Saturday, August 15, 2015

"Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace"

The company is conducting an experiment in how far it can push white-collar workers to get them to achieve its ever-expanding ambitions.

By JODI KANTOR and DAVID STREITFELD

AUG. 15, 2015

SEATTLE — On Monday mornings, fresh recruits line up for an orientation intended to catapult them into Amazon’s singular way of working.

They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported. To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.

At Amazon, workers are encouraged to tear apart one another’s ideas in meetings, toil long and late (emails arrive past midnight, followed by text messages asking why they were not answered), and held to standards that the company boasts are “unreasonably high.” The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: “I felt concerned about his inflexibility and openly complaining about minor tasks.”)

Amazon is building new offices in Seattle and, in about three years, will have enough space for about 50,000 employees. Credit Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Many of the newcomers filing in on Mondays may not be there in a few years. The company’s winners dream up innovations that they roll out to a quarter-billion customers and accrue small fortunes in soaring stock. Losers leave or are fired in annual cullings of the staff — “purposeful Darwinism,” one former Amazon human resources director said. Some workers who suffered from cancer, miscarriages and other personal crises said they had been evaluated unfairly or edged out rather than given time to recover.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

(my music video) "To Those Who Feel and Understand Rain"



The song "A Thousand Letters" by Xandria  + a video compilation by someone named Emeric Le Bars on Youtube.

[If you want to see this in high quality you can "full screen" this or click the wheel, in the lower-right, and change it to "720p".]

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

"A Day in the Life of Jack the Fox"





There's not a lot of info on Google about this guy and his fox. I'm sure if you take your time you'll find more info, though. I think this is a good one-time upload to add to my video archives for your pleasure / perusal.

Original Source: https://vimeo.com/6759993 by Andy Langley / Ipscreativemedia.com (2000)