At small companies I’ve always promoted the work ethic: “do anything for the success of the venture.” Mostly to try and get around the “it’s not part of my job” issue but if that means evenings and weekends too then so be it. Now, I do try to encourage some semblance of work life balance but we are in the technology industry so isn’t being a workaholic a given? Uhm, no.
recently I’ve been having pause for thought on just how much we work.
Why? I recently visited some great friends who work at Apple. They work crazy hours. It was a sheer honor that they took an afternoon off to visit with me (although they spent that Sunday afternoon feeling guilty and talking about work constantly among themselves - I felt like I was at a staff meeting). One even mentioned that they would never hire anyone who wasn’t available 24/7 and didn’t think no amount of work is too much work. Really? When I mentioned it would be very unrealistic to sustain that level of pressure, burnout and health issues would surely slow them down, I was told it was more like a badge of honor to almost kill yourself over delivering a product.
wow. are we literally willing to give life, health and happiness to take something to market?
Well, it seems so. Last week I was at F5 Expo and I had the pleasure of seeing Tod Maffin speak on work/life balance. Here is a little taste from his talk “Taking Crazy Back”:
If you have a chance to see him speak, I would highly recommend it. He is a man who really almost died for the success of his company and has come back to tell his tale. It really made me think about the side effects of my “anything for the venture” mentality. For instance:
What about all those people who don’t stay late? Who work reasonable hours and still get the job done? If everyone else is “giving 110%” do they feel guilty? do they then develop the “ass in seat” mentality (e.g. they stay at work out of obligation not really being more productive)? Resentment? Hmmm, how do we reward them? where is their badge of honor for working efficiently and effectively?
I think it’s time for me to find a new phrase. We need to take crazy back.
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