

We're in a New Energy Crisis. This One is Personal. - JonathanFields
http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/03/were-in-a-new-energy-crisis-th.html

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Vivtek
What, you mean you _can't_ increase human productivity without limit in order
to increase shareholder value? And here I thought the world could eventually
get by with a single super-productive executive.

~~~
electromagnetic
It worked in Futurama, Hermes got an entire slave-labour mine to be run single
handedly by an Australian man. If it works in a cartoon then social convention
dictates that it must be true!

~~~
grammaton
Good news everyone!

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quanticle
Is it just me, or do a lot of the complaints in the article sound quite
ungrateful? Take this one for example:

>Just last week, I had a conversation with an HR executive at a leading
financial institution. He was calling because two of his firm's most important
executives - each paid millions and millions of dollars - had come to him
saying they just weren't sure they could keep it up anymore.

>They each listed their challenges: incredibly long hours, relentless travel,
24-7 digital demands, time away from their families and insufficient energy to
even take care of themselves.

I read it as, "I'm tired of getting paid big bucks to jet-set around the world
on the company's dime." I compare this to the situation faced by the bottom
billion of the world - e.g. being unsure of where the next meal is going to
come from and I have a very hard time taking any of these executives'
complaints seriously.

Top executives are like professional athletes. The pressure to perform is an
inherent part of the job, and indeed, it is what justifies the high salaries
and other rewards. You can't accept an executive position and then complain
about the stresses of the job. Stress comes with the territory, just like the
$250,000 a year salary.

~~~
grammaton
>The pressure to perform is an inherent part of the job

This is an inherent part of _any_ person's job. Executives are not unique
snowflakes in this regard.

What struck me as really disconnected from reality in the complaints was that
everything they complained about are things that also afflict people in the
same companies - who make far less money than they do. Perhaps they'd like to
add "financial turmoil" to the list and see how they feel then?

~~~
quanticle
Agreed. If the typical executive really is as self-centered as the ones cited
in this article, the depressing regularity of financial malfeasance is no
surprise. After all, from their perspective, its just them "taking what
they're owed."

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TGJ
"Think of it this way: Would you rather have someone working at 60 per cent of
capacity for 11 hours a day, or someone who only puts in eight working hours a
day, but by taking breaks to renew and recharge, is able to operate at 95 per
cent capacity? "

I've always had a slight worry about going into surgery because of this same
question. How long has my doctor been awake or how much sleep has he had in
the last 24 hours?

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d4nt
I'd like to believe we're hitting a productivity limit, but I'm skeptical.
Historically, we still work shorter hours, take more holidays and have more
leasure activity than our ancestors.

I guess what is different is that we've automated lots of mechanical/clerical
tasks like finding a file, duplicating and delivering a memo or compiling a
report. Executives used to need a large staff to do that for them but there
are fewer jobs like that now. In a way, we've all become executives. And to
operate at that level can be draining, especially if you're not doing
something you love because it takes much more emotional investment.

~~~
grammaton
>we still work shorter hours, take more holidays and have more leasure
activity than our ancestors

No, we don't. Peruse any study on this subject by a reputable researcher - we
actually work far more hours and have much less leisure time than almost any
point in prior history (the notable exception perhaps being the end of the
19th century).

~~~
colomon
Can you back this up with any sort of citation?

~~~
grammaton
For a good overview:

[http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_w...](http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_workweek.html)

Which is a summary of

<http://books.google.com/books?id=E1clEkV_1w8C>

for a more thorough treatment:

<http://books.google.es/books?id=APYDRo_ATicC>

Or

"Man's Rise to Civilization As Shown by the Indians of North America from
Primeval Times to the Coming of the Industrial State"

Or

(and I do not intend this as sarcasm, please understand) just about any
introductory anthropology textbook.

Also - and I truly wish I could find the link, but it's buried somewhere in my
delicious account - there is an excellent article out there about how workers
in agrarian France basically screwed off for six months at a time once the
growing season was over and winter came around - the literally spent most of
their time just sleeping!

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lsd5you
There are a number of issues with the article. Some work - any development of
technology - can be second order. The workers output maybe constant but the
productivity of the underlying product grows. In this sense comparing national
to personal productivity is apples and oranges (or speed and acceleration).

Also I would argue we should not underestimate the bullshit economy and the
effects it has on stealing productivity growth. Essentially extra capacity
gets largely consumed by an increase to the size of the welfare state - an
increase in welfare for both non-productive individuals and non-productive
corporations.

