Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 224 pages
- Published by: Portfolio Hardcover May 29, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1591842034
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1591842033
-
Book Dimensions:
8.4 x 5.6 x 1 inches
- Weighs: 11.4 ounces
Product Review
“If you work, you need this book! Cali and Jody share the secrets of the most radical workplace experiment the Fortune 500 have ever seen. Want 35% greater productivity while going to the movies on a Wednesday afternoon or taking Fridays off? Make the switch from hours to outcomes.”
—Timothy Ferriss, #1
New York Times bestselling author of
The 4-Hour Workweek “ROWE is a chance for everyone to learn a better way to work. It encourages people to contribute rather than just show up and grind out their days.”
—Brad Anderson, CEO, Best Buy (from the Foreword)
“Now, this changes everything. Buy this book. Act on what you read.”
—Cindy Froggatt, author of
Work Naked “This is like TiVo for your work.”
—
BusinessWeek “It is a fundamental shift away from ‘face time’ or ‘chair time’ to just one consideration: Did the employee get the job done?”
—
Minneapolis Star–Tribune “The freedom, employees say, is changing their lives. They don’t know if they work fewer hours—they’ve stopped counting—but they are more productive.”
—
Time “A remarkably persuasive and mind-bending book. Family-friendly, too.”
—Joan Blades, cofounder MomsRising.org and Moveon.org
Product Description
Do you hate cramming all of your errands into the weekend?
Do you resent having to beg permission to watch your kid’s weekday soccer game?
Are you tired of seeing people who aren’t very good at their jobs get promoted because they arrive early and stay late?
There’s got to be a better way—and there is! Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson show that
everyone benefits when we change the focus from hours to outcomes. It’s just that our traditional definition of work—Monday through Friday, nine to five—doesn’t make sense in the always-on global economy.
So, Ressler and Thompson created the Results-Only Work Environment. In a ROWE,
you control when, where, and how long you work. As long as you meet your objectives, the way you spend your time is entirely up to you.
Suddenly, work isn’t a place you
go, it’s a thing you
do. In a ROWE, there are no mandatory meetings or fixed schedules. You stop doing any activity that wastes time, and no one criticizes you for “leaving early” or “coming in late.” If you do your best work at midnight or on Sundays, go for it!
ROWE sounds like a fantasy, but Ressler and Thompson have already made it a reality at Best Buy, a Fortune 100 company. They have proven that ROWE not only makes employees happier but also delivers
better results. And now the authors are helping companies implement ROWE nationwide.
Infused with passion and common sense,
Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It will change the way you think about your job, your company, and your quality of life. Read it and join the revolution!
Reader ReviewsWhat if your employer judged your job performance by how much you actually got done, rather than just your skills in office politics and putting in "face time?" Workers want to control their time and be trusted to use it productively--treated like adults, rather than children or drones. "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It" presents the simple yet revolutionary idea that "you owe (your employers) you work; you do not owe them your time. You do not owe them your life." Authors Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson developed this new paradigm, the "Results-Only Work Environment," aka ROWE, and implemented it at Best Buy headquarters. The idea sounds radical to some, yet many jobs already operate on a Results-Only basis. Freelancers and small business people often work this way; Ressler and Thompson discuss how to "migrate" corporations over to ROWE. Migration involves developing new ideas about what work means and how it operates. It also requires a concerted effort to eliminate "Sludge," negative talk and gossip about how co-workers are spending their time. In a ROWE, results speak for themselves, and it's nobody's business whether you are working in the office, at home, or on a beach in Hawaii, as long as you get your job done. This is different than "flexibility," which is usually dangled as a special favor to a few workers, or judged as an inferior career track. One key to a ROWE's success is that the philosophy applies to everybody on the team, from executives, to managers, to assistants. The bottom line is increased productivity as each member of a work team learns how to focus on measurable results. "Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It" describes the ideas behind ROWE, stories from people who have worked this environment, procedures for implementing one, and how to address and overcome objections and practical details. As a working parent with a busy, multifaceted life, I have been waiting for the work world to change: ROWE is an essential tool to move us in the right direction.
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