Disruptive innovations are creating new industries and business models, and destroying old ones. New technologies, data analytics and social networks are having a huge impact on how people collaborate and work. As generations collide, workforce’s become more diverse and people work longer; traditional career models will soon be a thing of the past. Many of the roles and job tittles of tomorrow will be ones we’ve not even thought of.
The events happening today around the world especially in civilized societies, is a lesson to us in the third world to buckle up, and prepare our minds for change as failure to do so will only lead to an extinction or backwardness. The way we work is being redefined by disruptions in technology, cloud computing, robots, and even the social media. The focus has changed from processes to result oriented work resulting in more conveniences, less operational cost and more efficiency.
There are two basic mindsets about something we want to do:
1. Process oriented
What does the task mean? What will happen on the way to get there? How does it feel if I do it? Those may be the questions we ask internally if we adopt this mindset.
The problem: if you don’t feel very good doing the necessary things, you might not give the best you could. This could lead to always trying to go the easy way and to avoid the tougher but sometimes necessary ways.
2. Result oriented
How can I achieve this? What do I have to do now to get there? How does getting the result feel? If you think result oriented, you tend to see the end in your mind and you are looking for the fastest way to go there. You want to have the result. This means that you become much more focused on action “flowing” towards the result.
There may be some other mindsets when it comes to getting things done, such as the relationship oriented where you ask yourself “What does this task mean to my relationship to the people involved?”
Advantage 1: Flexibility
But the basic difference is the process vs. result orientation. If you think in results, the way to get the result is not that important. What matters is the result itself. This means that your way to get things done stays very flexible . If approach one did not work, doesn’t matter much! The approach was not important, the result is. So we just change the approach to a better one. We don’t get stuck in a process or even in the thick of processes.
So flexibility is one major advantage in the result oriented mindset.
Advantage 2: Drive to Action
Another even more important one is the drive to action . If you want the result you usually want it now. This produces a lot of potential energy to invest into the actions to the result. What I experience is that the anticipation of the result is what makes the process actually enjoyable, even if the task in itself is pretty boring.
An Example: Washing the Dishes
Here is an example when you are about to “clean the dishes”:
Washing the dishes process oriented:
“Ahwww, what an awful boring task again! I have to take the plates and glasses and make them clean. Then use the towel, dry them and put them into the cupboard.”
Washing the dishes result oriented:
“I want to have a clean and nice kitchen. What do I have to do to get the result? I have to wash the dishes, the plates and glasses and I put them into the cupboard then. So let’s get moving! I want to have my sweet clean kitchen back. … hmm, washing the dishes is not that bad actually ;)”
While it may not be that unbiased it makes the point clear: if you know why you are doing it, you are more motivated to take action having your result in mind. The same applies to all kind of usually more complex tasks of the information-age. Result-orientation simply makes it faster and easier to succeed.
Result-Orientation and the Present Moment
Let me share this little story from the book “The Miracle of Mindfulness” by Thich Nhat Hanh about being in the present moment:
The Cup in Your Hands:
In the United States, I have a close friend named Jim Forest. When I first met him eight years ago, he was working with the Catholic Peace Fellowship. Last winter, Jim came to visit. I usually wash the dishes after we’ve finished the evening meal, before sitting down and drinking tea with everyone else.
One night, Jim asked if he might do the dishes.
I said, “Go ahead, but if you wash the dishes you must know the way to wash them.”
Jim replied, “Come on, you think I don’t know how to wash the dishes?”
I answered, “There are two ways to wash the dishes. The first is to wash the dishes in order to have clean dishes and the second is to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.”
Jim was delighted and said, “I choose the second way–to wash the dishes to wash the dishes.”
From then on, Jim knew how to wash the dishes. I transferred the “responsibility” to him for an entire week.
If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not “washing the dishes to wash the dishes.” What’s more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes. In fact, we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink.
If we can’t wash the dishes, the chances are we won’t be able to drink our tea either. While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands. Thus we are sucked away into the future and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life.”
…from The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
Hmm.. this kinda contradicts my first conclusion, doesn’t it? I’m really curious. What do you think?
And secondly, do you honestly wash the dishes to wash the dishes or to have clean dishes?
How Will You Prepare For the Future of Work?
No longer are workers content to sit behind cubicle walls from 9-to-5, tethered to their chairs or stations like a ball and chain. Sales jobs, online marketing jobs, website development jobs and a million and one others make it possible to be just as productive from the comforts of home or a WiFi-enabled coffee shop as you would be in the office.
Tools like Google Documents and Dropbox make it possible to access your documents (and those of others) from anywhere you have access to the Internet, and makes collaboration and brainstorming a breeze.
The concept of “face time” with your boss is being replaced with the “as long as you’re getting your work done, you’re OK” mentality. Which brings me to the idea of a Results-Oriented Work Environment, better known as ROWE. For those not familiar, it’s a “management strategy where employees are evaluated on performance, not presence,” according to the official site, meaning it’s more about quality than quantity.
At my previous gig, we made the transition from the typical 9-to-5 to this type of working environment, and it wasn’t without its challenges. It’s an entire shift in your mindset, and really forces you to re-prioritize and be the most self-disciplined version of yourself.
A few things I learned along the way:
This type of environment requires buy-in from the leadership team — and also an extraordinary amount of trust. My colleagues at the time wanted our business to exude a certain level of “cool,” and thought this more laid-back approach would signal that. He also put faith in the idea that we would continue at the same level of productivity, and let him know if we were facing any unforeseen challenges as a result of this change. He trusted us, but checked in frequently to make sure we were staying on track.
The ROWE strategy resulted in happier employees. Employees who don’t have to commute a half hour to work in rush-hour traffic are happier employees. Employees who perhaps aren’t morning people and get to sneak in an extra hour of sleep are happier employees. Employees who can save money on lunch because they can eat it at home are happier employees. My colleague and I appreciated the flexibility that came with this schedule, allowing us to tend to things like doctors appointments and post office runs without feeling like we had to schedule them all during a half-hour lunch break. If we were gone longer than we anticipated, that was OK because we could simply make up the lost time later in the day.
Minimizing distractions is key. If you own a pet, if you have a washer and dryer, or if you have any type of responsibilities at home whatsoever, the ROWE way of working can turn even the most focused worker into a scattered blob of distractions. As I said before, it requires an entire shift in your mindset, because usually when you’re at home, your brain will allow itself to relax a bit from your long workday. Now, however, the home or the library or coffee shop is a place to put your nose to the grindstone and get stuff done. Keeping a routine by showering and actually getting dressed when you get up in the morning goes a long way in helping yourself get into the right frame of mind. (Coffee helps, too.)
Collaboration is still possible and simply requires you to use the tools at your disposal. Need to rant about something that didn’t go the way you’d plan? Call up your co-worker. Need to brainstorm ideas for your next blog post? Start a Google+ Hangout, and suddenly you’re face-to-face with your smiling work mates. Need a second set of eyes on your proposal? Email the Google Document to your boss and let him or her make edits in real time. You start to realize that all of the things that you thought would be trickier from 20 miles away are really quite effortless.
If you’re currently working from home or have in the past, I’d love to hear about your experience and whether you employed the principles of ROWE or another similar program. Were you successful? Why or why not?
- Avoid getting trapped in old ways of thinking and doing, and instead reinvent how your organization can drive measurable performance
- Prioritize the needs of millennial talent
- Remain relevant in a world where artificial intelligence and robots are increasingly rendering our jobs redundant
- Be 50+ and still be in demand in the future workplace
- Implement new hiring practices to hire employees who can add value right away
- Leverage meaningful employee amenities and help you win the war for talent
- Manage remote workers, freelancers
- Be an “All In” leader so you can be a great leader
LIVING THE LIFE 