Why the four-day work week is not a solution either

Four-day work weeks can improve productivity and well-being. For example, Microsoft Japan reported a very measurable increase in productivity from a trial.

Clearly working more is not the answer to getting more done.

But what can be the root cause?

Before the industrial revolution, workers were paid for their output, and whatever people were willing to pay for the results of their work.

During the industrial revolution, company owners found a new way of compensating for work: time spent at work. It made sense, because there was usually a very linear relationship between work time and output — how many pieces of clothing, for example, a worker could produce. Benefits from efficiency would land in the company owner’s pockets.

It is natural that we get stuck with this model: the expectation that a work-week should take a certain amount of time and that it has a certain price tag, sometimes unrelated to the output.

Many professional and leadership positions are “exempt” positions, not strictly paid by the hour, which means that they do not qualify for overtime pay. But even they are expected to work at least 40 hours every week, or file vacation days.

Are you measuring your productivity in time?

It is worthwhile taking a closer look at whether this model of time-based value is driving your behavior or not. It is such a strong story that it can keep us stuck in the last century.

If you are in the position of leading a company, you have ambition - for sure. But many people have ambitions, and want to do stuff.

For ambition to be effective, it needs (the right) constraints.

So if you want to find out if what you are doing is effective, you could introduce the constraint of doing less.

If you do this mindfully, there is a good chance that the outcome will not visibly change at all. It might just change you - and your capacity to try something new.

Alternatively you can do it ruthlessly, and likely things will change. You will notice right away what value you actually bring, and what your team can compensate for. It will clearly show you what you actually have to explain to your team, and where your team would need coaching to “replace” you.

I recommend the mindful way. I had some good successes. I showed up more prepared and present in the meetings that matter, and people started telling me, “You are so busy…”. That’s something to watch out for: if you set boundaries and make yourself rarer, people might be inclined to think that you are not approachable. It takes some explaining that you actually have more time to be there for real problems.

There are other examples out there: Elon Musk currently leads about four companies. I know he is not known as a proponent of a four-day work week, but even at a rate of 120 hrs / week, that actually averages to less than four full work days per company. In reality, most of these companies get less of him for long stretches of time.

I believe that over time, he must have learned a lot this way, about himself, his impact, and what his teams need to operate without him.

What to do with all this time?

It looks like Elon Musk’s idea of spending his time is to start or buy a new company. That’s his thing.

That’s what you might want to do with some free creative time, or it might be something completely different.

You may want to spend time with your family, exercise, or learn something new. All of this, in the end, can make you a better leader:

Phil Knight, the founder of Nike, got most of his crazy ideas while running.

If you find the time to actually create a beautiful dinner for your family, instead of wolfing down some take-out after a long day of meetings, how much more present and aware will you be the next day?

You may have young children or grandchildren. Unlike adults, children express their feelings freely and mostly unguarded, not hiding behind all these learned stories and traumas that we accumulate over time. And they act with strong resilience, moving quickly from deep uncomfortable feelings of hurt (“He broke my toy.”) to those of happiness and creation (“Yay, let’s make a lemonade stand together.”) If you observe how they do it, or even try to guide them, you might see what behavioral changes are needed in your team to unleash unlimited creativity.

Do you think that this is possible? And if so, is the story that a regular work week needs to have at least 40 hours an obstacle for you?

With care, Martin