A little more than 20 years ago, I joined Bell Labs and my boss was showing me around the office as he commented on his management philosophy.
He paused on the tour while we were overlooking the reflecting ponds and he seemed to be caught in a bit of a day dream. When he snapped back to the present, he said that sometimes he gets his best inspiration looking at the natural landscape.
He told me that what made Bell Labs such a great place to work was that if you did your best thinking staring out the window, then we would get paid to gaze at geese.
He went on to say that in jobs like ours, it was tough for a manager to say “today, we’re going to invent the gonculator.” So, he told me that if I was able to score matinee tickets for a Broadway show, that I should go ahead – he wasn’t watching the clock. In any case, most of us were equipped with home computers connected to the office – pretty advanced networking for the mid-80’s.
There was a lot of inventing going on; the blurring between work time and private time was an issue we learned to deal with. The tether to the office enabled more time with family, just as much as it enabled more accessibility to the office.
It is much more commonplace today for people to mix pleasure during work hours and to deal with business email and other work from home. I find that universal connectivity enables me to get away from my desk more frequently, without a concern that my clients can’t find me. But that is the nature of my work.
How do you divide your time? Does the virtual umbilical enable you to enjoy more or less personal time?
Great question Mark. I find the lines between work and personal life are quite blurred. It's become very difficult to ever really leave work. That little iPhone connected to my hip allows me to check emails, take calls, and keep up to date with the everything going on, not just at the office, but all over the world.
People are wired (literally and figuratively) nowadays. Gone are the times where we could actually leave the office and turn life off. It's a sign of the times, and it's not going to change.
Jeff Wiener