Ever felt like you were living a real world Office Space job? It’s hard to imagine a more boring depiction of cubicle life, but thousands of people do it. They hole themselves up and work inside small groups to “get things done.” And bosses like Bill Lumbergh really are as annoying as they seem. But Paul Graham, programmer and startup advocate, thinks people were never supposed to have a boss to begin with.
According to him, it’s like seeing lions in the wild who are captured and forced into zoos. The spark just goes out of the employees.
Basically large organizations don’t work well with there are a hundred, thousand, or even more employees. I wonder how Wal-Mart people feel… In business that’s called diseconomies of scale. But what he’s saying is that smaller teams inside these companies lack the initiative to feel passionate about what they’re doing.
Why? Because they’re just an extension, an arm, of another indivual’s responsibilities (the boss).
It’s an interesting concept, and businesses could learn a lot by listening to Paul. Check out his essay here (long read!)
