Workers need to daydream
Is America turning into a nation of slackers?There has been much hand-wringing about this lately in the wake of a survey that found that the typical US employee fritters away no less than two hours a day surfing the internet, chatting with co-workers, conducting personal business and generally “spacing out”. But we mustn’t let anyone make us feel guilty.
The US still leads the world in worker productivity by a healthy margin. And given the way US jobs are increasingly intruding on our leisure time (“think BlackBerry”), it’s only fair that this blurring between work and play should cut both ways. Besides, to be creative and productive, workers need a certain amount of time to dawdle and dream. Just look at self-confessed loafer Albert Einstein. In 1905, while working as a clerk at a Swiss patent office – a “respectable federal ink pisser” is how he described himself – Einstein was gazing out of the window when he had an insight that led to the special theory of relativity. Americans are blessed with a strong work ethic, but they are also a nation of big ideas – and they require a bit of idleness.
So go ahead and take that coffee break. Surf the net. Daydream. You owe it to yourself, and to all humanity.
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Comments
By shaun sayers on December 13th, 2007 at 7:46 am
It's a difficult one, this. Left uncontrolled I could see it being counter-productive. Not only that, but potentially divisive. For some job roles (Stores? FLT Driver?)”having ideas” is unlikely to be a significant part of the deal, whereas for others (R&D?)it may be. Maybe a job related “quota” or a “weighted” system is what is needed. Thinking outside of the box, why can't they do it (daydream) whilst on the toilet? The process could be stimulated with appropriate reading material, which could also prove useful in an emergency
I should be a “lean” consultant
By shaun sayers on December 13th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
It’s a difficult one, this. Left uncontrolled I could see it being counter-productive. Not only that, but potentially divisive. For some job roles (Stores? FLT Driver?)”having ideas” is unlikely to be a significant part of the deal, whereas for others (R&D?)it may be. Maybe a job related “quota” or a “weighted” system is what is needed. Thinking outside of the box, why can’t they do it (daydream) whilst on the toilet? The process could be stimulated with appropriate reading material, which could also prove useful in an emergency
I should be a “lean” consultant
By admin on December 13th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Toyota believes that you hire a pair of hands and the brain comes free. Everyone in the company should be able to contribute to continuous improvement activities, even stores and FLT drivers!
By admin on December 13th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Toyota believes that you hire a pair of hands and the brain comes free. Everyone in the company should be able to contribute to continuous improvement activities, even stores and FLT drivers!
By shaun sayers on December 13th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Hey, don’t talk to me about Toyota. The crown may be slipping. I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Check this out, and the related links in the post
http://blog.capablepeople.co.uk/blog/_archives/2007/12/6/3394499.html
By shaun sayers on December 13th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Hey, don't talk to me about Toyota. The crown may be slipping. I don't know what to believe anymore.
Check this out, and the related links in the post
http://blog.capablepeople.co.uk/blog/_archives/...