Max Mckeown

It’s a Trust Crisis (Not a Debt Crisis)…

Do we need truth telling and living by the truth? What happens in a world where we cannot even assume that others will keep their promises and give accurate accounts of events? How do we behave differently when others are likely to be self-serving liars, cheats, and thieves?

If our society was less honest its progress and pace would slow. The evidence is there to see in each country that is less honest and reliable than the next. In some cases, corruption and unreliability plague governmental and commercial systems to the point where nothing can be planned for except bribes and delays.

Truth is an uncomfortable concept for some people because of its connection with lack of tolerance for ideas and actions of others. They fear that dominant groups will brand their own ideas as truth and the ideas of others as heresy. Our world has numerous large and small-scale ‘grand inquisition’ equivalents and Torquemada act-a-likes. Sufficient cause for concern but it is only truth that can remedy such outrages.

It is valuable to learn what is real and seeking truth is part of that learning.

“But also truth is an intrinsic value, that truth matters, truth is correlative with knowledge, I mean a falsehood is not an item of knowledge, and since knowledge is valuable and good to have, finding the truth about things is a good thing to do, so it is an intrinsic value in that sense.”[i]

The ‘truth’ of something in isolation does not, of course, mean that it does not require care in its usage. Not everything that is thought or felt should be shared. Not every fact needs to be exposed.

There needs to be room to debate and think out loud without immediate (or any) condemnation. Without such debate, there is little scrutiny or discussion about what the real problems and solutions are. Instead, politicians (and the rest of us) feel forced to stay within the accepted boundaries of thought. What happens when the solutions are outside of those boundaries?

The Institute of Directors in the UK proudly announced in 1999 that the European Parental Leave Directive, which offers parents unpaid leave three months’ unpaid leave, will “cost” business £35m. But what about the cost to business of not letting employees attend to his or her responsibilities as parents? 

Why is such an artificial barrier put between work and life? Why do senior executives compete for long hours, travel miles, and nights away from their families? Why are phone calls or visits to and from family members during work hours viewed with such suspicion or even outright bans? Why are working hours left inflexible and closed to discussion?

Insisting that a person works so many hours that thy never see their families cannot be good for longer-term economic growth. Tired parents do not read bedtime stories. Children who do not have this privilege fare less well academically[ii] and emotionally[iii]. How can that be good for the economy or individual businesses?

Working requires such a major part of our available time that we can start to believe the myths ourselves. Managers who make the rules often do so according to a significantly flawed value system that has been underlined and emphasised throughout high school, graduate, post graduate, and on the job training and education. They know something is missing but continue to chant the mantra that ‘work is the only source of identity’ and that all problems can be solved if only ‘people would work harder’.

Convinced that they only got to ‘where they are’ by hard work and neglect of family and life, they insist that others do the same. Or at the very least they accept that it should be so or that it cannot be any other way. You don’t have to force, cajole, or monitor the work of those who love what they are doing. Listen to the enthusiasm two of those people hat love their work:

“And every day, that’s what drives me to get up in the morning and drive 80 miles an hour to work, and get here as soon as I can, because I want to know what’s going on. And it’s not, “Oh, I’ve gotta put in my time and punch the clock and get out of there; it’s “I’m here to make a difference and I’m totally making an impact.” And that’s what drives me. That’s what makes it fun. It’s—-it’s my life.”[iv]

Once you have created work that people love the responsibility becomes to ensure that they stay fresh, that they do not over train, become stale, or become burned out. 

One of us once worked for a man who would insist that he did not pay me for, “my time”, that he paid me for my, “ability to create ideas and make the right decisions”. So, he argued, I should stop the long hours, get out of the office, walk by the river, get an ice cream, hang out and listen to music. It took me a while to realise that the only link between the number of hours and the quality of my performance was one that was inverse.

This style of intervention is vital if the ‘over worker’ (who thinks that he is an overachiever) is not to burn himself and his colleagues out. The problem is that once even one person gets the work/life balance wrong it can start to tip the relative assessment of what ‘a working day’ means. Consider the following:

“It all starts with the overachiever. You know, that guy you always see at work, no matter what time of day or night you go in? People always talk about that person having no life outside of work, they joke and laugh about that person, but nobody seems to take it very seriously. That person is not only neglecting their own life, they are ruining things for everyone else that works there, and at the same time, ruining the entire culture.
 
Eventually, you end up in a situation where if you aren’t working at least 60 hours a week, you’re passed up for promotion at the next review. And no one will come right out and admit that it’s the reason. Or maybe you work the full 78 hour week and are still caught slacking some 2 hours.[v]”

The very ability to change and be flexible, that business leaders say they need, is reduced when people are over-worked and/or micro-managed. Over work reduces creativity, rationality, and the confidence to take risks. How many workers do we need who can’t think straight? Do we think that our people will work more effectively when they are worried about home life? Do you believe that emotionally exhausted people will build better relationships with customers?

There is a reason that so many amazing entrepreneurs had their first breakthrough ideas while still at school or college – because they had time and room to think. Smart people will still make bad decisions and create sub-standard designs if they are too tired or stressed to think clearly. It takes even more space to be able to create effectively. How much ‘room’ is there in your business and in your life?