Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It_ The Results-Only Revolution - Cali Ressler [19]
So what exactly is Sludge?
As we began to discuss in chapter one, we define Sludge as any negative comment we make that serves to reinforce old ideas about how work gets done. Another way of looking at Sludge is as a kind of code for the status quo. We can’t come out and say what we want to say, so we talk around it.
Someone says, “Eleven o’clock and you’re just getting in?” because they can’t say, “That’s not fair! I got in at eight like everyone else.”
Someone says, "Another vacation? How many vacation days do you get? I haven’t taken a vacation in five years!” because they can’t say, “You’re a slacker. Only people who sacrifice their time are committed to their jobs.”
Someone says, “I can’t believe Toby got that promotion. He’s never here!” because they can’t say, “I don’t get it. I turn out the lights at this place every night, so why am I being passed over?”
One of the things that makes Sludge so dangerous is that it seems so small. So what if people make jokes once in a while about people coming in late or missing a meeting? Who cares if someone’s feelings are bruised? Work isn’t supposed to build self-esteem and make us feel good about ourselves, right? That’s why it’s called work.
Maybe, but let us offer this story. In 2003, when we started bringing ROWE to the company at large, we weren’t as sophisticated in our terminology or our teaching methods. Sludge hadn’t been named yet. We hadn’t fully articulated our ideas about time, belief, and judgment. We were flying by the seat of our pants. We had no manual, but we knew to focus on culture.
Today a Sludge session lasts an hour and a half, and we cover all the different types of Sludge you’ll read about below. When we first started, however, the sessions were only half an hour, and rather than give the meeting shape we just asked people to volunteer all the judgments people fling at one another at work. (We highly encourage you to try this with your friends.)
One group we’ll never forget came up with more than a hundred bits of Sludge in twenty minutes. Someone would start a riff about working mothers and five other people would pile on the judgment. Then entry-level people. Then older workers. Then smokers. Then people who work from home. Then people who never come to meetings. It was like watching jazz musicians trade solos. And the most amazing thing about it was that afterward no one who was in that room could honestly say that these kinds of judgments in the workplace
1. are warranted,
2. contribute to the bottom line, or
3. are anything other than a pernicious distraction from the real work at hand.
This session was also a turning point for the development of a Results-Only Work Environment because we started to notice certain themes. The different kinds of Sludge fit into buckets. There were times when people seemed to get themselves ready for Sludge, which may or may not come (Sludge Anticipation). There were times when people would go through an elaborate pantomime to explain why they were five minutes late and how they were going to work extra hard that day (Sludge Justification). And there were those especially choice times when two people or a group of people would make nasty comments about a person who wasn’t there (Back Sludge or a Sludge Conspiracy).
When we were first starting out we just told people to stop judging one another. We told them to put a jar in the break room—anytime someone flung Sludge they had to put a quarter in it. But now we saw that the different types of Sludge would need to be eradicated in different ways.
Before we get to eradication, however, we need to expand upon the different kinds of Sludge because they have subtle but important differences.
Sludge Anticipation is the mental preparation we all go through if we are expecting a piece of Sludge. Let’s say you’re a qualified,