Smoke of Luck: Work from home more appealing

We have now educated ourselves into a state of complete imbecility.

— Malcolm Muggeridge, born in 1903

The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good? by Michael J. Sandel, reviewed by Paul J. D’Ambrosio at the Los Angeles Review of Books and by Richard King at Sydney Review of Books

“Hey Sophi”, Hey Michelle or How Much Philosophy Will Computers Do?

While we have seen increased use of computing in philosophy over the past two decades, the continued development of computational sophistication and power, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and associated technologies, suggest that philosophers in the near future could do more philosophy through computers, or outsource various philosophical tasks to compute..

AS LONG AS YOU LEARN FROM IT

Receiving complaints? Congratulations!

A government department that values every complaint as one more golden nugget in a treasure trove of insight will reap the rewards.

Agencies must do more to prove feds were actually performing poorly, court says in precedent-setting decision. “Federal agencies are now facing new requirements to fire employees thanks to a court ruling that reversed a decades old precedent.  In Santos v. NASA, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found the space agency failed to justify putting one of its engineers, Fernando Santos, on a performance improvement plan, or PIP. It was a ruling with sweeping implications, as agencies had never before been forced to establish cause for placing employees on a PIP. The plans are typically used by managers as a warning for poorly performing workers before initiating disciplinary action.  Santos’ manager put him on a PIP after he missed meetings, which he argued he only missed when he took leave due to his requirements as a commander in the Navy Reserves. He faced the improvement plan shortly after he was assigned a new supervisor, despite receiving several accolades in his previous 18 years of service. The supervisor quickly issued several citations against Santos for taking the leave and for falling behind on work during his absences. She eventually placed Santos on a performance improvement plan in May of 2018 and he was fired four months later.  Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, civilian employers cannot take disciplinary action against employees for missing time due to military service obligations…

The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work—Are We Ready?

Microsoft – “Exclusive research and expert insights into a year of work like no other reveal urgent trends leaders should consider as hybrid work unfolds. We’re on the brink of a disruption as great as last year’s sudden shift to remote work: the move to hybrid work — a blended model where some employees return to the workplace and others continue to work from home. We’re experiencing this at Microsoft, and today we shared how we’re evolving our own hybrid work strategy for our 160,000+ employees around the world. We’re all learning as we go, but we know two things for sure: flexible work is here to stay, and the talent landscape has fundamentally shifted. 

Remote work has created new job opportunities for some, offered more family time, and provided options for whether or when to commute. But there are also challenges ahead. Teams have become more siloed this year and digital exhaustion is a real and unsustainable threat. With over 40 percent of the global workforce considering leaving their employer this year, a thoughtful approach to hybrid work will be critical for attracting and retaining diverse talent. To help organizations through the transition, the 2021 Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of more than 30,000 people in 31 countries and an analysis of trillions of productivity and labor signals across Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn. 

It also includes perspectives from experts who have spent decades studying collaboration, social capital, and space design at work for decades. Read on to explore how the year 2020 created lasting changes to the way we work, and the seven trends that will shape the future of a hybrid work world…”

Harvard Study – Work from home more appealing than return to ‘business as usual’

USA Today – “Despite potentially longer hours, most Americans enjoy working remotely and want the option to keep doing so post-pandemic, according to a new Harvard Business School Online survey. As COVID-19 forced countless companies to let employees work remotely and presented new challenges such as readjusting their home life and fighting Zoom fatigue from numerous virtual meetings, most of the 1,500 people surveyed say they excelled and even grew in their professions.  “I think it’s a combination of factors, like a Jekyll and Hyde, so to speak,” said Patrick Mullane, the school’s executive director. “We love working remotely in some ways; it gives us more time to focus, spend time with our families, and no long commutes back and forth to work.  “We found out that we can do a lot without having to be face-to-face as COVID really forced that issue,” Mullane said…”

Six Minutes to Midnight Review: A Finishing School for the girls Nazi Elite