
The Scene at Lehman Brothers London on Friday - raganwald
http://www.joeydevilla.com/2008/09/15/the-scene-at-lehman-brothers-london-on-friday/
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kqr2
Another predictor of bad news I have observed is when the human resources (HR)
department stays late.

Usually, they are the first to leave. When I've seen them stay late, the next
day there were layoffs. They were busy preparing all the layoff packets.

~~~
bootload
_"... Another predictor of bad news I have observed is when the ..."_

But a lot of Startups don't have HR or departments.

The key indicator here is observing principals and noticing any odd behaviour.
The example that comes to mind was a mass-sacking at a Startup I worked at
where out of character behaviour of the founder(s) and various hanger-ons (
_"they all got short skin-head haircuts"_ ) the day before mass sackings. One
day it was normal at work, the next day it was a meeting at an off site
building where the difference between being sacked and keeping your job was
being sent left up the stairs or right to get your termination notice. The
difference being there is a definite "in" loop that had prior knowledge. The
leader(s) did not have the balls to address the sacked staff and inform them
management stuffed up, hired fast, let go slow and was running out of cash.

As for me, I got sent to the left ( _"and congratulated for keeping a job"_ )
a lot of other work mates didn't. I left after the work environment became
toxic and invoked my _"no working for dickheads"_ policy. You can read about
the companies fortunes here ~
<http://www.firstmonday.org/ISSUES/issue6_3/doheny/> and here ~
[http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=up...](http://150.theage.com.au/view_bestofarticle.asp?straction=update&inttype=1&intid=101)

Working in Startups is no guarantee to a permanent job but how you fire people
is just as important as hiring them.

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gojomo
But I want to know: did he wear khaki on Friday, too -- or is this him
"cutting loose" for his last day?

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vaksel
the khaki guy is probably in IT

~~~
michaelneale
Or he is just relieved that it is over. I can't imagine working in a place
like that would be fun - it could only really be about the money (and perhaps
some comraderie). So when its all ending, there is kind of a release...

~~~
andreyf
_So when its all ending, there is kind of a release..._

It's not just that, but also the unemployment compensation. I have some
friends in the industry who can't wait to be laid off - even low-ranking
positions get 3 months of severance pay from the company (+ more from the
state if you don't find a job by then) amounts to a nice vacation if you're
smart enough to not be worried about finding a new job.

~~~
gaius
According to friends of mine there, once its positions are unwound, the entity
formerly known as Lehman's might not even have the money for this month's
wages, let alone any redundancy payouts.

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jyothi
_Maybe the truly dangerous “LHC” isn’t the Large Hadron Collider, but the
Lehman Holdings Collapse._

good one!

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whacked_new
What's the giveaway message from the khaki guy? He has one leg curved? He is
on the side?

What am I missing? Doesn't this assume there is no other guy dressed in the --
unobvious -- black pants taking a similar pose?

~~~
ars
Hunched shoulders means worried, or otherwise in a down mood. (The hunch is a
defensive position - minimize body area available for attack.)

Crossed legs means relaxed and thus not worried. (Relaxed because crossed legs
means not ready for immediate action.)

Take a class in this, or ask a friend. Movies are great for this - have
someone identify each body language as you come to it. Just learn it the same
as you learn math - memorize each pose until you find the underlying pattern
common to all.

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gscott
In Boston <http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_10468916>

and New York
[http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/14/news/companies/lehman_worker...](http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/14/news/companies/lehman_workers.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes)

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fallentimes
I think it means he's the smartest guy in the room.

