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by tfp137 1509 days ago
> If you have a team, you need to "justify" their existence. Is not enough to keep the lights on or slowly polish the product, you need grand roadmaps to keep yourself busy the next year or two. Ideally you want to justify that you need extra headcount to keep the product expanding.

This. It generates the Bullshit Jobs that David Graeber talked about. As a middle manager or tech lead (Taskmaster) you hire people (Flunkies) to make yourself seem more important as well as for roles (Box Ticker) that you might not need but that any "important" project will retain. In the end, this generates duplicate effort and needless work that requires fixing (Duct-Tapers). The only one of the five Graeber categories not represented is the Goon, and that's because those get moved to MTV and fast tracked to the executive suite.

1 comments

> and that's because those get moved to MTV and fast tracked to the executive suite.

"The Goon" is the analyst from an investment firm who tells your directors and CEO how many of you are going to be fired to make him happy.