The Unofficial "Elon Musk trying to "Save Everyone" from Themselves (except his Step-Sister)" Thread...

[88Comrade2000]

Deport him back to South Africa. Let him run Tesla from there. Cancel the contract with Space X.

[mammajamma]

other big tech companies in silicon valley are getting poached like crazy lately if they even mention people having to go back to the office... not to mention other car companies that are hiring like crazy to get their ev fleets going

he's going to lose a lot of quality employees to companies that pay just as much, have a less toxic work environment, and don't have a complete egomaniac running the place. and its going to be just in time for them to lose business to the dozens of other ev cars that are about to flood the market...

bill gates is correct with the short

[The Evil Genius]

The DeLorean EV looks ****ing amazing.

 

For $175k. 😆

 

I wish.

 

300 mile range and 0-60 in 2.99 seconds.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2022 by The Evil Genius

[Ball Security]

2 hours ago, tshile said:

Outside of a special circumstance - I wouldn’t even interview for a job that isn’t full remote 

 

I have a great home office in the woods. I work independently and if you are curious about whether I am working or not you just read my time card. 
 

No idea why someone would want to work in an office anymore. 

Well, it is intern season.

[spjunkies]

4 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

The DeLorean EV looks ****ing amazing.

 

For $175k. 😆

 

I wish.

 

 

 

Great Scott!!!!

[CousinsCowgirl84]

12 minutes ago, The Evil Genius said:

The DeLorean EV looks ****ing amazing.

 

For $175k. 😆

 

I wish.

 

300 mile range and 0-60 in 2.99 seconds.

 

 

Collectors car.. sad they ditched the stainless steel look…

Edited June 2, 2022 by CousinsCowgirl84

[Hersh]

1 hour ago, 88Comrade2000 said:

Deport him back to South Africa. Let him run Tesla from there. Cancel the contract with Space X.

 

Come on now. We shouldn't be crushing these companies because of Musk. 

[mistertim]

6 hours ago, @DCGoldPants said:

 

I've been a biotech consultant for over a decade. One client, the CEO of his company is in his 70s. 3-4 years ago he would openly talk about how he'll never do two things. Open Floorplans and remote working. While I do agree with the no privacy issue on Floorplans. Now on zoom calls he brags about having employees he never met but they are more productive as an org as ever. 

 

Took a pandemic for him to realize when you talk out the commute, recycled office building air, minimal sunlight, and cube farm. Happy employees can get more done.

 

Obviously his take on remote work is dumb and counter to almost all of the evidence we have. Which is kind of weird considering that his take on open floor plans is spot on...because almost all the evidence we have now points to it being a horrible idea for multiple reasons.

 

Though his take on open floor plans may be less about him reading the studies on them and more about just being set in old ways of doing things and there just happened to be a fortuitous intersection between the two.

[Fergasun]

Sadly, my upper management mandates we are in office 3 out of 5 days a week.  I do agree there is some "culture building" that occurs from face to face interaction, especially new/junior employee.  But I would argue that is function of how us and every company operated pre-pandemic. I did have experienced and senior level employees who were not working with the new/junior people and getting them together f2f is key to building the relationship.  But f2f every day vs. enougj to build a rapport and get together?  

 

But the reality to me is, I have a f2f with upper management team on Tuesday and I have a mandated f2f meeting with my team on Thuradays.  That means I only am truly required on-site two days a week.  There are times when I need to be on-site (surprise, sometimes even every day the week!), but by default I will come in for a couple hours on Friday if needed...

 

I also agree wirh Musk in some ways across our 2300+ employee organization results and effectivity varied based on management skill.  My predecessor instituted a daily AM call, a 30 minute tag up when we were remote that while annoying is a great tool at communicating.  Other teams floundered going remote. 

 

The issue to me is the whole bean counting and control vs. true work requirement.  I posted a screed outside my cubicle saying "What we learned from full remote is that every ounce of energy expended to unecessarily be in the office is one ounce of energy less to getting our jobs done."  My boss came buy and shamed me for posting that, "What if our director saw that?"  I took it down but regret it... because if the director saw it we could have a meaningful discussion. 

 

The truth that I told my team is that I feel like as time goes on, no one will truly care about the days in office providing we are getting work done, but the edict ties my hands becauae I am expected to manage under the 3 days a week in office expectation.  

 

All this while we have a high performer fully remote in another state. 

 

 

[tshile]

It’s different in every field. In mine it’s very easy to see if I’m getting my work done or not. And it won’t take but a week to figure it out (as opposed to say, 6 months to realize someone wasn’t doing their part)

 

and when I do go to the office, I sit in my office and work on systems all around the country. So. Even if I’m in my office, the things I’m working on are hundreds or thousands of miles away, and I’m still working remote. 
 

I rarely go to lunch with coworkers - I used to every day but since covid I spend my lunch breaks going on a run, or just eating healthy at home. 
 

I get plenty of socialization outside of work - and almost none at work whether I’m in the office or at home. 
 

Strangely, I get the feeling the best value gained by me being in the office is that others who have ****ty home office set ups are a bit less jealous than they would be if I was never in the office. 
 

not my fault your home office sucks 

 

mine is 100x better than what my, and most companies, provide. 
 

even if they did step it up to the equipment I have at home (just put my xchair together the other day), they cannot give me the views. Or my vegetable garden to tend to as a break. Or my dog to keep me company. Or the badass red tail hawk that hunts the area my windows overlook. 
 

i live a mile from my office and I’d prefer to not spend an hour more there then absolutely necessary. 

[The Evil Genius]

Truly the only positive from the pandemic has been the paradigm shift in how we, 'Murica, view office work vs telework and to be honest, how much more productive most of us are remotely vs being in an office 8+ hrs a day. 

 

I understand not every job can remote work. But the ones that can, should be encouraged too as much as possible. I also suspect that almost any lost productivity (if it even exists) would/could be offset by companies hotelling workspaces in the future.

[CousinsCowgirl84]

Whether or not it is a good idea to have people in the office or not for the specific task you are doing, forcing people who do not want to be in the office back into the office seems like a way to build a toxic culture of resentment.

 

If you want to get people back into the office maybe a better way to do this is to hire more talent to work in your office then quietly/gradually let people who stay at home go.

[RansomthePasserby]

I think it would be a win-win for both employees and for companies to completely do away with assigned cubicle farm desks at offices for those who don’t need to be there every day. Instead, downsize the office. Replace cubicles with more of a college library/study hall layout. Have a few unassigned hotel desk spaces for focused work (some people need to get away from the home and the kids), use most of the space with couches and coffee tables for collaboration (we use the office more for collaboration than we do for focused work anyway) and invest in quality conference rooms with high end webcams for formal meetings. Cubicle farms just aren’t appealing anymore when you can skip the commute and do focused work at home.

Edited June 2, 2022 by RansomthePasserby

[88Comrade2000]

17 hours ago, Hersh said:

 

Come on now. We shouldn't be crushing these companies because of Musk. 

Crush them.

 

Have Elan buy Greenland and him , his companies and his cult move there.

[GoCommiesGo]

Just now, RansomthePasserby said:

I think it would be a win-win for both employees and for companies to completely do away with assigned cubicle farm desks at offices for those who don’t need to be there every day. Instead, replace cubicles with more of a college library/study hall layout. Have a few unassigned hotel desk spaces for focused work (some people need to get away from the home and the kids), use most of the space with couches and coffee tables for collaboration (we use the office more for collaboration than we do for focused work anyway) and invest in quality conference rooms with high end webcams for formal meetings. Cubicle farms just aren’t appealing anymore when you can skip the commute and do focused work at home.

 

It sounds like your advocating for an open office environment...if you are, I'm not sure you've ever worked in one before. 

 

My agency is all open office except for our senior leadership. It's the worst thing I have ever experienced, and honestly, I would kill someone for a cubicle. There is nothing worse than sitting next to a person and listening to their side of a phone call, and then trying to have your call. Or worse, having to listen to people congregate two desks away and talk about absolutely ****ing nothing. 

 

Open office concepts are the scourge of my office existence, that and the fact my at home office is substantially nicer than anything my agency provides.

 

End of my open office rant. 

[RansomthePasserby]

53 minutes ago, GoCommiesGo said:

 

It sounds like your advocating for an open office environment...if you are, I'm not sure you've ever worked in one before. 

 

My agency is all open office except for our senior leadership. It's the worst thing I have ever experienced, and honestly, I would kill someone for a cubicle. There is nothing worse than sitting next to a person and listening to their side of a phone call, and then trying to have your call. Or worse, having to listen to people congregate two desks away and talk about absolutely ****ing nothing. 

 

Open office concepts are the scourge of my office existence, that and the fact my at home office is substantially nicer than anything my agency provides.

 

End of my open office rant. 

Yup, we’re on the same page.
 

- Companies should use office space to encourage collaboration.
- Encourage people who need to focus on their work to stay home. Don’t mix them with the collaborators in the office and don’t make them sit in traffic. 
- Provide quiet unassigned hotel space for people who need to get away from home every once in a while, but still need to do focused work. 

[mistertim]

1 hour ago, GoCommiesGo said:

 

It sounds like your advocating for an open office environment...if you are, I'm not sure you've ever worked in one before. 

 

My agency is all open office except for our senior leadership. It's the worst thing I have ever experienced, and honestly, I would kill someone for a cubicle. There is nothing worse than sitting next to a person and listening to their side of a phone call, and then trying to have your call. Or worse, having to listen to people congregate two desks away and talk about absolutely ****ing nothing. 

 

Open office concepts are the scourge of my office existence, that and the fact my at home office is substantially nicer than anything my agency provides.

 

End of my open office rant. 

 

Yup, I think open office floor plans were designed and sold by Satan. They're awful.

 

And the ironic thing about them is that one of the main stated* reasons that companies implemented them was to facilitate more communication and interaction...but it's actually one of the things they end up making worse.

 

Multiple studies have shown that communication and interaction goes down in open office plans, mostly because people are sick of hearing other people talk so they just put on headphones and do their best to ignore everyone throughout the day.

 

 

 

* I say "stated" because I think it's all bull****. They're simply meant to save money in office space. Though one thing I will give Zuck is that when Facebook implemented an open office plan he sat at a table just like everyone else. Having everyone but senior management in open office is such a dick move.

[RansomthePasserby]

1 hour ago, mistertim said:

 

Multiple studies have shown that communication and interaction goes down in open office plans, mostly because people are sick of hearing other people talk so they just put on headphones and do their best to ignore everyone throughout the day.

 

 

 

* I say "stated" because I think it's all bull****. They're simply meant to save money in office space. Though one thing I will give Zuck is that when Facebook implemented an open office plan he sat at a table just like everyone else. Having everyone but senior management in open office is such a dick move.

Exactly. So instead of forcing people to come to the office and put on their headphones, just have them stay home. Reduce the total square footage of the office and optimize it for collaboration. People can focus on their work at home, companies have lower overhead, traffic is reduced, collaboration and meetings can happen at the office only when needed. It’s win, win, win.

[tshile]

I liked open office space when I was more developer and less on phone calls. But I worked with cool people and the open office layout (which few of any other companies were doing at the time) allowed us to have so much fun. 
 

I can see what al of you are saying and I’m not arguing, but my several years in one were great. 
 

In fact when one of the senior guys was on a week long trip, me and another senior guy bought a bunch of plywood and 2x4’s and we walled in his entire space. We cut out and entrance but intentionally made it so short you had to stoop into it. We also cut out a pass through window and made a door that locked from the outside. So people would wall by and just open it random and talk to him. 
 

Man. Back when work didn’t suck. Been so long I forgot about those days. 

[@DCGoldPants]

I think some bosses saw the early 2000s tech companies with couches and game rooms and people using whiteboards all over and thought it could be universal regardless of industry. Like when everyone pushed Six Sigma like another Scientology. 

[Die Hard]

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-10-percent-cut-tesla-jobs-bad-feeling-economy-2022-6
 

Maybe this is what’s driving Musk’s remarks.

[mistertim]

1 hour ago, Die Hard said:

https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-10-percent-cut-tesla-jobs-bad-feeling-economy-2022-6
 

Maybe this is what’s driving Musk’s remarks.

 

I think Elon basically lives in his own world and thinks everyone should live in his world as well, and if they don't then they're idiots or lazy.

 

From that article: 

Quote

He added: "Also, all the Covid stay-at-home stuff has tricked people into thinking that you don't actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!"

 

Nevermind the fact that COVID basically taught us the opposite: that people working remotely do just as much work and get just as much done as people working in an office...sometimes even more so since there aren't as many distractions.

 

The company I work for tended more towards old school "always in the office" before COVID, and were freaked out that things were going to fall apart when we had to go full remote. But then they realized that it all went off without a hitch and we're getting at least as much done now as before and so now they've basically switched and working from home pretty much permanently is likely going to be an option for the foreseeable future.

 

It always amuses me that Elon is ostensibly a super science focused guy, yet he basically disregards science and evidence when it conflicts with his ideology. He talks about working 80+ hours per week when many scientific studies have shown how much actual focused work the human brain can do on average per day. Anything much over that amount is going to introduce very diminishing returns and often is going to be counterproductive because more mistakes will be made and the work will be shoddier. 

 

Same thing with COVID. Ideologically he hates the lockdowns and mandates so he rails against it, forces employees to come back in, and ignores the huge amount of evidence that people working remotely get just as much done and are in fact often much happier, which leads to better productivity.

 

No wonder he's a Republican now.

[CousinsCowgirl84]

24 minutes ago, mistertim said:

 

 

It always amuses me that Elon is ostensibly a super science focused guy, yet he basically disregards science and evidence when it conflicts with his ideology. 

 

 

this is how 80 percent of people are. I don’t know why you would be amused by this.

[GoCommiesGo]

It should also be noted that the man who owns a car company may have a more vested in interest in people using cars on a regular basis. 

 

I work for the Federal Government and even our SES is pushing for more remote work capability for existing employees. Good leadership understands the changing nature of work, as well as how to retain employees. When you have all the metrics in the world showing across the board improvement from at home work and you choose to ignore them, that's bad leadership. 

 

Hot take, maybe Elon is a great innovator, but not a good leader. 

[mistertim]

13 minutes ago, CousinsCowgirl84 said:

 

this is how 80 percent of people are. I don’t know why you would be amused by this.

 

Yeah, there are plenty of people who are like that, but I think your 80 percent figure is a bit of hyperbole.

 

Sure, almost all people have confirmation bias, but there's a difference between someone with confirmation bias who is willing to change their mind when given new information and evidence and someone with confirmation bias who thinks their **** doesn't stink and refuses to change their mind when presented with new information or evidence. IMO Elon Musk falls into the latter category.

 

Unfortunately he's also surrounded by plenty of followers who reflexively agree with everything he says, no matter how ludicrous, and essentially tell him he's the greatest thing to ever happen to the universe so there's not much reason for him to change his mind, even with new information.

 

And I said why I find it amusing: because he makes himself out to be this super science and evidence based guy, yet in reality he regularly ignores science and evidence when it conflicts with whatever ideology happens to be in his head at the moment. He puts this persona out there and then essentially invalidates it with his actions.