knock on the doors of the two neighboring apartments and see if they knew who their new neighbors were and if it matched the description of who my gf saw. Did they know their neighbors? Of course not. Heck, they wouldn't even answer the door at first, they were wrapped up enough in what was on TV, and they didn't even open the door when they did come to it (I am not a threatening looking person, either).
We get far too good at ignoring those around us.
Oh no, I'm culturaly isolated! (Score:2)
There is also the fact that the male to female ratio here is about 1:10. Most of the watercooler discussions are of no interest to me and can easily move into territory I don't want to go to.
Re:Isn't this why IBM has their worldwide campaign (Score:2)
Wot? steam engines, lead piping, and the Velocipede?
Go IBM! That's one company with it's finger on the pulse.
Arghhh! (Score:2)
I think it's because most of us work for our company to live not live to work for our company. I enjoy my work, the company I work for has good working conditions - but let's face it, I really don't want to spend any more time there than necessary - especially doing sports that I find boring!
Management does occasionally forget that, and you get the "not a team player" etc. comments. However, with the difficulty in hiring people in our industry at the moment, it's easy to remind management you work here to live, not live to work here - by reminding them you can quit if they make you work any more unpaid overtime.
Now if we had a bowling team in our department, yes - I would do that, but that's because it's something I enjoy and I can drink beer whilst doing it ;-)
Re:I have to disagree with those statistics (Score:1)
Why couldn't you use a counter or something? I think it's an invasion of privacy to install cameras in the toilets! Are you looking for a lawsuit or something?
That would be sticking it out and vibrating (Score:1)
Disc'd (Score:1)
The information technology field has more than enough information to keep one busy for a lifetime, and geeks who develop that uncontrollable thirst for knowledge try to gain as much as possible without waisting time.
So why go to the company picnic and waste 10 minutes reading newsletters when you could read man pages, books and write code instead?
That's the reason I'm disconnected. And I think I speak for quite a few people. It's not something bad. In fact, developing this interest in computers and everything related to them is the best thing that's ever happened to me...
--------------
Re:Whose fault? (Score:2)
I wish that were true. Unfortunately, some corps have people clever enough to come up with things which appeal to geeks, and, unfortunately, there are pleanty of emotionally vulnerable geeks. It's just like a cult.
The temptation for many geeks (in those work environments which manage to forgo the geek-repelling activities for the geek-attracting) is a ready-made social life. You don't have to deal with the effort of initiating social interactions or maintaining relationships. You never have to pick up a phone and call someone, never risk getting an email say "sorry, I'm busy", never have to make the first move with strangers. All you have to do is show up, and *poof*, you've got drinking buddies.- ------
---------------------------------------
But they could be better communities. (Score:2)
But I've also worked for places that actually had this feeling. They never demanded that work become your life, that they became your whole community, and they mostly did they cool activities because they thought it would be fun (OK, the trip to see "Bugs Life" was professional review of what was happening in the field, but everything else was for fun).
I recently read a book called "In His Steps" by Charles Shelton. I think it's the origin of the phrase "What would Jesus do?" Now, before you non-christians mock me off slashdot, hold up: the book is really about a group of people who reexamine their ethics and take them very seriously in ALL areas of their life. That's a powerful thing. The reason I bring this up is that in the book some of the people reexamine their ethics in the workplace. They notice their neighbor. Some of those people run businesses. This doesn't necessarily result in everybody being best friends, but it does result in people being treated better and more fairly. A better place to work. Businesses SHOULD pay attention to the human factor of relationships. People don't have to get up in the middle of quarterly reviews and say "I LOVE you, man" -- that's suspect anyway. But having some social contact with people at work and remembering that they're human beings is almost always a good idea.
Re:Taking class to a global level (Score:2)
Different, not necessarily simpler. There IS a difference, though we tend to equate technological advancement with complexity.
--
Re:Well ppbbbpbbtt!!! (Score:1)
Some firms just aren't worth working for.
The best of capitalism (Score:1)
You seem to be under the impression that American corporations need to operate under some sort of socialistic principles. I'm sorry, but that doesnt compute. No corporation owes you anything - unless you work for it, and then all it owes you is a paycheck. This is capitalism 101.
The reason IBM is in India and improving the technology there is out of pure self-interest. It can tap into the highly skilled cheap labour force to offload projects to India. How the heck can IBM do this if the telcommunications and the computing infrastructure arent upto the task? There is no socialistic motive here, and if IBM chooses to ignore the "massive social problems right here at home" while doing stuff in India, you'll just have to deal with it, wont you?
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Go Big Red! (Score:1)
Sincerely,
A Typical UW-Madison Student
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:1)
>athletics. Somebody must have gotten picked last >for playground kickball quite a bit to get a chip
>on their shoulder that big!
That describes me pretty well. Beyond that, if you're a guy in Madison, and you're not a jock, it's next to impossible to get a date. And I refused to lower myself to that level. I'd rather leave town.
Try Professional Isolationism (Score:1)
Somehow that dosn't sound like the best stuff (Score:1)
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:3)
The state of Wisconsin does have quite a few Public University campuses... Let's see, my favorite is UW-Madison, a place I spent 4 great years studying to be an EE _as_well_as_ rooting on Ron Dayne and the rest of the Badgers.
Then there's all the UW State Schools-> UW-Stevens Point, UW-LaCrosse, UW-Milwaukee, UW-Eau Claire, Stout, Superior, Green Bay, Whitewater, Park Side, Platteville, (is that all?) and that doesn't even include the numerous UW Centers around the state. Many apologies to the campuses I've forgotten.
Re:So what are your definitions (Score:1)
Actually I think the word you were looking for is 'drinking'.
I was raised on a farm, and one thing the lifestyle does have is reality - a sense of now, thing.
I miss that...
Re:Problems with the medium (Score:2)
Oh yes, and half their programmers live in india, too.
I have one land line and a 2400 baud modem. And I run linux.
Ah. Snippage here btw. All of a sudden a whole different rant is developing here. You're complaning, not that some inherent right to having internet connectivity is being infringed, but that you have chosen to use a collection of software which the ISP you have chosen to use is not friendly with. I *can't* believe that you don't have a choice of ISP. I *can't* believe that *none* of the available options will let you use standard PPP dialup. Even the European ISP's let you do that.
Your initial post very much sounded as if you believed that network connectivity was a 'self-evident' right for all americans and that so long as you didn't have connectivity, no networks should ever be built outside the united states. I realize now that you do not believe this. My apologies for ranting.
However, you do still seem to believe that a bunch of Indian peseants aren't the focus of society or industry for Americans to worry about. Excuse me? In what way does nationality impact on internet access? And in what way is IBM (to quote the original company) or in fact any other company like Cisco, HP, whatever, an 'American' industry? They may have started there, but they certainly aren't contained there. (Some might wish they were... not I, I must add.)
you *cannot* justify to me that it isn't a right. Probably true, but all this statement means is that you have a closed mind on the topic. Assuming you're talking about internet access here: of course it's not a freaking right. Any more than university education is a right. University education is expensive, demanding, takes time to go through, and gives substantial rewards if used wisely, but not if not. It's a very good parallel for access to the "information age", to use a cliche. It is a requirement for alot of life's benefits. *AND?* You work for it, you get the breaks, you qualify for it. That's the same with the internet: I have connectivity because I've worked my ass off to learn how to use it and to get a job which allows me to afford it.
It's just simply baffling why people ignore linux with regard to the use of free ISPs. Using a free ISP is a choice, not a right, nor is it something forced on anyone. You choose to use a free ISP, you choose to use windows, is basically what you're saying. Where's the problem? Choose to pay for your internet access, get a better service. That's economics in action in everyday life. You pays your money, you makes your choice. Free internet access *is*not* a right.
you can bypass the ads on windows as well with a little bit of clever programming knowledge. Which in the case of a market-signifcant percentage of the population you can guarantee the user does not posess if they use windows. In the OS community, the chances of your user being a programmer are significantly higher. But beyond that, the point about linux is that the user is in control. The point about free ISP's is that the ISP is control. Do the math.
~cHris
Re:I have to disagree with those statistics (Score:1)
Perhaps, but what they don't know can't hurt them.
Are you looking for a lawsuit or something?
Actually, this is the funny part: that we're immune. You know those fine-legal-print documents all employees have to sign before starting? That company wisely inserted a clause about "conducting information-gathering for occupational-research purposes".
Cheers,
Froido
Re:But they could be better communities. (Score:1)
/.
reasons to be an isolate (Score:1)
2. sexual harassment: in this day and age, simply talking to the opposite sex can be considered sexual harassment, best not to.
3. why make enemies: if you socialize with your coworkers, you are bound to find at least one person who doesn't like you, and given the nature of the universe, they will immediately be promoted to be your boss.
4. nothing in common: face it, everyone outside your department is a complete loser, what would you talk about.
Re:My basic lack of connectivity (Score:1)
And as someone else has succinctly said above, IBM et al are *not* playing savior to third world: they're in it strictly for the money.
`ttfn,
~cHris
Re:So what are your definitions (Score:1)
I'm not sure you're asking the right questions about the Namibian tribemembers either, the question is, "what does the modern world have that is of any value to them?" especially when you consider the likely trend in America for people to associate with those that they don't even like (i.e. the "isolates" in the article/book) simply because they get paid to do so-- the corporate family (if you can get people to subscribe to it) is no substitute for tribal or real family relationships which are lifelong and have deeper meaning to most participants. I certainly don't think characterizing their tribal lives as ruled by basic animal urges discerns at all between them and Americans. I can't think of a single human culture that is comparable to a group of non-human animals. Humans have language, mythology, advanced use of tools (even in the most basic societies), rituals, and many other things which put them in a different class entirely than, say, a band of chimps. The commonalities between human groups far outweigh the differences. I don't know that a Namibian tribe member is any more/less worried about where his/her next meal is coming from than you are. They may have a less efficient means of obtaining the meal, but whether they are worried about it is another issue. Finally, just because one is not a hunter/gatherer, or even a farmer/herder, there is no guarantee that the work will not be "sun-up to sun-down". Many geeks work hours at least this long, many middle-to-upper level managers work those sorts of hours. Factory workers rarely get to work just eight hours (which is actually longer than daylight where I live for several months a year), there is plenty of forced overtime to go around-- especially in a period of low unemployment like this.
Info Gap Not Surprising (Score:1)
I dunno why anyone is surprised at there being this kind of disparity. Even though computers and their associated services have come down drmatically in price, the toll to get on the Internet makes it largely the domain of middle class folks. Add in the knowledge toll to function there, and your average working class or lower person is gonna say the heck with it. They have too many other things to worry about. Get things down to the price of say a vcr and add in true plug and play set up, then this will change. Before we see the information access gap disappear the undlerlying tech has got to become as ubiquitous as cable tv and about as easy to use. This is happening pretty fast, so I'd expect to see a cultural change on Internet again in the next few of years identical to the one when AOL and others companies started providing easy Internet access. In the meantime, you see an Internet population that is pretty well educated and pretty affulent all things considered. So we have a gap today, but I doubt its going to be there for too much longer as the devices and services become cheaper and easier to use.
The real gap is in how people use the access to information. Lots of us here use the Internet as social medium, a place to collaborate on projects be they technical, artistic, political or whatever. We also use the Internet as the world's greatest reference collection. We're very well informed because we know the information is out there and how to look for it. Now, lets look at them. For someone neither technical savvy nor educated will the Internet be anything more than mall? That's where there real gap is going to be: In the ablity of people to use their access to information effectively.
As for the rest of the world: It looks as though those nations that are doing the hard work to achieve political and economic stablity will be able to build the necessary infrastructure for Internet access. The more important gap as the developing world emerges from a century political turmoil will be in what the stable governments allow their citizens to see. Take China for instance. Five years ago the Internet barely existed there. Now, its becoming more and more common in the cities, but the government restricts what the citizens can see. Whether or not their policy is effective I leave to another discussion(read I don't know). We're going to see a drastic difference in the way different geographical regions use the Internet. What will this mean in practical terms? Who knows. Its really too soon to say. In my opinion the gap is not going to be about technology and development, but in cultural and political views about information and ideas. Either way, this sounds like a good book to read.
In terms of the other issues about isolation at work. What the heck cares? In America we've never identified as strongly with an employer as say the Japanese have. We identify with professions. "I am programmer." "I am a geek." "I am a plumber." What we do is much more important than who we do it for. Companies that are effective and successful at their business find ways to get their people to talk to one and other independent of social activities. They don't leave such things to chance or the mercenary attitude of the worker. A justified attitude I might add given the lack of loyalty companies demostrate to their workers, but that's a whole other issue.
Re:Somehow that dosn't sound like the best stuff (Score:1)
*boggle*. Am I actually reading this in what looked at first glance like a forum for the intelligent?
~cHris
More sympathetic view of Marx. (Score:1)
Ayn Rand was certainly a prolific writer, but I'm not sure that reading what she wrote would save anyone's mind, even if she did advocate for personal responsibility, which is always healthy. Saving people's minds is more what professional psychological help is for, donch'a think? Dogma has never made me more sane.
Re:Go Big Red! (Score:1)
I feel the success of the UW's sports program has cheapened my degree. Now I have to say that I went to a "football school" rather than a University.
Re:Confusing "isolates" with technilliterates? (Score:2)
As far as the "information have-nots" are concerned, while this is a problem, I don't think it's as big of a problem as politicians like to claim. The income gap between tech and non-tech workers is as large as it is because of a temporary shortage of tech workers drives up wages, and because the traditional financial sector is still learning how to sort out sound business plans from hot air and bullshit in the tech sector. (The deflation of absurd IPO stock prices is a sign that the financial sector is catching on.) In time, the gap will narrow because tech wages will fall as the supply of workers meets the demand. Anyone remember what it was like trying to score a decent salary as a programmer around, oh, 1985?
The more important issue that the book talks about, so-called "isolates", really worries me. What Wresch is talking about reviving is the corporate paternalism of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Maybe Wresch thinks it would be a good idea if we all got involved in our jobs to the exclusion of a separate social life, but neither company towns nor scrip nor total loss of privacy really appeal to me. If it becomes a problem that I don't belong to the company softball team, I'll find another company. I already have a social life in the form of that traditional refuge for the "alienated" -- my people call it friends and family.
--
Re:Problems with the medium (Score:1)
Similarly, Freewwweb was a company, interested in making money. Their business plan did not work, so it was either time for them to revise their business plan, or to go out of business, whatever happened to them, they didn't, nor did they need to consult their clients on the decision. Unless you are a major investor, Juno and Freewwweb owe you exactly nothing.
Still on business, most Linux users can afford a connection. Moreover, Windows still dominates the desktop, home-user market by at least 80%. Companies go for the numbers, not to cater to every possible eventuality. Again, they are in business to make money, not to foster goodwill to every possible customer.
As for rights... I need a car to get to my job that is not accessible by public transportation. Is it my right to have my car subsidized? Don't forget, 'emphasis' has nothing to do with real need.
Further, if you can afford a copy of Office 2000, then you can surely afford a net connection. If you are running Linux then why are you worried anyway? There are free alternatives for most programs. None that I know of require a net connection to use or register. If you could point out some real-world examples of important tasks that can ONLY be performed online (no meatspace alternative at all) then I might be inclined to lean in your favor, but there is nothing that comes to mind that would justify socialized internet connections for the American masses.
Re:I have to disagree with those statistics (Score:1)
Wow, maybe your employees are so alienated because the of the Orwellian tactics of your company. I know I would quit instantly if I ever learned that a company I worked for installed cameras in the bathroom!!
Michelle
Sociology 101 (Score:1)
Yup. I remember being forced to take those sociology courses. After all, you really need those courses in order to become a well rounded systems engineer, right? Geez....One of the things that really bugged me about those classes was the flawed statistical drivel that was touted as gospel. But anyway, I digress...
The book basically takes the division of classes to the next level... Yeah, ok, sounds again like something from Sociology 101! What does the author propose to span this rift and break down these "class barriers"? Should this be similar to Pol Pot's idea except in reverse: we march everyone out of the fields and place them in cyber-gulags? (Sorry, one of my Soc instructors had the odd opinion that Pol Pot's original idea was sound but the implementation was flawed! Talk about yer... oops, again I digress!) What will we eat? Soylent Green?
Anyway, but back to the original topic: in regards to human interaction, I see electronically based information as an isolating factor. When was the last time you walked down to the corner store to buy the newspaper? (For me, only on Sundays... mostly for the sales/coupons, comics and TV guide sections of the paper... been a long time since I read the paper in-depth for news!)
BTW: the only people from work with whom I socialise after business hours are those who would have become my friends had I met them elsewhere. I don't work for a social club, and therefore, should not have to socialise at or with work!
-dean
-----------------------
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:2)
I went to UW Madison, my impression was that people were a lot more into beer and punk rock bands in dirty basements than sports.
Of course, that was probably just the people I hung out with... God I miss those days.
"Free your mind and your ass will follow"
Re:Is he talking about introverts? (Score:1)
Your mispelling aside, I believe you have just stumbled over Katz's main purpose in life, to make people's heads hurt.
I'm just really glad that there are enough authors out there writing what I like to call 'techno-propaganda' to keep Katz occupied. I'd hate to have to read Katz review a good fiction book and ruin my opinion of sci-fi or fantasy forever. I swear, if I saw some correlation between my favorite fantasy books and some of Katz's cockamamy, "The countries of the world will come to end and currency will only matter on the web" type of theories I would stop reading altogether.
Considering that I've already given up on TV for the most part, that would leave me with only sitting a drooling to occupy my free time.
Moderators: By all means, mark this as flamebait. Katz creates a firey anger in me that causes me to flame anyone and everyone I see.
The Real Problem with Books Like This.... (Score:2)
You know, the real problem with books (and theories, and newspaper articles) which "address" the social ramifications of the 'net is that they usually try to compress multiple orthagonal axes into one simple either/or statement.
Consider:
Techno-philic vs. Techno-phobic
Whether or not you are inclined to use the tech. An issue of psychology.
Whether you have access, or not. This is a financial issue.
Whether you need more solitude or more socializing. Both are equally healthy and valid psychological make ups.
Whether you're in one or not, independent of how you feel about them. An issue of fact, not opinion.
Whether you're getting your personal quota of relationships in your life. An issue of personal opinion.
Whether you are socializing in the meat world. A subjective judgement of quantity.
Whether or not you are any good at it. A subjective judgement of quality.
A personal policy decision.
All of these are completely distinct. But pundits keep trying to squash them into a single dichotomy. That's where we get absurdities like "Does net use make people more socially isolated?" to which the answer can only be "mu!"
Where do I fit into their little equation? An introvert (needs little socialization) who is technophilic (likes computers) and net-using (a technology-have), a community member (strong sense of belonging), relationship rich (not needy of more relationships), and highly socially active and adept in meat space (out with people most nights of the week), and unwilling to socialize at work (a cultural choice)?
What of the smart but extroverted coder who has the misfortune to live in a technical backwater, where most of the other geeks have moved away; hungry for more socialization, but unable to meet physicially with peers or find an accepting community in the real world, and unable to fit-in at work but gives it a shot?
What of the technophobic deaf person using a borrowed computer to connect to the net at 14.4baud, because, despite not wanting to have to deal with the technology, it is the only way to really interact on an equal footing with the hearies?
There is no room in their impoverished models for our personal realities, which is why those models so piss us off.
----------------------------------------------
I don't know about that.... (Score:1)
I think (IMHO) that these should be kept seperate unless deemed necessary, I don't think this is alienation, I think this is respect for not "dumping" on your co-workers and also not letting your life interfere with your work, now if I can figure how to do the opposite I will be a step ahead :)
Team spirit is in working together to achieve the result necessary to do the work and do it correctly, not in wasting your Saturday playing softball with the same people that you see all week. Just my $.02...
Re:This sounds just like the University of Wiscons (Score:1)
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
at a company, you are there for the
benefit of the company, not just your
own personal gain.
That's the company's take. Even from an Econ 101 point of view, the presumption is that each party is engaged in an "arm's length transaction", that they are there for their personal benefit.
Why should I participate in company activities if I'm not being paid? The only reason I tolerate the presence of the type of person who runs the modern corporate business is because I need the money. Why would I hang out with them for free?
Let me put it another way. Why would I do something that harms me, something that benefits only my employer (presuming they can find the camaraderie they're looking for), for nothing?
As for being disconnected, the corporations involved create this state of mind. They hold meetings where they blather on about corporate vision and other quasi-religious nonsense but don't inform workers of price changes!
After a while it's impossible to take them seriously; you're consumed with the desire to get away from them, as if they were one of those people who won't shut up about his favorite hobby / conspiracy / alien abduction. It's entertaining for about 30 seconds, but by 45, you're looking for escape routes.
Ellen
Re:Well ppbbbpbbtt!!! (Score:2)
This guy would probably peg me as an "Isolate", but I'm probably more connected than he'll ever be. No, I couldn't give a damn 'bout my cow orkers except inasmuch they're good people to work with and we can produce a quality product at a good price and support it well. (They are, we do, and we do, respectively. It's a great place to be.)
But my community is more than just my cow orkers, it's also /., a few geek mailing lists I hang out on, and so on.
Schmoozing at the picnic, playin' softball and droolin' over the company newsletter got nothin' to do with it. My IP connectvity gives me a "network" of friends that beats these artificial "but you have to play 'dance-on-the-fulcrum-to-show-teamwork' with Johnny from Marketing!" social games hands-down.
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Far be it from me to be disillusioned, but generally, aren't the people you work for and with supposed to be people you like? Or are you telling me that everywhere you've worked, the participants have been mindless cogs in a larger machine? I've had the experience that if you treat people like cogs, they act like them. Instead, if you try to create a bond there, then there's a human level to the interaction that might not normally be there.
If you feel that strongly about not participating in company activities (outings, retreats, softball, etc) because you're not getting paid, then why bother staying past 40 hours a week, ever. Even if that means not getting work done. Perhaps it's because I've always worked for small companies (not a conscious choice, BTW).
My point came from this: If you don't want to ever mix business with pleasure (i.e. forced company outings, sports, yada yada yada) quit your job. You can find a new one. But don't ruin it for those of us who enjoy playing with our companies.
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Re:But.... (Score:2)
No, they don't plan to port to linux, but I got the beta working under the lastest CVS build of wine
Re:So what are your definitions (Score:2)
Hmm... a good number of large pharmaceutical companies among others seem to think tribes like them have something worth spending millions of dollars to go looking for. And that's just one example.
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
I would dispute that statement, but I cant be bothered.
Re:I have to disagree with those statistics (Score:2)
Apparently it never occured to you that there are as many legitimate reasons for frequent bathroom visits as there are for skipping company picnics. Think medical. Think caffiene. Those are just 2 examples.
And perhaps it's just me, but I find I get MUCH more work done when I'm isolated in my cube, than when I'm trapped in a hall listening to the drivel of the company gossip mongers.
Re:Is he talking about introverts? (Score:2)
---
Re:"Corporate Culture" (Score:2)
Per your comments about company loyalty, etc. I'm afraid I don't have enough work experience to make good generalizations. I _can't_ say anything definitive, and that kinda sucks, because I'm enjoying this debate. If you're just going through the motions at work, you must ask yourself, why are you there? If you don't enjoy doing what you do, why do you do it? Just for that paycheck that lands magically in your hands each month (or biweekly)? No a company does not *have* to be loyal to its employees, but companies suffer when they do not. At least small ones. And those are the ones with the best softball teams :)