LPOCS are bad for you. LPOCS are bad for the environment. LPOCS are bad for the economy and are bad for the world.
I would not go as far as saying they should be labeled a crime and banned for the simple reason that they fulfill an important economic role. I would, however, go as far as saying that LPOCS are a walking and breathing paradox in any capitalistic society.
I am not going to go at lengths about explaining why we have LPOCS. I have already done that. Let’s for now just say in a nutshell that they are getting widespread because increasing complexity allows for confusion, that allows for twisted perceptions, in which turn enables bad leadership to aim for very short-term, damaging goals. A chain of pure evil.
So what are LPOCS (pronounce it el-POX, like in small-pox)? Low-Performance-Over-Crowded-Shops are at first sight just what the acronym means. But if we care to peek a bit deeper, we catch a few other important characteristics. And since we are here, let’s care to peek a bit deeper:
Lots of people = low performance.
Yes. The first one is obvious. There is plenty of scientific evidence showing that the more people you have in stiff, artificial, hierarchies, the less communication, the less collaboration, and the more waste of time and resources. Since it applies to functional capitalist organizations, we could name it the LPOCS paradox, but let’s not go there just yet.
High technology. So it says.
LPOCS apply to hi-tech only. Or to shops that like to name themselves “high tech,” and therefore have some reliance on specialized work. If you are looking at something that does not rely on specialized work, it is not LPOCS. The environment for shops that do not deal with specialized work is different, and it might actually justify an over-crowded, top-heavy setup. I am not saying it does, I am just saying I don’t know enough about it.
It Comes in all sizes.
LPOCS comes in all shapes and sizes. Given the abundance of startup resources nowadays, some startups start by developing LPOCS status soon after taking off. It is really a shame. Enough to say they are short-lived.
ZERO (or almost ZERO) diversity.
LPOCS usually carry a lot of people that think alike, talk alike, behave alike, and error alike. Diversity is a good thing, and the right thing to do, but not on itself. Diversity is a good thing because there is plenty of scientific evidence that shows that cognitive diversity is one of the most essential factors in creativity and production of real, objective knowledge. Well, as a side note, cognitive diversity equals diversity if and only if it comes with a strong dose of inclusion. Unfortunately, as we all know it, inclusion requires more than just slogans. So, to all the nay-sayers out there, the pursuit of diversity is not just a corporate exercise in diversity-washing. There is actually a concrete business driver behind diversity. If one can achieve it, the payout is enormous. But it can’t happen in LPOCS.
Managers, managers, managers everywhere.
LPOCS have lots of people sitting in isolation. And places with lots of people in isolation attract people attracted to middle-management, micro-coordination tasks. It is common in LPOCS to have managers, over one manager, over one manager, micro-coordinating one person. It sounds weird, but don’t blame the chain of managers themselves. In reality, they are just serving a number of weird incentives outside of their control.
Never enough people.
Given the waste and the ever-growing backlog, LPOCS never have enough people, and that in itself are three and not one big red flag. The first red flag is that there are always tons of openings, that remain open, mostly because rates are kept artificially below market and most qualified people won’t sign up for the culture. This repulsion of qualified people brings the second red flag: a the very high turnover. The most important thing though is a cultural misalignment, what leads to the third red flag: the “college recruiting team” cannot recruit, because there is no cultural incentive, especially for the ones joining the workforce, to sign up. If you can’t make them join now, wait for when they get some experience, that’s when they will most definitely won’t sign up.
Collaboration: never.
The ever-growing complexity and constant change is the norm. Horizontal collaboration and micro-specialization are the solutions. If you cannot collaborate, you cannot adapt, and you cannot compete. LPOCS have way too many people, too many layers and silos to allow for any collaboration. In fact, collaboration goes against every incentive in place in an LPOCS. It is just unnatural. Most talented people refuse to work in silos, so as an additional bonus, you push these valuable people out as well.
So, back to my initial point against banning such wasteful places like LPOCS, what economic purpose does LPOCS fulfill? LPOCS serve as some kind of filter, similar to The Great Filter in the Fermi Paradox, but in a much smaller scale, applying to organizations instead of civilizations. Some organizations grow and grow, to a point in which they develop practices that start draining resources, killing collaboration and creativity. These practices are cultural aberrations, and as a result, business falling ill to the LPOCS virus will no longer be able to compete against better-suited corporations or smaller fast-paced newcomers. People leave, and soon, value follows. It happens fast.
And here you have it. A guide for defining the taxonomy of LPOCS. As a final note, if you stand up above your cubicle walls and all you see is LPOCS, you should think about brushing up your resume.
Originally published at http://jfaleiro.wordpress.com on July 8, 2019.
