[noitsnot]

"It is important that managers and others learn the value of creating higher quality work, especially if we want to be competitive in a world in which employees need to be innovative, agile, and high performing," Professor Parker said.

[kbutler]

That begs the question - it assumes that the work in the world needs innovative, agile, and high-performing employees, when maybe the world needs a bunch of people that will dig in and do the stuff that needs to be done.

[noir_lord]

> Discipline: The ability to repeat a boring thing over and over again.

The source is somewhat amusingly The Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness but it's true.

The things I have to be disciplined about are the things that are boring, if they aren't boring then I don't have to make myself do them/remember to do them.

[Nasrudith]

Trend-line wise there is a point - the boringness is often a symptom of repetitiveness which hints at a task that is easier to automate.

If you try to beat automation at repetitive tasks chances are you are going to die with a hammer in your hand.

[closeparen]

Such work can exist only because sufficiently innovative/agile/high-performing software engineers have not yet been tasked with automating it.

[kbutler]

Laundry.

[closeparen]

The washing machine is the canonical labor-saving device that changed society by freeing women from a large chunk of their tedious manual work.

[kbutler]

Laundry is still a repetitive and mind-numbing task - how are software engineers going to improve it further? Currently it's mostly outsourcing (commercially or to a spouse or parent)

And regarding the time savings of the washing machine - yes, and no. The washing machine has allowed us to use much more and much cleaner clothing. See https://genevahistoricalsociety.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/...

"Most ordinary people had only a few clothes: an everyday outfit or two—a dress for women/girls and a suit or coat and trousers for boys and men—and a Sunday “best” outfit. Wealthy people might have a few more outfits, but not as many as most people today.  Washing clothes was very hard work and dresses and coats would not be washed very often. Instead, undergarments would be washed regularly. Collars and cuffs for both shirts and dresses were removable, so they could be changed for fashion or for cleanliness. Girls and little children wore large aprons or pinafores that covered their dresses to keep them clean. Men’s shirts and women’s chemises or shifts were washed regularly." Even the pieces that were washed "regularly" were not washed "daily" - much less multiple sets of clothing per day (e.g., gym clothes, work clothes, evening wear, pajamas, ...)

[bg4]

More often than not, it's cleaning up someone else's mess.