Author Topic: A OT follow on from the keto thread  (Read 2493 times)

A OT follow on from the keto thread
« on: 28 November, 2018, 05:18:39 pm »
Then there's faddism. I'm not sure when it became normal for kids to 'not to eat' things. But now every parent I know regales me the list of things their children have decided not to eat, or they've gone gluten-free, or some other food-related weirdness. Certainly, when I grew up my mother was happy for me to choose not to eat something provided I didn't mind going hungry because I wasn't getting anything else.

The two are linked... people are weak and pass on their weaknesses to the following generation. It doesn't help that conceiving a child these days is an enterprise worth of the whole department congratulating with lavish contributions for such display of fertility... such is the achievement that the child must be treated like some kind of deity and allowed every caprice.

Meanwhile mental health issues are sky rocketing... as well as obesity

It's just a completely fucked up society

Off topic of course, but I've observed in the last year that we need to recruit at a higher level than historically in order to ensure sufficient redundancy in our resourcing to cover repeated and long periods of mental health related leave. Not blaming the individuals, who are genuinely impacted, but we have created a society where debilitating mental health issues are also normal. The cost of our PHI cover increased by 140% this year!

ian

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #1 on: 28 November, 2018, 09:41:47 pm »
Like many things it's multifactorial. Not so long ago, mental health issues were mostly ignored or people were simply expected to HTFU. This recognition that psychological illness is as real as organic illness is a good thing.

It has been speculated, that in the absence of actual threat – in general, most of us in the developed world live prosperous, risk-free lives, we're not going to get eaten by a tiger or have to go to war –  we turn mentally inwards. We're primed. In some ways there's an analogy with the immune system, where – in the absence of actual challenge – it turns to autoimmune disease and allergy.

We also live in a world driven by falsity. Happiness is a shiny car or whatever else they can sell to us. Except it isn't really and I think that subconsciously we all know it. We're chasing the unachievable – whatever it is, we won't be any happier when we get it. We're primed in so many ways to be disappointed. We build a scaffold of our expectations. I never considered it a privilege at the time, but growing up with parents with zero expectations of their son was quite nice. Having traversed to the middle-class world I know parents who are fretting about where they fourteen-year-olds will go to university. Some of that has to transfer. University, jobs, houses. Then media. The latest clothes, how you should look, when I was younger there wasn't the constant bombardment of advertisements. It applies to everyone of course, but I think younger people feel it the most, of course (and that's borne out in the stats). They grow up in a world of constant expectation pressure from all directions. There are innumerable examples. We did exams once a year. A horrendous burst of stress, for sure, but for 90% of the year you could fuck about. Now we dose out stress throughout the year, a steady toxin.

I think another reflection of that pressure is an unwillingness for parents to potentially damage their child with a 'no.' My childhood was a symphony of noes. I rarely had to finish my request before it was  no-bombed into oblivion. Nowadays everything seems to be a negotiation ('now then Poppy, stop stabbing mommy, you don't want bloodstains on your dress do you?'). It's probably a good job I don't have kids, I'd probably be awful (and actual parents can tell me to 'fuck off' at this point). Every Friday, I have to wait while no fewer than four adults try to herd a class of kids out of the swimming pool. It's endless negotiation and cajoling. No 'stand there and be quiet.' This observation may, of course, define me as officially old. But in a world without noes, that feeling of expectation can only grow.

There's also a strong correlate with social media. Pressure is no longer a local phenomenon and every kid seems to go direct from dummy to phone these days. I doubt that bodes well.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #2 on: 28 November, 2018, 09:55:01 pm »
Not forgetting that the world we now live in is very much more demanding than it used to be. Staff utilisation figures (ignoring holidays) are in many industries over 90% with training expected to happen on the job rather than away from the work area. Coupled to this is that responses are expected virtually instantly and what was once only expected from the high flyers in terms of commitment and output is now expected as the norm. Add to this jolly little mix is the constant expectation of increased ‘efficiency and you have a perfect storm in terms of sress producing environment.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

ian

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #3 on: 28 November, 2018, 10:27:01 pm »
I dunno. A lot people pretend to work. Presentism. Having to meet some pointless goals because someone decided goals needed to be set. I think pretending to work is more stressful that actual work since you've got the double stress of fearing you'll be caught out. Plus, I expect a lot of people know at some level a lot of what they do is fundamentally pointless.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #4 on: 28 November, 2018, 10:56:24 pm »
In my defence I did say increased efficiency, not improved effectiveness.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #5 on: 28 November, 2018, 11:19:47 pm »
All fair and true points.

I did raise a few eyebrows the other day when I pointed out that 'allowing' people 10% of their hours for the admin we are all expected to do was a nonsense and that actually expecting anyone to be over 70% 'utilised' was either requiring dishonesty or demanding that they work more than contracted hours - probably illegal. Possibly for this reason, I have insufficinet rank to actually get listened to of course.

As I noted elsewhere, 'we have to do things differently...'

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #6 on: 28 November, 2018, 11:31:03 pm »
People are reduced to numbers.

It is easy to get rid of numbers, and they require less training and poorer management.

My management ethos is that if you treat your people right the money takes care of itself.
Unfortunately the MBA fuckfest that has happened over the last 30 years trains important people to look after the money and the people become friendly fire.
It is simpler than it looks.

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #7 on: 29 November, 2018, 08:12:25 am »
Not forgetting that the world we now live in is very much more demanding than it used to be. Staff utilisation figures (ignoring holidays) are in many industries over 90% with training expected to happen on the job rather than away from the work area. Coupled to this is that responses are expected virtually instantly and what was once only expected from the high flyers in terms of commitment and output is now expected as the norm. Add to this jolly little mix is the constant expectation of increased ‘efficiency and you have a perfect storm in terms of sress producing environment.

Which I why I was very pleased to be able to afford to leave my 40 year career, which I had almost entirely loved doing, 3 years early. A culture of Go, Go, Go, Go, coupled with reduced time for thinking about how to solve ground engineering problems, and increasing client awareness of getting redress for the slightest little error or ill-considered solution, all went against my personal ethics.

No - any admin time you need has to be booked to the job - even though the client thinks that we should pay for that. 

BD?  Do that in the hours after 37.5.

 In some respects, I'm glad I'm not just graduating again with my career ahead of me.  Similar problem in the NHS - my doctor wife was ecstatic to get to retiring age a couple of years ago.  She very quickly allowed her GMC registration to lapse.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #8 on: 29 November, 2018, 08:29:38 am »
To be fair, if she’s no longer practicing then the hoops she’d e expected to jump through in maintaining a registration would be very difficult. I’m all for continuous professional development, and when I hear my S-in-L whinging on about having to do it I have little sympathy1, but I do wonder if the requirements might be getting a little over the top.

1. Mainly because her arguments against having to do CPD centre around her current perfection and lack of need of any further training  ::-)
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #9 on: 29 November, 2018, 09:20:30 am »
The problem with most professional registration bodies' ideas of CPD is that they mostly revolve around the bumbs on seats mentality of needing a "training course". Most of these are squarely aimed at the young professional in need of gaining or improving technical skills.  I'm a 45 year old 20+ year experience consultant, and clients don't pay for my ability to do calculations. My CPD needs are entirely different, but not recognised by the system. And then you have the problems of belonging to multiple professional bodies.

As for the “ever on” culture, I’ve had my own run-in with that this week.  My team of two are already 98% and 91% utilised YTD, being asked to do more, and being chastised for a few late deliverables.  I’ve told two separate Partners in the business to “back off, you can only squeeze these guys so much”.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #10 on: 29 November, 2018, 10:18:46 am »
To be fair, if she’s no longer practicing then the hoops she’d e expected to jump through in maintaining a registration would be very difficult.

Absolutely.  I also, very, very reluctantly, gave up my hard-won CGeol last year, after 26 years, as even in retirement I'd be expected to do maybe 50 hours a year of some sort of CPD. I think that it's a shame that (some) professional bodies don't adequately recognise that retired members would like to keep their professional status, but acknowledge that we are no longer professionally active. 

fuzzy

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #11 on: 02 December, 2018, 10:01:52 am »
To be fair, if she’s no longer practicing then the hoops she’d e expected to jump through in maintaining a registration would be very difficult.

Absolutely.  I also, very, very reluctantly, gave up my hard-won CGeol last year, after 26 years, as even in retirement I'd be expected to do maybe 50 hours a year of some sort of CPD. I think that it's a shame that (some) professional bodies don't adequately recognise that retired members would like to keep their professional status, but acknowledge that we are no longer professionally active.

Perhaps requiring nothing more than the need for (retd.) to be inserted after your letters?

Smashing idea.

ian

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #12 on: 03 December, 2018, 12:01:54 pm »
In my defence I did say increased efficiency, not improved effectiveness.

This all reminds me that I received my 'it's time for your annual review' email this morning.' This is a dispiriting and demotivating process that practically everyone admits is entirely worthless. I can't be the only person who deliberately engineers their goals to be so low and eminently achievable that I'm granted to score an 'exceeded' rating. More perniciously, the entire exercise discourages any kind of risk or innovation, why take a chance on a goal you might not achieve (though comically, the differences in grading these days is measured in 10ths of a per cent of a pay increment)?

Yet, it's what businesses do, so do we do. Years ago in a galaxy far, far away when I worked in the management ranks someone came out with the proposed wheeze they'd make the subdecks fill out pointless timesheets – for no better reason (and without evidence, of course) that it would 'focus minds' and 'raise productivity.' I pointed out that it would just reduce productivity as everyone spent Friday afternoon trying to remember what they did on Monday afternoon and, in all likelihood, making it up, so they could complete pointless timesheets that no one would look at. That died, mostly I suspect because no one in management wanted to spend their time on the process.

Anyway, pointless stressful workplace exercises.

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #13 on: 03 December, 2018, 12:04:42 pm »
One of the joys of contracting is none of that type of shit, generally.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

ian

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #14 on: 03 December, 2018, 12:40:25 pm »
One of the joys of contracting is none of that type of shit, generally.

I mostly like my job (ironically I expect it'll be disappearing some point in the non-too-distant future, my absolute ninja kitten drawing skills being something that's critically undervalued by our executive leadership), but yes, that kind of pointless corporatist shit can disappear around the u-bend. Along with the endless and ever pointless meetings about just about everything. Let's have a 'check in'. No, let's not.

mattc

  • n.b. have grown beard since photo taken
    • Didcot Audaxes
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #15 on: 03 December, 2018, 12:47:24 pm »
Yet, it's what businesses do, so do we do. Years ago in a galaxy far, far away when I worked in the management ranks someone came out with the proposed wheeze they'd make the subdecks fill out pointless timesheets – for no better reason (and without evidence, of course) that it would 'focus minds' and 'raise productivity.' I pointed out that it would just reduce productivity as everyone spent Friday afternoon trying to remember what they did on Monday afternoon and, in all likelihood, making it up, so they could complete pointless timesheets that no one would look at. That died, mostly I suspect because no one in management wanted to spend their time on the process.

Timesheets are now considered as normal as Post-its in most companies. I still believe they're bonkers. I'm pretty sure someone did a "proper" study that showed they cost far more than they gain.

And yet no one questions the idea anymore. You've got to measure stuff, haven't you?? How else can you ever improve anything!
Has never ridden RAAM
---------
No.11  Because of the great host of those who dislike the least appearance of "swank " when they travel the roads and lanes. - From Kuklos' 39 Articles

ian

Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #16 on: 03 December, 2018, 01:08:42 pm »
Like 'annual performance reviews', there's no evidence that timesheets lead to any positive improvements in productivity (obviously you need them if you work on hourly billed projects etc.)

It's all the pretend management 'science' that underpins MBAs and the like. Frankly, if you're any kop as a manager, you know how your team is doing, and who isn't doing well (and one would hope, would intervene well before the end of the year). But in the average corporation now, there's an aching hole that can only be filled with more spreadsheets.

Beardy

  • Shedist
Re: A OT follow on from the keto thread
« Reply #17 on: 03 December, 2018, 01:57:03 pm »
Although I’m rather fond of playing with a nice big spreadsheet, I do believe that much of today’s management stupidity is as a result of the invention of spreadsheets. It allows people far to far up,the food chain to collect a lot of numbers and believe that their ninja analyst skills result in ‘meaningful insights’.

As for timesheets, I’m not sure if my part of BT did away with them or not, but I didn’t fill one in for at least the last three years of my employment and nobody said anything. I was told by one manager that it allowed HR to build a spurious dismissal case against you if they could show that Your actual attendance and what you booked didn’t align.
For every complex problem in the world, there is a simple and easily understood solution that’s wrong.