Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It_ The Results-Only Revolution - Cali Ressler [57]
Maybe it’s just that people want to decide when to take a break.
Working hard and feeling stressed and overwhelmed do not make you a hero. It doesn’t mean you’re tough; it means you’re willing to put up with more bullshit than someone else.
Here’s an idea that seems radical but isn’t in a ROWE: What if you simply don’t feel like working today? What if you know that if you go into work today you’ll be tired and unmotivated and unfocused and you’d just sleepwalk through your day?
Why go in?
Why waste your time and your company’s time?
Why risk making a bad decision?
Why be a distraction to other people who actually want to get work done?
In a Results-Only Work Environment, if you’re not feeling it that day and you can be reachable by phone and e-mail, and if your work is getting done, then there is no reason you can’t simply take the day off.
And this is not a vacation day or sick time or a personal day. You just don’t go in. And you don’t have to feel guilty.
In a ROWE, all the negative feelings at work are gone. Not just guilt, but also envy. When people get rewarded they get rewarded for achievement, not for playing the game. We can’t say it eliminates all politics, but it cuts down on it a lot. People are still going to play favorites but it’s harder in a ROWE, because the business goals of an individual or a group become more transparent and more open. People know what other people are trying to accomplish and that is what they are measured on. So if someone gets a promotion they are more likely to deserve it. If something good happens to you then you don’t have to feel ashamed about it. Similarly you can’t cover up for bad work by playing nice with people. Kissing ass gets you nothing in a ROWE. Isn’t that reason enough to make this change?
Every day feels like Saturday.
When we show people this Guidepost they think we are crazy. If every day is a Saturday then people aren’t working. They are scamming their employer out of a paycheck. If every day is a Saturday then everyone is at the beach and nothing is getting done.
Of course, we often overestimate how much leisure time we have on Saturdays. For a lot of people we know, Saturdays are very busy because people have to do all the things they weren’t allowed to do during the week because their job held them prisoner to time. This is what the forty-hour workweek has done to the weekend. All those demands get pushed to Saturday and Sunday so we can’t even enjoy our “free time.”
We’ve talked about how a ROWE spreads work across the week. This Guidepost is about how that feels. In a ROWE you are still busy, you are still hardworking, but you do it on your terms. You personalize your time so you get to be productive but you also get to enjoy yourself. Every day you work a little and you play a little and it all blends together.
This is how entrepreneurs and freelancers live. Talk to successful self-employed people and they will describe days that are full but not hectic, that mix personal with professional in a way that is almost seamless. The difference with a ROWE is that you also have the structure of a company. You get to live the life of the self-employed without all the uncertainty and risk. Because that is really the only difference between the entrepreneur and the working man and the regular employee. The entrepreneur can handle the risk and probably even likes the risk. The rest of it—figuring out how to best use your time, being efficient, etc.—all that is stuff that anyone can do. It’s not rocket science.
So it’s better than Saturday in a way. You get to have your life and also benefit from being part of