

Work smart, not hard: The seven habits of highly effective slackers - CubeGuy
http://www.examiner.com/x-3040-Minneapolis-Life-in-the-Cubicle-Examiner~y2009m5d4-The-seven-habits-of-highly-effective-slackers
A humorous but truthful approach on what it means to be a productive slacker.
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euroclydon
I have a different take: Volunteer for the most difficult, nasty project your
company has. Put a huge time estimate on it, then just chug along, but
eventually get it done, and on time. This keeps you from being pestered by all
the little things that come up, plus you need to focus, so working from home
is acceptable sometimes, and when it's done, you look like a hero.

~~~
lionhearted
I'm with you. It seems like the articles points are, "How to survive at a
dysfunctional company for a while." The most successful people I know are the
go-getter type, not fake "look how busy I am" people, but people who really
took on unique challenges and did them. Being a decent soldier and shirking
off a lot of the nonsense would make you decently paid with a some job
security, but I reckon it's not the way to get far ahead. But everyone has
different priorities - it seems like a lot of people aren't look for much out
of work besides some stability and a paycheck, then they enjoy their families,
hobbies, friends, projects outside of work. That seems like it can be good
too.

~~~
nixme
I think most are misinterpreting this article. Take a look at Dudley B.'s
other writing. It's all a tongue-in-cheek commentary on office life, a la
Dilbert. For example, "How to surf the web at work and avoid wandering eyes"
([http://www.examiner.com/x-3040-Life-in-the-Cubicle-
Examiner~...](http://www.examiner.com/x-3040-Life-in-the-Cubicle-
Examiner~y2009m5d26-How-to-surf-the-web-at-work-and-avoid-wandering-eyes))

I'd say most of his satire is very much on point.

~~~
euroclydon
I find his humor "elusive." I much prefer The Register's BOFH though I haven't
read it in years.

------
edw519
8\. When stuck in a meeting with clueless people debating insignificant
details, throw out a critical valid technical issue that hadn't been
considered and dramatically alters the conversation. This is generally easy to
do if you're a hacker with his finger on the pulse of the project. It also
accomplishes 2 things:

\- It bolsters your reputation both as a technical expert and a team player.

\- It ends the meeting by freezing everyone else's brain in an endless loop.

~~~
blhack
You must live in a fantasy land where the people working around you rational
adults.

Doing this in the real world will lead people to thinking you are a "dick".

~~~
ibsulon
I've used it to good effect, depending on the audience.

The type of meetings that this works in usually involve multiple levels of
management and serve more as a forum for peacocking.

------
Jem
I find myself doing some of these without even realising. I don't think that
makes me a slacker, I just don't like people walking all over me.

~~~
pohl
Has the heroic connotation that the word 'slacker' was imbued with during the
generation-x heydays of the 90s completely eroded now? This must be what it
feels like to be past one's prime. Linklater, help me.

~~~
sachinag
Slackers are now hipsters; same basic sense of entitlement.

~~~
pohl
That's an interesting reaction - primarily because a sense of entitlement, to
me, seems like neither necessary nor sufficient conditions for being either
hip or slack. It also seems like you're suggesting that hipsters did not exist
until recently, which strikes me as untenable.

Fashion takes work...too much work, in my opinion. Perhaps you say this
because they both drink lattes?

~~~
timr
It's also an inaccurate characterization of the "slacker" literary genre. The
gen-X "slacker" persona was always more about the cultural malaise caused by
the dramatically lower lifestyle prospects afforded to the post-boomer
generation, than it was about being "entitled" (for those who are interested,
go read "Generation X" by Coupland to see the origin of the genre. It's also a
really good book.) Hipsters have been around for a lot longer than that (since
the Beat Generation, at least), and are more defined by hedonism and rebellion
than by disillusionment.

While I don't think that these sorts of stereotypes are terribly precise (or
incredibly useful), it _is_ sort of interesting that younger generations seem
to be lumping together gen-X-ers, hipsters, and Holden Caulfield together
under the label of "entitled". If you ask me, the current generation of
college kids are _far_ more "entitled" by any conventional definition, so it's
a curious choice.

Now get off my lawn. :-)

~~~
dasil003
The destruction of Europe and post-war prosperity and the advance of
technology has led Americans to grow progressively more entitled. It's no
wonder kids today lump it all together, because in general any American under
60 is way more self-entitled than is warranted under current global
conditions.

~~~
Ardit20
Well, they are entitled. Its their world. its their life, they have been
educated of such high ideals as democracy an human rights and they are richer
than any previous generation.

------
msluyter
While I didn't think all of the advice was that great (send e-mail in all caps
to a fellow employee?), I did rather enjoy the lighthearted tone. And I think
#3 is especially valid for programmers who use that extra time for learning
new stuff or doing an interesting side project (or even just resting one's
hands).

~~~
jobu
The CAP email will never result in anything good, but yes #3 is how those of
us not lucky enough to work at google can implement our own 20% time policy.

------
newsio
"Go-getters are always busy but they only focus on tasks that get noticed by
executives. These tasks are usually highly visible but rarely important to the
success of the company."

I stopped taking this article seriously at this point.

Are people voting this up because they think it's funny? There's not much here
that rings true, in my opinion.

------
WilliamLP
"Eating lunch at your desk is like landing on Free Parking and not taking the
cash in the middle."

That's my new favourite quote!

~~~
kznewman
In the spirit of the article I will state as a highly organized type that I
stopped reading at this point since the rules of Monopoly clearly state that
cash is not placed at Free Parking and it is simple a resting place.
<http://www.hasbro.com/common/instruct/monins.pdf>

/liked getting money at that spot anyway

------
quizbiz
Being lazy can motivate efficiency. But efficiency should not be sacrificed
with productivity.

Maybe it's just me, but I want to be productive as much as possible. Sometimes
the desire to be busy keeps me busy when I accomplish little of worth. My
daily photography blog at blipfoto motivates me to look back at the end of a
day and see what I actually got done. It is motivational when I don't get lazy
with it. Which brings me back to my initial point, if you can work smart, why
not work smart at working hard (or is it work hard at working smart)?

Being an effective slacker sounds very oxymoronic to me.

------
dexen
I strongly disagree with the #1. In my practice, volunteering allows you to
secure a rewarding, easy-to-finish-on-schedule task preemptively, while
mundane, troublesome and underappreciated tasks are subsequently assigned to
other co-workers.

Also, by volunteering you show the boss you actually care and are always ready
to work, making you a valuable and trusty employee. Which other colleagues
must earn with hard work.

Pick your preferred tasks early and often! ;)

------
billswift
Being a loafer is even better than being a slacker. This essay reminded me of
Dick Wolff's Parting Shot column from the April 1987 Guns and Ammo where he
goes on about the joys of being a loafer. I couldn't find it with Google, so
it may not be on the web (if it is, somebody please leave a URL).

------
stcredzero
It's "highly effective" in terms of the slacking. Not necessarily benefiting
the company.

------
s3graham
I really can't tell if this is satire, maybe my detector is broken, but most
comments see to be taking it semi-seriously. I apologize if I'm being
dumb/baited.

Anyway, if it isn't, you're the sort of stupid cunts I want to strangle by the
end of a project. I have to spell out every fucking thing that needs to be
done for you, or get your manager to schedule every stupid item involved in a
task in ridiculous detail with you.

The whole value of someone who _isn't_ an intern (or at a the same level), is
figuring _what needs to be done_ , not the actual code design and typing part.
If you're waiting for someone to assign things to you, you're already useless
to me.

Yeah, ok, I think it must be a joke because every item on the list makes me
more aggravated. Oh well.

------
run4yourlives
Don't worry, I'd wager that around 90% of the people in most large companies
are already doing this, the rest are actively climbing that ladder.

Of course there are others who aren't part of the equation at all.

------
lsc
#2, I think, is key.

------
craigbellot
"CAP" them.

Awesome.

------
Ardit20
This guy really does not like his job! I suggest he starts working as a
waiter, or bar attender, or whatever job he considers fun albeit low paid and
work on what he really wants to in the evenings and weekend.

What's the point of working in a company where you'd rather flip the coin than
do your work. I mean the tasks that he has to do can;t be more boring than
flipping a coin!

