Business Evolutionist

Hours or Output?

A few weeks ago Rob over at BusinessPundit wrote "I am not a hard worker".

"...I have never put in hours just for the sake of putting in hours, which I think many people do. I have always been results oriented, which is why I think I will enjoy entrepreneurship. When I did engineering work, I hated having to stay around for 40 hours a week even if I could do all the work of a *normal* employee in about 25. From a results perspective I should be able to go home and still get the same pay, but that just doesn't fly..."

I really like the way Rob thinks - he is a smart guy!

Back in June 2001 (issue 47) Seth Godin wrote an article in Fast Company - "There is no correlation at all between success and hours worked."

"It's an old saw, but it's still true in the new economy: Work expands to fill the time allotted for it. If you allot 12 hours to work every day, you'll spend 12 hours. But are you going to make more decisions? Better decisions?"

There is also a good recent post on FCNow - Dissembling the Schedule - Charless Buffett asks:

The question I pose to them is: Instead of working for a week or a month & then get our remuneration, what if we worked for 2, 3, 6 months & earned enough income to last the rest of the year, next year, 3 years?

Most interesting - as are the comments on the post...

In my book 'The Cash Register Principle', I suggest that the typical 40 hour (or more) work week doesn't work for everyone and employers should think about how they are compensating people.

Measure (and reward) output, not hours - What’s more important to you, the output of your employees or the hours they spend at their desk? I know that is a stupid question. Of course you care more about the output. But what do you pay them for? You pay them for “the old 9-5”.

So, how about you? Are you compensated for the hours that you work or the results you produce?

Co-Worker Contract

Whether you're aware of it or not you probably have expectations of everyone in your life - for a casual acquaintance, perhaps those expectations are very low. Your expectations for your spouse or best friend, on the other hand, are probably pretty high.

But what about co-workers? You probably have at least some minimal expectations of every person you work with. Have you ever verbalized them? Or, better yet, written them down?

I'm talking about putting in writing what you promise to your co-workers and asking them to do the same.

Perhaps something like:

• I promise to say yes when you ask for help - I expect you to be able to tell me how you have tried to solve the problem yourself first (at least a google search)
• I promise to give my all at work (100+%) - I expect the same from you
• I promise to give you my full attention when we discuss something - I expect you to tell me when I'm not
• I promise not to waste your time with meaningless stories - I expect the same from you
• I promise that I won't complain about something out of my control - I expect the same from you
• I promise that I won't complain about stuff that I can control - I expect the same from you
• I promise to share everything I know - I expect you to do the same
• I promise to come to you first if I have a problem with you - I expect you to do the same
• Etc.

Have you ever used a contract like this? What would you add to this list?

Commenting on the book

Over the next couple of weeks I will be posting quite a bit about my book: The Cash Register Principle. Hopefully we can have a conversation about what you liked, disliked, what resonated with you, etc.

Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see me cover - and please feel free to ask questions!

Have a great day!

Chapter 1 Story

Chapter 1 described a situation at work where I was having trouble dealing with a co-worker, but, it was also a very positive experience. The application I built was the direct result of learning more about supply chain stuff from some REALLY smart people.

Do you have a good experience from work resulting from the efforts of a co-worker? Did someone ever take time out of their schedule to teach you something? Have you grown personally or professionaly as a result of someone at work? I'd love to hear about it!

The Pursuit of Happiness

I am really interested in happiness...

There was a great article a couple of months ago about it in the NY Times by Jon Gertner, The pursuit of happiness. Basically, the idea is that the things we think will make us happy (that new MP3 player, that new BMW 528) will only bring temporary joy. This is a great article.

I am reminded about how much my thinking changed after reading 'What Should I Do With My Life' (Fast Company Adaptation) by Po Bronson. I have to admit that part of me judged success by the 'things' that I had or wanted. That isn't really the case any more... and I find myself questioning a lot of the stuff in my life... except my MP3 Player... and my Tablet PC... you get the idea.

My question is - how do you define happiness? What makes you happy? Is it work? Have you found a job you love - do you have alignment of your personal and proffesional life?