It's been a long time since a magazine made me as happy as the current issue of Fortune has. The pub is now running a cover story headlined Get a Life in which it suggests that American businesspeople should work less. This is not a new-and-novel idea, and it's a horse that I beat pretty regularly. But the Fortune article is well worth the read for a few reasons, not the least of which is that this is being published in Fortune, not some hippy 'zine. So when the mag declares that we should "... quit defining the desire for doable jobs as a "women's issue." Men want this too ... " it carries a little extra weight.
The other element of the Fortune story that sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill work-life piece is that the authors have come to the conclusions that full and balanced lives ought not to be an option only for those at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Instead, the entire thrust is that senior managers -- the executive bathroom crowd -- should begin stepping away from the 80-hour week. Now I have no idea, quite honestly, whether a top-down rethinking of work is at all realistic, but it can't be that much harder than a bottom-up revolution.
It sounds like the ground is fallow for such a shift in attitudes:
The other element of the Fortune story that sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill work-life piece is that the authors have come to the conclusions that full and balanced lives ought not to be an option only for those at the bottom of the corporate ladder. Instead, the entire thrust is that senior managers -- the executive bathroom crowd -- should begin stepping away from the 80-hour week. Now I have no idea, quite honestly, whether a top-down rethinking of work is at all realistic, but it can't be that much harder than a bottom-up revolution.
It sounds like the ground is fallow for such a shift in attitudes:
Our new survey of senior FORTUNE 500 male executives offers surprising answers. Fully 84% say they'd like job options that let them realize their professional aspirations while having more time for things outside work; 55% say they're willing to sacrifice income. Half say they wonder if the sacrifices they've made for their careers are worth it. In addition, 73% believe it's possible to restructure senior management jobs in ways that would both increase productivity and make more time available for life outside the office. And 87% believe that companies that enable such changes will have a competitive advantage in attracting talent. Other interviews suggest that the younger a male executive is, the more likely he is to say he cares about all of this.The story then goes on to explain why -- in the face of this interest in saner work arrangements -- American business remains the global standard for workaholism: fear. Fear of career suicide, mostly. That's one hell of an obstacle, and getting over it will be the number one challenge for work-life balance advocates. But it sounds like we're making progress ...
posted by Rebel Dad at
5:12 AM
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