Better Factories Through Role Playing

pacopico writes "A former Ford executive has taken his unique brand of factory training to the public. According to Businessweek, Hossein Nivi has set up a new company called Pendaran that forces people to endure a week-long, manic training simulation that's meant to produce safer, better workers. The participants — lots of people from the tech and military fields — get yelled at by actors while they try to assemble things like golf carts and airplanes in a simulation that mixes virtual tasks on computers with real world tasks. After their spirits get broken, the workers actually start functioning as a well-oiled team. It sounds both awesome and bizarre."

Comments

these people should be embarassed

[Anonymous Coward]

they are lunatics and assholes

That does not sound awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

Getting yelled at until your spirit is broken? You think that sounds awesome?

This isn't new or unique, we've been whipping slaves as long as we've had them. Dehumanize people, then work them like animals. Woo hoo sign me up.

Re:That does not sound awesome

[black3d]

Ya, same thought crossed my mind. Chain gangs work like a well-oiled machine too, once you've broken their spirits. I'm not sure why breaking people's spirit is considered "awesome". Submitter must be in management? Probably sounds awesome to them, since "workers" aren't really people after all..

Re:That does not sound awesome

[rtb61]

Of course if you read reality into the lie, those people with and independent resistive streak, fail the course and are excluded from employment. Basically testing to ensure those people employed are meek, obedient and will accept abuse. That is all one week provides, the opportunity to exclude those not born to be slaves.

Re:That does not sound awesome

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's an instant quick-fix band-aid remedy for poor parenting?

Ah, no. They're still going to overeat till obesity, create a couple kids with multiple spouses, run up loads of debt with 3rd and 4th mortgages, vote for whomever promises the most bennies, watch way too much sports and "reality" TV and generally make the world around them decline as rapidly as possible.

They just won't make as many oil spills at work.

Or we could, you know...

[rsilvergun]

just pay them better and give them better health benefits. But using military grade training and manipulation techniques works too I guess...

Re:Or we could, you know...

[Anonymous Coward]

The beatings will continue until morale improves.

The Marine Corps Called...

[bughunter]

After their spirits get broken, the workers actually start functioning as a well-oiled team. It sounds both awesome and bizarre.

This has otherwise been known as "Boot Camp" or "Basic Training" for generations of soldiers.

Oh, bullshit.

[Daniel Dvorkin]

The Pendaran method, designed to force participants to rise above chaos and develop problem-solving techniques, is diametrically opposed, a sort of indictment of Six Sigma and other beloved corporate training regimes.

No, it's just yet another stupid "corporate training regime" designed to separate MBAs from their and everyone else's money. Which wouldn't be a problem, except for the "everyone else" part--companies actually spend money on this kind of crap instead of on things like, you know, salary and benefits for the people who actually do the work that keeps the company in business. And there are more and more of these parasites infecting the corporate world every year, which ought to be enough to convince the Invisible Hand cultists that maybe there's something wrong with their cherished idea that the market weeds out inefficient management ... except they're all too busy congratulating themselves on buying into the latest bullshit fad to pay attention.