Re:What about stupid fashinista culture? (Score 1, Insightful)

>> Sending the message that "good" engineers are the ones who'll stay all night is
>> exactly what keeps people who value life balance out of fields like engineering

>The word you're looking for is "capitalism".

No, the word is "stupid".

Focus and intensity - keeping on task, not reading slashdot when you should work - these are what increase your output. Lots of extra hours at your desk per week isn't it - unless you're charging by the hour and your client will pay for 12 hour days, in which case your client is the stupid one. There are lots of studies on this stuff: if you want to be a capitalist I'd recommend you hit the books and read some.

I'm a successful capitalist: a partner in a little firm that builds systems for financial derivatives, which pays very nicely. We take 8 weeks leave a year, we don't work nights or weekends (except occasionally, if some interesting problem really needs solving or some small crisis has blown up). We are very happy, we expect to retain our staff well, and we are very, very productive because when we work, we work.

Working a lot of late nights means a failure in project management - any senior manager who finds his staff are doing that should be very concerned and starting seeking the scalp of whatever middle-manager is at fault.