Rethinking the Work Week
September 3, 2021
I read the “real” news and analysis piece about how long one should work. You may have time to check this essay for yourself as long as you can disconnect work from “real” life in the WFH and hybrid work environment.
The article is “This Is the Optimal Number of Hours You Should Work Every Day.” I want to point out that the title is misleading. There is the parental “should” and the failure to define “work.”
Here’s the key assertion in the article:
…aim for a 7.6 hour work day. That would equate to a 38-hour work week.
Let me identify a few organizations who might struggle with a 38 hour workweek:
- The Légion étrangère
- Lawyers gunning for partner in a Big Time law firm in Manhattan
- Consulting firms like Bain, BCG, McKinsey, etc. (Mid-tier outfits may be stuck in the undifferentiated swamp of “experts” because the “get the job done” mentality is not part of the culture.)
- First responders when crises become the norm in Lake Tahoe.
These are “exceptions”. However, the article makes it clear that the “modern” worker conceptualized by Fast Company does not want that organization man-approach to work.
However, there are some cultural forces putting their invisible hand on the Fast Company approach:
- Reduced control by those who pay one’s salary
- Escape from cultural norms
- A perception that workers are entitled and have the right to work to get the job done within the workers’ guidelines.
When I worked at Booz, Allen & Hamilton, one of the Type As was known for spouting this aphorism:
Nothing worthwhile comes easy.
The goal of this type of write up, in my opinion, is to weaken the methods refined over the centuries to direct workers in such a way that specific tasks can be accomplished. Efficiency requires that waste be eliminated.
The redefinition of the work week is just one signal that change is occurring in real time.
How are the new approaches to working out?
Stephen E Arnold, September 3, 2021
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