One of the key sub-plots in Elizabeth Moon’s book The Speed of Dark involves some corporate intrigue and an almost stereotypical management vs. labor conflict. At the heart of the issue is a question of the efficiency vs. effectiveness of the autistic workforce. It’s probably because of my recent reading of the book that Jack Vinson’s post People still say these things? caught my attention. (Attention, what attention?)
In that post, Jack references a quote that “amazes me every time I see it used in real life”:
Regrettably far too many executives remain firmly convinced that the only way to increase productivity is for their employees to work harder or faster. A chief executive in Northern Ireland was quoted in his company magazine as saying; “Any employee not producing value-added work all the time is a waste”. This attitude stems from the continued misunderstanding of productivity…
As I read this quote, what occurred in parallel in my thinking was the following:
Regrettably far too many people remain firmly convinced that the only way to be of value to society is to do more faster. A ‘normal’ person might say; “Any autistic (or other disabled person) not keeping up with me and everyone else all the time is a waste”. This attitude stems from the continued misunderstanding of an individual’s value to society.
If you are different, your difference has to be accounted for. Doing that takes time, throws a proverbial wrench in the works. And people with a plan to follow and schedule to keep don’t like those wrenches.
I don’t know where this attitude has come from, but I’d guess it has its deep roots in the Industrial Revolution and nourishment from the teachings of Scientific Management, Business Process Re-engineering, Total Quality Management, etc ad infinitum.
The mentality of work in our society has permeated our mentality of community.
no straight lines 