Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It_ The Results-Only Revolution - Cali Ressler [29]
We realize that this sounds like free ice cream being served on golden platters by magical fairies. Often when we first introduce this idea to people they say that being able to do whatever you want, whenever you want as long as the work gets done is a lovely idea, but it could never happen where I work. They say that even if working this way were possible, there is no way any organization—especially my organization—could make such an enormous change. As appealing as this idea is it just doesn’t seem possible. It’s hard to imagine some anonymous dude in a suit with a rolling bag coming into a conference room and teaching this new way of working as if it were time management tips or sales techniques.
This much is true: A Results-Only Work Environment cannot be created in the traditional way. A man or a woman with a rolling bag can start the process of transitioning from a traditional workplace to a ROWE, but they cannot force an organization to adopt this mind-set.
At the same time, you would be surprised what people can do and how much they’re willing to effect change if given the chance. Because one thing is undeniable about a Results-Only Work Environment: A lot of people would like to work this way. They would like to be judged on performance, not politics. They would like to have more freedom over their jobs and to give their coworkers or employees more freedom to do their jobs. So the question becomes, How?
At first blush transitioning from a traditional work environment to a Results-Only Work Environment looks daunting. Given how change normally happens in corporate America, you can imagine hours and hours of training, piles of overproduced handouts, e-mail reminders from management to make sure everyone is on the same page with the new way, and so forth. In other words, not worth the trouble.
In fact, just the opposite is true, and to give you an example of what moving into a ROWE is like we offer the following story about litter.
As you know, there was a time when it was perfectly okay to finish your soft drink and chuck the empty soda can out the window of your enormous car as you sped down Route 66. In the middle of the last century everyone littered because it was socially acceptable to do so. Then, in 1953, the environmental organization Keep America Beautiful formed, and after years of flying under the radar as a large, but largely ignored, community cleanup organization, they created the famous “Crying Indian” public service announcement. Coupled with the Woodsy Owl “Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute” campaign launched by the USDA Forest Service in 1970, the Keep America Beautiful campaign helped turn public opinion around. Obviously people still littered (and they still litter today) but a lot of people stopped. And not only did they stop but they taught, encouraged, and sometimes harangued other people into not littering. Drop a popsicle stick in the street today and you may get away with it, but chances are you’re going to feel bad.
This simple change in opinion has had profound effects. We wouldn’t have Adopt-a-Highway programs without this change in people’s attitudes. We might not be having as robust a discussion about the environment as we do now. We wouldn’t have troubled teens doing community service in orange jump-suits by the side of the road. Or kids getting on their parents’ case about doing a better job of recycling.
In the case of litter, the PSAs were the catalyst, but it was up to the culture to adapt to the new way of thinking. No one putting those ads on the air back in the early seventies could have envisioned where we are now. Nor could they