Boris is the wise olâ CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech â from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his newsletter!
Thereâs a story about one of the chief innovators at Nokia, who receives a call while walking at the beach. After a few minutes, the person calling him asks about the noise in the background, prompting the Nokia chief to explain where he is. The caller then says, âOh, I thought you were working,â to which the innovator replies, âI AM WORKING. IâM THINKING!â
Itâs a funny story thatâs always stuck with me. At a lot of companies, thereâs an obsession with productivity that seems to overlook human nature⌠or even actual results.
Basically, if you look serious and your hands are moving, you must be working hard. But if youâre staring at the ceiling with a smile on your face, well, that obviously means youâre slacking.
[Read: 3 semi-useful tips on office âconversation piecesâ]
I feel like this outlook is based on the archaic master/servant relationship which defined work-life at the beginning of the previous century: the boss tells the manager what to do, who then makes the employee do it.
And although Iâm not a fan of design by decision, or even democracy as a management form, I do think that empowering your people and allowing them to do their best work is a more enduring and scalable strategy than treating them as soldiers in your imaginary army.
Every now and again, you hear a story about a company that blocks social media or specific websites to save their staff from âdistraction.â The theory being that people should work at work, and only engage in distractions during their off-hours â such as social media or calling your significant other about whether thereâs enough toilet paper at home.
But this doesnât describe the reality of employeesâ lives. It isnât binary with work and private life neatly compartmentalized.
You worry about a client while youâre preparing dinner. You think about a proposal youâre writing while the kids swim, and you might reply to a few emails or write a memo in bed when youâre finally relaxed enough to get your thoughts straight.
Sure, some people clock out at 5 pm and stop thinking about everything. But Iâm guessing those people probably spend less time on personal stuff at the office. In the end, life is chaotic and fluid, and we should allow people to feel human at work.
If that means taking a call from a friend, then so be it.
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