How many of us have seen people who work all the time and seem to accomplish next to nothing. Even worse, they are commended for their hard work.
There's a simple principle of measuring outcome vs. activity.
If we're measuring outcome then we've created some definition or baseline for what success looks like. We've given success body and we've given it meaning. Activity, though good for looks, is mostly empty air. It rarely reaps benefit.
There are two angles we should all take on this. The first is to analyze what we do on a daily basis and evaluate if it's for outcome or activity. Second, we should couch those who work on our teams the difference and instill value in our teams for outcome, and not activity.
This is an easy thing to fall into as most people hold 8-5 jobs. The 8-5 structure can dampen a work ethic as it seems you need to fill time more than you need to fill work needs. None the less, our responsibility is still to be productive in producing outcome. Don't let the 8-5 trap build complacency.
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Do you think that an organization could do away with the paradigm of the 8 hour work day and move instead to a workday built on productivity? (This kind of ties in with your "punished for doing good" thought) It would seem that this would be beneficial in several ways: giving the managers/leaders more of an opportunity to determine who and what are really the producers and cut out a lot of the waste, and giving employees the incentive to be efficient and to seek outcomes rather than just activity. The trick would be having the right people in leadership who would be able to continually offer new projects, goals, and the incentives to reach them. It is usually much easier to offer a job description at the beginning of a career than at the beginning of a week...
Now I understand that in some organizations time is a requirement. (Front desk at a hotel for example, if I finished what was required of me and then left I would only be here for about and hour out of the eight and then there would be no one to answer phones or help guests for the next seven... probably wouldn't fly.) However, I think there are a lot of scenarios where a model built on productivity would be very beneficial.
How would you propose moving a company that has been structed around the 8-5 paradigm to a new type of workday?
Great thoughts. Yeah, the difficult part is the balance positions that need to be manned for given periods of time - like your hotel example. To me, the real balance comes down to how do you equally respect and honor all team members as people. I do believe that can look different from one person to the next, but it takes an intuitive leader to do so.
I do believe that 8 hour work days are a thing of the past and will continue to be more so in the years to come. Truth is that the trend is already moving that direction, especially for specific functionality of specialty.
It's all ironic to me how an 8-hour work day can be counter productive. Even consider college, where we educate people for future work, no one is placed in a cube and told to work for a certain period of time. We're given the freedom and responsibility to success, but also to fail.
Transitioning from an 8 hour work day environment would no doubt be difficult. I would start with the discussion of what areas that might work for, how it might be done, and how to globally respect all team members. The situations will no doubt vary per company, but I do believe the companies that don't begin making that transition are bound to have failures as they are not being relevant to the trends of how people are working these days.
All in all, I'm not certain how to make the transition. A lot of discussion and leadership are a must though.
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