Category Archives: Management

Open-plan offices are bad. No evidence say otherwise

Posted on Sep 15, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

This is one of those topics that I return to every once in a while and it has been a bit since the last time: Open-plan offices are bad, as they: Lower productivity Increase stress Increase number of sick-days Increase … Continue reading →

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Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy …

Posted on Aug 15, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from incompetence. Yes, this is a riff on Clarke’s third law and I think it is the most consistent explanation of a lot of phenomena that we see in the world. It doesn’t have to … Continue reading →

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This is not how you enforce the law

Posted on Jun 10, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

This article, “MoviePass Changed Some Passwords” by Matt Levine, explains why there seems to be so relatively many American companies that defraud private customers. It’s the final (?) story of MoviePass, a company that was built on the venerable principle … Continue reading →

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Remote work

Posted on Jun 5, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

Their [CEOs fearing remote work] insecurities demand that the way work is done by employees is always visible, highly regulated and uses the methods executives prefer, rather than what’s best for everyone’s productivity. Remote work is seen as a threat … Continue reading →

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Getting the signal out

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

There’s a pun hidden in the title but it’s as obscure as most of my puns. So, the situation at Basecamp exploded with apparently almost a third of the employees choosing to resign, or rather, accept buy-outs from the company. … Continue reading →

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The Woke Mob

Posted on Apr 30, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

Following on October’s story about Coinbase, and yesterday’s about Basecamp, here’s one that doesn’t involve someone with “base” in the name – but since they are anonymous, who really knows? Then a few years ago we noticed a tone shift … Continue reading →

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Back to base

Posted on Apr 29, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

Anyone following American politics will know that the nation has become extremely polarised and this has spread into every aspect of society. But recently there is a push to get back to a situation where companies aren’t political instruments but … Continue reading →

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Why playing fair is good for yourself

Posted on Mar 30, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

I believe in playing fair from a moral reasoning, but there is also a reason for those that forget to include those they disagree with, or compete with, with those they want to treat fairly: Any weapon introduced into battle … Continue reading →

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Corporate espionage

Posted on Mar 12, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

Given the recent major hacking incident using zero-day exploits against Exchange servers, most likely originating in China, this chart detailing China’s new Five Year Plan should be interesting: So, if you are working at a company that works on anything … Continue reading →

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Threats vs. promises

Posted on Feb 16, 2021 by Henning Michael Møller Just

[…] a promise is different from a threat. The difference is that a promise is costly when it succeeds, and a threat is costly when it fails. A successful threat is one that is not carried out. — Thomas Schelling … Continue reading →

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