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Finally, you need to work on getting rid of Back Sludge, to avoid taking part in the Sludge Conspiracies. This can be a hard one. It would be easy to say that all you need to do is simply not participate, but we realize that we’re talking about how people socialize. When people are being bitchy about coworkers it feels good to be included in the conversation. And people do say funny things about other people. It can be hard not to laugh. Furthermore, it’s uncomfortable to call other people out for their Sludge, but that is what you need to do.

If someone makes a comment about time you need to redirect back to the work.

If someone says, “Jan is always taking breaks. She’s never here when I need her,” you can say, “I’ve never noticed her breaks. She’s always gotten her work in to me when I needed it.” Or, “Have you talked to Jan about what you need?” Or, “What do you need that Jan isn’t providing? Maybe I can help you.”

Now, if Jan isn’t doing her job, then the idea isn’t to cover for her incompetence, but the point of eradicating Sludge is to focus on the work, not the time. If Jan isn’t performing, then sixty hours of work are probably not going to make the difference. Perhaps there is another problem, a training problem or miscommunication about deliverables or who knows? But as long as we’re ganging up on people about time, then we will never know. If you focus on the work, not only will you eliminate Sludge but you also might even find out why Jan isn’t doing her job.

Always focus on the work. This will eradicate Sludge in almost every case. If you focus on the work, then you can’t attack other people, you can’t gang up on your coworkers, you can’t beat yourself up.

Sludge says:

You’re not committed.

You’re only valued based on the hours spent in the workplace.

You’re not trusted to be left unsupervised.

You’re not worth being respected.

Focusing on the work says:

Let’s stop pointing fingers and solve the problem.

Let’s not get caught up in office politics and instead get the job done.

There is no time for this bullshit. We have work to do.

No Sludge.

Voices from a ROWE: Phil

Phil is a process improvement specialist and Six Sigma black belt. He is in his early forties. He has been in a ROWE for three and a half years.

There is this misconception that ROWE is about giving people more time with the kids. A ROWE is not about having more time or having time off. You may not work fewer hours. You may even work more, but you do it on your terms.

I see a ROWE as an intense focus on business results. You focus on business results and you ignore what doesn’t matter. Usually when people talk about ROWE they talk about the calendar. This is the last thing I talk about. When you finally stop talking about the calendar, you have completely entered the ROWE mindset—because you’re truly focused on results.

Work culture makes people do and say things that don’t drive results. The ROWE mindset is the opposite. In a ROWE, I now do what I know is right for the customer. If I’m a good employee, then I’m going to do what I know is right. It’s not what company culture says is right. It’s what personal culture says is right. What happens in corporate America is that people don’t have the right to speak up for what they think is the best way to get the job done. They are given a job description and hours to fill, but they don’t have the right to stand up for what they know their customer needs or wants. Their work culture keeps them from doing and saying the things that will drive outcomes.

I was in a meeting today and I said that if I wrote down everything I heard that we’d like to accomplish I’d have forty-six goals. My coworker said, “What’s wrong with that?” We have to stop kidding ourselves. This idea that you’re supposed to think big. You’re supposed to be everything to everyone. You’re going to be all things to the world. And then when you’re forced to cut back to what’s really important,