Getting outside of the box

In my Denver career counseling practice, I hear these words from clients way too often:

• “I need flexibility in my schedule – I should be able to pick up my daughter from school on days when she gets out early, without sneers and sideways glances from my coworkers and supervisor.”
• “My boss is super-controlling – I can’t do anything without her nosing over my shoulder and telling me to change the tiniest things.”
• “Everyone is afraid to say anything remotely critical to the management – so then we never get to contribute our good ideas, and we keep using the bad ones just because they come from the top.”
• “The management of my company just got back from a ‘motivational leadership’ training and have put up ‘happy’ signs around the office – but the characters on the signs are the only happy ones in the place.”

These statements come primarily from people working in corporate settings, with a clear hierarchical structure, set work hours, and prescribed duties – what we might call a “traditional” work environment. These are talented employees who genuinely want to contribute to the organization, but want to be respected and treated like adults.*

In order to overcome this type of situation, clients often decide they must change jobs and, sometimes, their overall career direction. This is obviously a scary, although exciting, prospect. One of the biggest fears people have about leaving their jobs is that they’ll simply move on to another job with a toxic boss and ridiculous expectations. I try to help them mitigate that, but I can’t guarantee anything, especially if they take their next job in a hurry or out of a sense of desperation.

In this type of situation, it can be important to think outside of the box. And organizations also need to think outside of the box if they want to attract and retain great people (the slow job market won’t last forever).

I’m building this page to offer outside-of-the-box ideas, including links to some big-picture thinkers and leaders who are striving to re-envision the concept of work both for individuals and organizations (and who, I believe, are revealing glimpses of where our national work culture is headed).

Here are a few I like:

Making a Living Without a Job – Barbara Winter’s book and seminars promote the enterprising idea of having “multiple income streams,” rather than one full-time job. This is not for everyone but works great for many people.

Daniel Pink: A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, is a hopeful book for everyone who doesn’t feel they “fit in” to the traditional technical, analytical work culture. His new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, explains what really motivates people – autonomy, mastery, and meaning.

ROWE: The Results-Only Work Environment began at Best Buy and is spreading. Its motto is simple yet radical: “Where people are paid for productivity, not time spent ‘at work.’”

Jim Collins: I love Collins’ articles, really thinking outside of the management box on a number of fronts. (This one is one of my favorites, and right up my alley.)

Take Back Your Time is a movement “challeng[ing] the epidemic of overwork, over-scheduling and time famine that now threatens our health, our families and relationships, our communities and our environment.” They have a family-friendly legislative agenda including paid family leave, paid sick leave, and vacation time.

*I am not saying that the “corporate world” is all bad! Not everyone dislikes working in a corporate environment, and the benefits can be outstanding. There are some really good companies that value their employees’ talent, maturity, and motivation.  However, I mainly hear about the “bad” workplaces and the “bad fits” – it goes with the territory of my job.