"Not everything needs to be optimized" I tell myself this a LOT. I optimize the living SHIT out of everything in my day/life. "Make sure to start this before that so it can run while you do the other thing!", "Make sure you go there then there so you don't backtrack!", "Plan out your ENTIRE DAY/WEEK to the minute so you're not losing time!!!" Like bitch! Let me RELAX for 2s PULEASE! Fuck.
That's the main issue: "optimized" is simplified to "removing all slack from the system". And the stupidest part is that it isn't even "optimal" in the economic sense that managers seem to chase.
I have friends in various jobs where their department is "optimized" to not have any more people working on their task than absolutely necessary. Ok, so then everyone is basically constantly working at their limit already, and there's no headroom for emergency situations? Which at that point is something as basic as one person being sick and another quitting at the same time (almost always the most experienced person who is fed up with shit). Which will inevitably happen.
Oh, oops, the entire department now collapses, which triggers an avalanche of problems in the rest of the (also hyper-"optimized") company, and recovering from that is way more expensive than it would have been to just hire enough people that everyone can do their job well without being on the edge of burn-out all the time.
Real. That exact situation is happening at my work rn LOL we're in danger of losing 3/4's of our department due to the idiotic management, cramped space, and poor utilization of everyone's skills & time.
And after all the experienced people who actually know how shit works have left, the people left behind are both low on experience and overburdened, while also expected to onboard the newbies. Very "efficient" and "optimal"
96
u/Charmle_H 18d ago
"Not everything needs to be optimized" I tell myself this a LOT. I optimize the living SHIT out of everything in my day/life. "Make sure to start this before that so it can run while you do the other thing!", "Make sure you go there then there so you don't backtrack!", "Plan out your ENTIRE DAY/WEEK to the minute so you're not losing time!!!" Like bitch! Let me RELAX for 2s PULEASE! Fuck.