Life-Work Balance: Redefining Work at Work
How much work is too much work? How much is too little? Who’s giving it their all and who is slacking? These are the questions that many the founder/CEO/manager has struggled with over the ages. There’s no simple answer.
What is for sure, however, is that there’s a bit of the “grass is always greener” situation going on amongst companies. When you’re outpaced, you question your own team’s effectiveness and work ethic. When you lap your competitor, you’re confident it was your ingenuity and work ethic that garnered you the windfall. Likely, neither is true.
In business, when we look for operational patterns, we often turn to the leaders and outsiders who have demonstrated outsized success. Jack Ma, China’s richest man and founder of Alibaba certainly fits this mold at the young age of 54. A fan of extremism in the workplace, Ma extolled the “blessing” of a 12 hour work day (9 am — 9 pm) that spanned 6 days (the 6) common in the Chinese technology sector.
“If we find things we like, 996 is not a problem. If you don’t like [your work], every minute is torture.” — Jack Ma
Jack Ma is wrong, but he’s not alone. This mindset is shared by too many the capitalist and we’re nearing a long . overdue reckoning as company culture and employee wellness are concerned.
Time in the office is a complicated matter. It is a tale told from both behind the desk as well as in front of it.
Employers have a perpetual set of needs for their business. It is rare that a company finds itself with all the resources it needs and more available on demand. Most companies, especially startups, find themselves needing to get more and more from the sparsest set of resources.
Whether they know it or not, founders and leaders can create tremendous pressure on their teams as they communicate the needs of the business, the crush of the committed timelines, and the anxieties of investors and customers. Our anxiety is their anxiety.
Employees don’t join startups with their eyes closed. Most understand that the level of work is intense, the effort extreme, and the emotions harried. As much as they logically understand and accept that life at a startup is “always on,” the stark reality, or lack of personal reality, can sneak up on them before they know it.
Our teams know more than they let on. Startups are more like small families than big enterprises, meaning there are always whispers and tensions flowing in all directions. More importantly, these employees are committed, dedicated, and personally invested in the success of the business.
It’s often hard to know where work ends and life begins. This results in a vicious, virtuous cycle. Sadly, almost no one is really happy, except for fleeting moments.
“Optimize for individual and team effectiveness first, startup success second”
It’s a controversial point, but one I am willing to make. Every company requires skilled individuals, working together, towards the same goal to align for success. We have arrived at a point where the team is secondary to the results and the results are more and more unattainable.
There are at least 3 important things to be mindful of.
First, the more we focus on the life-work balance, as opposed to work-life balance, the quicker we free our employees’ minds and creativity. Our commitments outside the office should be treated as equally immovable, forcing the compromise that is necessary and shared by all parties.
Second, the more we minimize the distractions, dilemmas, and fire drills, the more we enforce the power of focus. Startups may seem like they have a mind of their own, and there’s minimal opportunity to steer, but steer we must. As founders, managers, and colleagues we have to understand the burden of distraction and do our part to minimize it.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the quicker we stop measuring input as output, the sooner we create a culture focused on effectiveness and success. We recognize the value and potency of experience and expertise. We no longer need to memorialize and fetishize self-sacrifice and selfishness.
Your life’s work is not the work you left behind at the office.
Gregarious Narain is a serial entrepreneur and founder, having founded more than a dozen companies over the past 25 years. He is the founder of Founder Craft — a startup advisory helping founders and founding teams to define, understand, and navigate the tools, skills, and experience needed to succeed.
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