That's it; working hard and no play got him nothing but an inability to roll around on the floor when throwing people over his back shoulder*. Okay so it's just a game/sport but I can't help but feel the designers were trying to send us a message.
Now I've met too many people who have so much work to do they don't have any time to spend reading or learning new things any more. Sure their boss may be happy seeing them sat there every day past working hours: "Boy what a hard worker, showing his commitment". Until the programmer has cause to throw their boss over the back of their shoulder. Then scruffy Ken with his silly long hair who goes home at 5pm every day comes and does the same thing and throws his boss right out through the window.
I genuinely believe that giving workers more free time will lead to more productivity. With free time you can develop new tools to handle problems quicker than with the same old tried and tested techniques you've been relying on day in and day out. This is especially important in IT where new tools are coming all of the time, you progress and learn them or get stuck in the slow ways of the past. A relaxed home balance can remove strain on one's relationships with their family leaving one with less distractions during the work day.
Most importantly it shows a psychological understanding of how the human mind works. When faced with insurmountable odds the tendency to waste time on the internet is essential to preserve sanity. Then does the worker even remember how much time they spent on reddit compared to doing actual work?
There is already a society that demonstrates this fact in France with their 35 hour week and employees consistently ranked amongst the most productive in the world. Yet still the employers there complain about this law, failing to let go of established dogma in the sight of irrefutable proof.
Why is it so hard to find a job in IT where one can go home at 5? It's not just the worker who suffers but the bosses too and most importantly the worker's children and relationships.
"One of the symptoms of approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important." - Bertrand Russell
Here's a nice history lesson.
I do agree wholeheartedly that it's important to have time away from work obligations both in terms of learning new stuff which might help you and of course actually relaxing + living a life.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of the problem with this stuff (which also relates to your history lesson) is that management are often stuck in the factory-line management mentality - assuming that production is linear against time spent, that people don't like the work and will try to shirk it as much as possible, and therefore ensure that that a harsh discipline is maintained + of course try and maximise hours worked for minimal pay.
Unfortunately creative work (and no matter how much management want it *not* to be, it is that) just doesn't work like that. Employee morale, access to a quiet space, being mentally alert, etc. are huge factors which make productivity non-linear in time.
I think you can gain *short term* gains by crunching for x months, but it all ends up needing to be paid off somehow.
The games industry is a good example of crunchiness (a good eg here - http://jheriko-rtw.blogspot.com/2012/01/codemasters-are-on-scrounge.html). It's funny how super-successful studios like valve have a more enlightened attitude to these things. Managers desperately want that time/productivity linearity - evidence to the contrary is merely an inconvenience.
There is an element of exploitation here too I think - employers making employees feel as if they need to put in long hours if they want to succeed.
That quote from the Conquest of Happiness is very applicable by the way. Also applicable are the stages of burn-out which is the consequence of long term crunching - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnout_(psychology).