This is a talk by Jason Fried on work and why the modern office is based on distraction rather than meaningful work. Fried argues the problem is Managers and Meetings.

His depiction of a Manager is one of constant distraction. The role of a manager is to get updates and to ensure people are working on the correct end goal. One of the reasons for Agile and Lean is to make the work pull, kanban style, so that it isn't autocratic. It is self organizing instead. This means there is no reason for the role of manager.

I empathize on the meetings issue as well. When I first came to the current place I am working at there were way too many meetings. All the engineers were being dragged into every meeting by the project managers. The first thing we changed was that only the lead goes to meetings. If we need one of the other engineers we would go and get them. Soon after that the lead stopped going and no-one seemed to notice or care. Consequently I go to about a meeting a week now if not none a week.

A lot of positions in technology are talking jobs. The job of a PM is talking and reporting. I agree with Fried. By nature they are inherently intrusive by their job title, job position and responsibilities. It is the same for middle management such as Directors. They are by description intrusive.

More Reading on Work

• Work
• Firing Bad Employees
• Not Answering Emails And Phones On The Weekend
• Simple Desks and Work Environments
• Jason Fried on Distraction, Managers and Meetings