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by evolve2k·11mo ago·view on hn ↗
I’d like to posit a scenario that I’ve often thought on. Imagine you and 100 people all working together to say build a road. These are your friends, some family and other local community members many of whom you also care for and have known for many years.

As a group you work a 5 day week, 40 hours laying roads together.

There’s an especially hard part of the process, and you’ve been thinking on it and realise that with a new approach it can save 20% of the total effort.

To whom do you want the benefit to go. All to the boss, as they pay everyone and run the business? All to you as it was your idea. Or alternatively it could mean that everyone works 20% less, translating into that now everyone can do a four day week and have that extra day back to do and help with other things.

Consider less how it’s split now, and more how you’d want it to be split.

The big idea of yours is like the tech, consider also if others had come up with the improvement.

I’d be interested in what folks saw as fair splits and why. Boss, inventor, the collective.

1 comments
The benefit will go to the buyer as 20% more road for the same price. The road workers will get performance reviews now, as any slack will drop production to a higher degree. The stuff turnover will increase as people can maintain that performance level only during short period of time and any injury will disqualify you instantly.

There will be more buyers because more people can afford road at that price and other businesses will benefit from more roads: shops can sell more tires, road repair and snow cleaning companies will have more work. Road building companies will delay hiring new hands as long as possible.

At the end, what we'll end up doing is working more for less money under higher pressure because any slack multiplies faster. With more companies buying cheaper services, there will be less stable companies who shouldn't be in the business anyways but who now is on the verge of bankruptcy and will make life of other businesses way more stressful and unpredictable.