Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by atleastoptimal 1120 days ago
I maximize for my enemies' pain
2 comments

I assume you're joking... but it's hard to miss how much of corporate life becomes a game of chicken where managers try to find how hard they can push workers before the workers push back - or, to what extent workers will sacrifice rest and their own well-being for continued employment. Of course, the manager has a manager who's pushing them, too.
There are likely many points in a work environment where the local minima and maxima of work output and employee happiness meet. The important thing is to remember that those are balanced in the small, and that a wider perspective may yield a better outcome on both measurements if you care to search for it.
Does it maximize your pain too?
It's easy to do if you are your own worst enemy.
"Irrelevant!"
Well, you can't optimize for 2 goals...
Yes you can. It’s called multivariate optimization.

I suspect you are confusing this with the idea that you can always optimize one variable further than two.