work less. produce more
A couple of months ago, the guy with the easiest job in the word, Laszlo Bock, ex-Baywatch life-guard and current HR Director at Google, was doing the media rounds, plugging his book and trying not to appear smug. During the interview I read, he failed spectacularly. Every year, over two million people apply for a job at Google. Two million of the world’s most gifted, talented, driven & highly qualified who would kill to work for you. Picking the ones that fit must be uber tough and my heart bleeds for poor Laszlo. Not.
You can tell that I’m going to be highly sceptical whenever some ultra-successful Google-esque firm gets held-up as an example of how we’ll be all working in the near future. Of course, it’s entirely possible that Google’s global domination is down to free Pilates classes, an on-site barber, napping pods and unlimited (and free) gourmet food served at any time to suit the diner. But, I have a nagging doubt these are the mere show-stopping indulgencies of a rich company and won’t be putting in an appearance in your local council office or call-centre any time soon. However, the latest trend to make it across the pond may have a little more to recommend it: work less to produce more.
Nah, seriously, I’ve always been a big fan of making people work less, and do sincerely believe that having a slightly more grown-up view to the traditional working time is the way forward. At Connections, everyone started on five weeks’ holidays, together with all bank holidays and the bit between Christmas and New Year, free gratis. Your birthday was a further day-off, as was the ‘anniversary’ day of your joining. We’d always finish early on a Friday and normally closed in the spring for a three day ‘team building’ escapade in the Lake District. And don’t even think of not taking your full holiday entitlement as that is a disciplinary offence! Mind, we didn’t half work the b*ggers when they were actually in the office.
This got me thinking about the traditions & origins of our working-week. Apparently, the seven day week is of our own creation and has nothing to do with either the calendar year, month or day, and it has no connection whatsoever with nature & the passing seasons – some months are four weeks, others closer to five. Post-guillotine, revolutionary France employed a ten-day week and, rather surprisingly, the Soviet bloc toyed with the five-day continuous, staggered working week. In the aftermath of the First World War, our own hard-won two-day weekend represented an unprecedented victory for trades union and workers’ rights, but this doesn’t necessarily mean five working days is the right number. Perhaps our focus on five: two (no, not the trendy fasting/abstention diet) is past its own sell-by date?
Spinning Jennies, looms, water wheels, production lines and computers can go on and on without getting tired, however, we can’t. Undoubtedly, the most important aspect of working fewer days is the positive impact it could have on our families, our social lives, our wellbeing and our outlook on life, but let’s not forget that today’s ‘knowledge work’ requires mental and physical rest as well as exertion. Squeezing our work into fewer days’ effort could have a positive effect on productivity: go on, stop pretending to be working on Friday, take the day off, permanently, and go for a swim, you’ll get more done because of it!
