Comments on: ROWE, ROWE, ROWE your company — Part 1

By: Scott P

Scott P — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:37:37 +0000

This is great stuff, indeed. I basically ran an engineering group within the company I work for this way also. It works best for exempt professionals who have a proven track record of being both capable and conscientious about their work. It really does separate those in the group who are confident and independent from those who are either looking to game the system to their advantage or who lack the skills to get things done on their own. Our business model for this particular engineering group was one based on a (mostly) centrally located staff that travelled frequently to support customers out in the field, so by its very nature you had to rely on the dependability of the staff to conduct themselves in such a way that things got done based on clear commitments made to customers. That’s a very strong motivating force. To be sure, there were many members of the company’s management that weren’t comfortable with such a “laissez faire” approach, which is probably why I am no longer managing the group, but the fact remains that except for an isolated case here or there, things got done. I will say that the example of the university faculty member is a good one — I am the son of a career college professor and that was what I was most familiar with growing up — no doubt a very formative impression was made.

By: florencia

florencia — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 14:53:50 +0000

Thank youo so much for sharing this interview with us. I’m posting some of this on my blog. Hope you don’t mind. I have just satarted my professional carrer and it is hard to wait for weekends to do things I like. Here’s the solution to being able to balancing your profesional and personal life. And if there are people who cannot manage ROWE they can say it, asign a manager to help them out.
I’ve read the comments and there are two important points, communication must be networked and you MUST have a shared vision of your business.

By: Cali & Jody

Cali & Jody — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 17:15:24 +0000

@Gabe – we have indeed heard of Semler and what he’s done at Semco. His books are excellent. Semler’s work is another testament to the fact that work culture *can* change. America has no time to waste – let’s make ROWE the status quo!

By: ROWE, ROWE, ROWE your company — Part 2 | Daniel Pink

ROWE, ROWE, ROWE your company — Part 2 | Daniel Pink — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:29:40 +0000

[...] Read Part 1 of my interview with Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It. Check out the reader comments, too. They’re interesting. PINK: You’ve done a great job of anticipating these “Yeah, buts” — and even have a whole chapter telling people how to respond. Let me give you a chance to respond to the “Yeah, but” I hear the most when I tell other people about ROWE: “Some people just can’t handle this. They need supervision, guidance, and structure.” What say you to that? RESSLER & THOMPSON: This is one of our favorites! Our response: how do you know that some people can’t handle ROWE? Don’t assume what you don’t know. If you and your employees work on the clear expectations that are expected in order for them to keep their job, then set them free to reach their outcomes. Worrying that some people can’t handle ROWE is a waste of time. It’s paternalistic thinking that just doesn’t have a place in the 21st century. We’ve found that there is so much productivity being left on the table in companies because managers are orchestrating everything according to their liking. Unleash the untapped potential around you – it’s waiting to come out! PINK: One of the barriers to a Result-Only Work Environment is what you call “sludge.” What is that and why does it matter? RESSLER & THOMPSON: Sludge is the toxic language in the work environment that judges how other people are spending their time. It sounds like: “Did you hear Mark is doing that work from home thing? No way he’s working – he’s watching TV and probably doing laundry.” “I can’t believe Amy left again at 3:00 other day. She’s not even putting in close to 40 hours.”Sludge has absolutely nothing to do with the work that people are accomplishing. It is rooted in the old beliefs we have about how, when, and where work needs to happen – in an office building, between the hours of 8:00 and 5:00 Monday through Friday, in 40 hours or more, etc. Sludge is used to hold our place in the work environment – to show that we’re more dedicated worker than the next person. Sludge keeps the Industrial Age rules about work alive and well.To move into the future, we need to eradicate Sludge from our work environments. To give it a shot, next time someone Sludges you about the time you come in to the office or the time you leave, ask “Is there something you need?” Shift the focus right back to results. Then bask in the feeling of not having to justify how you choose to spend your time.PINK: Let’s talk real world. Best Buy has a ROWEin its corporate offices — thanks to you. Where else is this new approach being put into place? And is it harder or easier to get traction for this sort of thing in an economic downturn? RESSLER & THOMPSON:: In addition to the 3,000 people at Best Buy Corporate that are ROWE, we wanted a small company to get on board to show that this isn’t just a “big company” thing. We’re proud to say that J.A. Counter & Associates (20 employees) in New Richmond, WI is also an authentic ROWE. There are several other companies worldwide that have purchased our ROWE Launch Kit that are implementing ROWE right now.Getting traction for ROWE from the management ranks is always a challenge, regardless of the state of the economy. An economic downturn may be used as an excuse for not wanting to explore ROWE, but there are other fears underneath that resistance. Dig for them. Address them. Remember, people have a right to control how they spend their time as long as the work gets done. And that is worth fighting for. [...]

By: Gabe

Gabe — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 05:52:21 +0000

I love this book already simply from the description! I wonder if the authors have heard of Ricardo Semler and his company SEMCO? His books “Maverick” and “The Seven Day Weekend” are accounts of his very unusual workplace which embody the description in this post. He was changing his company way back in the 90s and in Brazil no less. Since reading his accounts, I’ve become an ardent advocate for just such a workplace, but it seems that America is only now even considering it. Pity.

Semler and his books are my all time favorites.

By: Cali & Jody

Cali & Jody — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 05:17:53 +0000

@Jon – how incredibly unfortunate (okay, we have other words, but don’t think Dan would approve of them on his blog!) that your former powers-that-be didn’t recognize the stellar results your team was producing. And, equally unfortunate is the fact that this is happening all over the country right now. The way you were managing your team is not only the way of the future – it’s the way it needs to be *today*. And you saw the benefits you reaped from doing so. Glad to hear that even though your former employer didn’t reward your excellent ways that you will be taking them with you. Go forth!

@Steve – agreed. When two Sociology professors from the University of MN began studying ROWE at Best Buy a few years ago, they said “This is how we’ve been working for years!” They made the same sorts of comments that you did in your post, and we’ve heard them from other university faculty members as well. Working in a democratic environment is a wonderful thing. You’ll get a kick out of this: During the ROWE migration days at Best Buy, one Sr. Vice President yelled (yes, yelled) “We’re not out to create a democracy here!” as ROWE was described for him and the rest of his department. Our response: “Yes, we are.”

By: Steve T

Steve T — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:07:39 +0000

So has anyone looked at the life of a typical university faculty member lately? Most universities require detailed, highly structured annual reports of results (usually in teaching, scholarship, & service). When and how one accomplishes the results are up to the faculty member. And it usually works very well. More results earn promotion, tenure, more pay, and access to more resources. The challenges arise from trying to agree on what are quality results–not always an easy task.

The system does address Julie’s concern above about incompetent management because individuals have authority and opportunity to discover and propose new work and projects on their own, to form alliances with other organizations, to seek their own funding, to create their own “products”, to seek out new “markets’ for their ideas, and to create operational guidelines that originate with faculty.

It doesn’t function perfectly, of course, but it’s all very democratic.

By: Jon Gallagher

Jon Gallagher — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 23:05:16 +0000

This is exactly how I have run my IT and network operations teams. Each person understands their responsibilities and their priorities, most of which come from me but are also self-generated or come from users. Where there is conflict in priorities or resources or they need help, it’s my job to straighten it out. It’s their job to get it done.

Now obviously IT in this environment is a challenge, but that’s where matching the personality type to the job is important. Someone who takes pride in delivering customer service should be out there making sure that PC’s are up, paper’s in the printer, and the network is shiny. This person is there @ 6 in the morning for the early crew, and I have to send this person home at night to make sure they sleep.

The guy who likes pulling IP packets apart and wears corduroys everyone can read through is in the QA lab helping testers 8 hours a day, then on-line with India in the middle of the night while he feeds his new born.

The IT director has never taken more than 5 minutes to get back to me on whether it’s a weekday, night, weekend or holiday.

These folks are tearing it up because they know my job has been to point them in the direction, show them how if they need, then get the heck out of the way. I answer the questions that the outside world, and senior management, pose, while they get the job done.

Unfortunately that last time I called the IT director was this weekend to tell him that I am resigning. It’s been made abundantly clear that I am under-performing in producing detailed schedules, memos, and budgets. Senior management is not comfortable with a group that though it has hit every deadline, does not have a detailed gantt chart updated daily, along with weekly schedule reviews.

So I am definitely going to get a copy of this book. I will either use it to structure the next team I put together, or push it into the hands of anyone who brings me on board to run their IT or network shops.

By: Cali & Jody

Cali & Jody — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:39:23 +0000

Great comments!

@Julie – you hit the nail on the head. In a ROWE, clear expecations are a must. In fact, the manager-employee relationship changes quite a bit. Managers stop being hall monitors and start being mentors and coaches that work proactively with their employees to set goals. ROWE does indeed expose those managers that shouldn’t be managers, and those employees that are just taking up space and putting in time.

ROWE is perfect for different personality types and different working styles. As long as the work gets done, people can do whatever they want, whenever they want. If that means working in an office building from 8:00 to 5:00, perfect. The only caveat: you can’t judge anyone for not working the same way you do. That’s called Sludge and you’ll read more about it in the second half of our e-interview with Dan…

How does ROWE encourage innovation and entice people to go beyond what’s expected of them? In a ROWE, every employee has a CEO mindset – every employee feels like they own the company. They have newfound interest in how the company performs because that’s what ROWE is all about – so their creativity is unleashed in a way it’s never been before.

@Helen – hope you enjoy the book! The internet is indeed lovable.

@Adriano – excellent articulation of ROWE! When that strip ran the other day, we had numerous people sending it to us…everyone knows how absurd it is to focus on time. Now let’s do something about it!

By: Adriano Sousa

Adriano Sousa — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 00:18:46 +0000

I remembered this post when I saw this. Probably you follow it too, but I’ll send it anyway just in case. (http://tinyurl.com/5cwc5s).