Predictably, the Internet erupted. All over Social Media, people were discussing the merits and drawbacks of this phenomenon. People were outraged, or intrigued, depending on which side of the fence they were on. But what I consistently saw, was the utter lack of nuance. The concept of Quiet Quitting was either decried, or lauded. There was very little middle ground.
And perhaps today, we will find it.
First of all, I want to discuss the positive side of Quiet Quitting. There are definitely some use cases for it.
Self-preservation
Everyone's made of flesh, blood and bone. These have limitations. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with pushing yourself to the limit and perhaps beyond, but these things have a price. And the effects will become apparent the more you push.Doing the bare minimum for certain periods of time, helps you replenish your very limited mental and physical resources. This keeps you longer in the game, and ensures that you do not arrive at a state where you've burned out and it will take you an extended time to recover.
 |
| Don't burn out. |
Remember, by the time you discover the need to rest, it's usually too late. Get in the habit of resting early and resting often. Employers will consider this lazy, but as a French author once said...
"Laziness is nothing more than the habit of resting before you get tired." - Jules Renard
No one can go in Beast Mode for too long. It's neither practical nor humanly possible. You are going to have to establish some professional boundaries, or your body is going to do it for you. Trust me; when that happens, nobody wins.
No skin in the game
Employers are quite rightly attached, both professionally and emotionally, to their companies. They have skin in the game. Their fortunes rise and fall with those of the company.Employees, however, do not. For all practical purposes, a job is just a job. A software developer does not cease to be a software developer just because this software developer works in Company B instead of Company A. This is what employers need to realize. Expecting employees to have the same amount of commitment as themselves, is both supremely illogical and self-serving. Employees who go the extra mile, need to be doing it to further their own agenda; whether it's upping their game, gaining the experience or just a personal obsession with doing a good job. The moment you start thinking that you're doing it for your company, you lose. Because that is a game where there is only one winner - and that winner is not you.
But if it's a reward the employee is hoping to get from all that extra hard work, the reward needs to be guaranteed. Improving in skill and experience is guaranteed. Doing a better job is a guarantee. A promise of a bonus or promotion is not. It's merely a possibility, no matter how fervently the employer says otherwise.
 |
| Wifey getting her foot massage. |
This reminds me of when the wife and I were on our honeymoon in Bangkok. We were in a mall, and I left her to get a foot massage while I went off to look at soccer jerseys. When I returned, she was being treated like a queen by her attendant - drinks, cut fruit, pillows. This was mind-boggling considering we'd taken the cheapest package and no other customer was getting the same treatment. My wife smugly informed me that she had tipped her masseur, and I was mystified because I knew for sure she probably would not be the only one doing so. Ah, said my clever wife, but I tipped him before the service started!
See, any fool can dangle a carrot. But if you reward someone in advance, the probability of them doing their utmost to earn it, is too high to be ignored.
Efficiency
In a previous blogpost, I mentioned that Laziness is the foremost virtue of a programmer. That is because the very basis of our work centers around reduction of human labor. Therefore, working extra hard to achieve the same result is not only counter-productive, it is antithetical to this profession.A programmer working extra hard probably has something to prove, and it's not a good look.
 |
| Hard work is overrated. |
Any sensible employer will tell you that an efficient employee is always preferable to a hardworking one. Unfortunately, some employers feel that they are entitled to both - they want an efficient employee who will also go the extra mile.
No employer is entitled to the extra mile. That is complete rubbish. If it were the employer's entitlement, it would not be called the extra mile.
Thus, for starters, the goal should be for the employee to be able to complete the work in less time, at an acceptable standard. Any employer who considers that "stealing" from the company is probably operating from the viewpoint of paying for the employee's time rather than the employee's output. That, once again, is antithetical to the profession of a software developer.
No comments:
Post a Comment