My Favorite Vonnegut Quote

My recent post about the postcard that Kurt Vonnegut sent me giving permission to reprint his poem "Joe Heller"  reminded me of my favorite quote from him. I first saw it in a book called Word Redesign by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham, about 25 years ago:

“If it weren’t for the people, the god-damn people” said Finnerty, “always getting tangled up in the machinery. If it weren’t for them, the world would be an engineer’s paradise.” Kurt Vonnegut, Player Piano (1952:59)

Hackman was one the leaders of a movement in the 1960's and 1970's in academia and industry to humanize work, in part, by designing workplaces and jobs that were less alienating and more motivating. The research and related guidelines that Hackman and his colleagues produced remain one of the best -- and most honest -- examples of evidence-based management I've ever known. For example, when the fad was at its height, and Hackman was renowned for being one of its inventors (and no doubt deluged with offers of consulting work), he wrote an article called "On the Coming Demise of Job Enrichment." He predicted that the movement he helped start would likely fade because the practices were being implementing badly and enriched jobs were seen as a quick fix that leaders could install like machines -- and then ignore after a short period of upheaval, when instead, redesigning work required constant attention and as well as a change in manager's basic assumptions about the role of people in organizations.  Hackman especially emphasized in his writings, and still does today, that enduring and constructive change starts with viewing organizations as human and humane entities, not as machines.

P.S. Also, I would like to emphasize that, although some engineers do think the way stereotyped in the Vonnegut quote, I've been a faculty member at the Stanford engineering school for over 20 years, and most of my colleagues don't think this way at all. On the contrary, I've been part of two start-up programs (both encouraged strongly by our deans) in the school that devote special attention to the human element in organizations: the Center for Work, Technology and Organization and the new Stanford d.school.

Comments

[Reschafer]

Thanks, Bob! I love Vonnegut, and although Player Piano is quite different than his most famous works, it is probably my favorite. It is just so profound, and I think about the premise often. I work in HR Operations, specializing in data analysis and technology. What will the future hold?

[Ed Batista]

Great quote from "Player Piano," Bob, and although I agree that it's a somewhat outdated slur against engineering per se, it feels like an accurate description of the mindset behind the design of hundreds of systems I encounter on a daily basis.

This is one reason I've found the web such a congenial place over the past decade, despite my lack of technical training or orientation: When switching costs are low and getting lower, systems designers are compelled to think about how their system can conform to the users' needs and mindset, rather than imperiously forcing the user to conform to the system.

Ed

[Fredex]

Ron,

I'm glad you are happy.

End users have their own world where your software supports their jobs. The hierarchy starts a few levels above their jobs and goes done mutiple levels before it gets to you. You are a servant to their needs.

I worked for a company where error messages to end users included "invalid instance of object." Huh? How could anyone make sense of that? The cool kids who wrote that stuff thought they were well, Cool Kids.

That company is gone (surprised?) and all the cool kids have moved on. I hope they are happy flipping burgers. It makes me happy to think they are flipping burgers.

[Ron Lubensky]

The software I've designed would work far better without me having to put up with stupid end-users. Okay, I didn't really believe that, because empathy towards users as people with a diversity of backgrounds, capabilities and behaviours did in fact make me a better designer. But I'm still happier now having changed careers:-)