Page 202 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

or taking care of our yard while optimizing our relationship
with our children. We might satisfice on breakfast and opti-
mize on dinner. Leaders can help employees know when
to satisfice and when to optimize by having the “return on
time invested” discussion. Some organization initiatives and
decisions are so important to do that they are worth doing
well (e.g., safety in manufacturing, customer relationships),
but other still-important decisions don’t require as much
precision.

Flexibility. One key to managing time is schedule flexibility.
Many employees want flexibility so they can respond to
demands from their personal life. This does not mean that
they will work fewer hours, but it may mean that they can
have some say in when they work those hours. As employ-
ees make choices on work flexibility, they are constrained
by business realities (not many in a grocery store want to
work on Friday or Saturday nights, but someone must). But
employees are often very motivated to find creative ways to
get work done well if they can have some say about when
to do it. Many organizations have options for four 10-hour
days or even three 13-hour days to allow employees to build
a work-week that works for them.

Abundant Work

A relative of ours has a fridge magnet that states: Life’s great-
est tragedies occur when we give up what we want most for
what we want now. Sometimes what we want now is so basic
to survival that putting off what we want most is a noble sac-
rifice and not a tragedy at all. But generally speaking, our

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