Here’s an interesting article entitled
“The New World of Work” by Thomas Malone. It was published in 2005. Could you imagine a new world of work? Here’s a preview.
Imagine organizations where bosses give employees enormous freedom to decide what to do and when to do it. Imagine that workers are allowed to elect their own bosses and vote directly on important company decisions. Imagine organizations where most workers aren’t employees at all, but electronically connected freelancers living wherever they want to. And imagine that all this freedom in business lets people get more of whatever they really want in life—money, interesting work, helping other people, or time with their families.
These things are already happening today and—if we choose—they can happen even more in the future. We are now in the early stages of a profound increase in human freedom in business that may, in the long run, be as important for businesses as the change to democracies was for governments.
Imagine organizations where bosses give employees enormous freedom to decide
what to do and when to do it. Imagine that workers are allowed to elect their own
bosses and vote directly on important company decisions. Imagine organizations
where most workers aren’t employees at all, but electronically connected freelancers
living wherever they want to. And imagine that all this freedom in business lets
people get more of whatever they really want in life—money, interesting work,
helping other people, or time with their families.
These things are already happening today and—if we choose—they can happen
even more in the future.We are now in the early stages of a profound increase in
human freedom in business that may, in the long run, be as important for businesses
as the change to democracies was for governments.
© 2009, @nCynthiS. All rights reserved.
Tweet This Post
Technorati Tags: flexibility, human freedom, life balance, redefine workplace, Work
Tags:
flexibility,
human freedom,
life balance,
redefine workplace,
Work
Funny, I met a guy last night who runs a business in Colorado based on the principles cited above. His employees are mostly Gen Yers. They can take as much vacation as they like as long as their work gets done. I was really fascinated with his philosophy on work cause he epitomized the concept of work ain’t workin’ — meaning, his employees weren’t held back by out-dated traditions that really slow productivity instead of enhancing it. But again, it also comes back to culture. Some companies just can’t break out of the traditional cultures they’ve established for fear that something may go wrong, even though I can’t imagine what especially if a legacy company employs today’s more connected worker.
I used to work at a company where we could take as much vacation as we wanted. The company was a startup, and to date was still, and may always be, the best company I have ever worked for. Not only was I happier there than I’ve ever been, but I worked anywhere from 10 – 18 hours a day, every day, was constantly challenged every day at work, was greatly rewarded for my talent and skills, felt genuinely appreciated, and laughed at work every day. I worked with incredibly smart people, and my strengths were maximized. I could reach out to people for support and assistance and they would do so, and I had incredible freedom. My first year at the company, I worked the equivalent of 1.5 years of work, and took six weeks of vacation, and had (and have) never been happier. Sounds like a dream? It happened. It was a startup that was not bound by traditional views of work. They created a brand new idea of what the workplace could be, and it was heaven.