Wrapping up all learnings and lessons
The perfect time of the year for reflecting and validating all the learnings and lessons that the last 12 months have enabled is here! We must do this exercise individually, but also with our team and with the whole of our organisations.
So let’s just stop for a moment and increase our conscience over all the challenges that we faced, the strengths that we have built, the new skills that were reinforced, new knowledge created and internalised and the higher flexibility and adaptation reflected in all aspects of our life-work dimensions.
If we are learning, the path is not beautifully designed and no linear track is generated. We feel as we are in a mess, often frustrated and we can’t grasp the entire learning path that lies ahead. If this year was full of questioning, starting over, permanent change and reality testing, although very uncomfortable we are on a growth path.
The reality is that organisations must be learning, in an accelerated mode, how to create sustainable and resilient structures/networks that constantly and adaptively generate value. At the top of this value chain organisations recently learnt that one of the key questions they need to address is “Are we actually generating health for all our stakeholders or not?”. And thus, health becomes a tangible impact outcome for any business, for any organisation.
On this edition of our Boundmakers Review we invited a dear friend of mine and also a brilliant researcher and professor Dr. Rita Fontinha, to guide us in navigating a very hot topic in the media these past months — The 4 Day Work Week.
A lot has been said considering this measure as a possible magical tool that will solve all of our challenges concerning health and wellbeing of people, but also increase productivity and reduce costs for organisations. Science always enlighten us by showing that there is no single solution. Concerning the 4 Day Work Week, when well implemented: considering contextual and work design adaptations; engaging people in the decision making process; and focusing on flexibility and accountability; it can actually deliver great results for all involved, as recent studies have shown in several sectors and geographies.
When we are learning we should be trying, piloting and questioning all the way through. As a leader we must not pursue any practice/measure and benchmarking it blindly. Accordingly to evidence the 4 day work week is not necessary applied in all contexts and needs to be fully tested and internalised in the organisation in order to deliver the expected results. It is not actually very different from any other organisational intervention, when we tend to think that we can simply copy best practices and without much effort or adaptation things will work out, and change and progress will happen. We need to do the work.
We need to create unique solutions, based on evidence, for our very unique organisations.
So in this edition of our review we invite you to read Rita Fontinha’s blog post themed “A Four-Day Work Week: What we know so far” and listen to her recent presentation Work — what science says at The Conference 2022. Finally, we also suggest a great book from Pedro Gomes Friday is the New Saturday — How a Four-Day Working Week Will Save the Economy.
Do take part in this conversation by leaving a comment on our blog or replying to hello@bound.health
Have a great 2022 wrap up!
Managing Partner @ Bound.Health
