What It’s Really Like in a Results-Only-Work-Environment

Trey is an e-learning specialist. He is an individual contributor who does not manage people. Trey is in his late twenties and has been in a Results- Only Work Environment for almost two years.

When I was in college the mood on campus was that all corporations are inherently evil. While the bulk of this hatred was focused on companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, the overall atmosphere was very anticorporate. Having never worked for a corporation, my perspective of corporate America was also very negative. When I told my friends I landed a job at Best Buy’s corporate headquarters they basically said that I was bowing down to The Man just to make a buck.

Once I started working for Best Buy and got into a Results- Only Work Environment my view and the views of my friends eventually changed. When I told friends and family I had the opportunity to work when I want, wherever I want, at first they didn’t believe me. As time passed and I had story after story of my incredible experiences with ROWE they began to change their minds. Their overall view of “corporate America” hasn’t changed, but their view of Best Buy’s corporate headquarters has definitely changed. My employment opportunities and lifestyle are now envied within my social circle. I don’t hear about evil corporate America from people anymore. Instead people say, “I want your job.”

When I compare my life two years ago, working a steady eight-to-five role, with where I am today I can’t help but smile. In my eight-to-five role there was no flexibility. I had two weeks of vacation time and a fixed amount of sick time. Because there was no flexibility, I had to use vacation time to go to the dentist or the doctor. Leaving early or coming in late resulted in disciplinary action. I recall the hassle I had to go through to take three weeks off to follow my favorite band. I ended up using all of my vacation time and taking a week’s “leave of absence.”

I think the best way to compare life in a fixed eight-to-five role with what it’s like to work in a ROWE is to just describe my life the past year. For the most part I am able to get up when I want and choose when and where to work. There are times when I need to attend meetings or get work done in a pinch, but those instances are few and far between. Some days I will feel like heading into the office; some days I won’t. The past month I have been in the office before ten probably two to three times, and only because I had a meeting.

A typical day for me includes waking up when my room is too bright from the sun and I can no longer sleep. I check my e-mail to make sure there are no pressing issues and respond to anyone who needs my input. I will typically watch an episode of South Park on the Internet, then walk to my local grocery store and buy some breakfast, even though it’s closer to lunch at this point. After eating I will work in front of my television with ESPN on in the background. At this point I will choose to go into the office or continue to work from home, or maybe not even work at all and go for a bike ride or jog. If there is still work to do later that night, I’ll do it then and it’s no big deal.

I’m never not accomplishing anything. I always do what is expected of me. Because of the ROWE our team has gotten smarter about how we work. It used to be that one person would manage everything for a project and perform all the functions. We moved to more of a studio approach. Each person works according to their strengths. One person does copy. One person does Flash. I upload and implement and ensure functionality. Before we started working in a Results- Only Work Environment we could do ten, maybe twelve courses a month. We recently put forty- three courses out in a single month. This doesn’t change when I travel. If I have eighteen projects going at once, I just set my goals so everything is done three days ahead of time, so I have a buffer zone before I hit the road. As long as the work gets done my manager is happy.

Contrast what I have just described with the eight-to-five life I lived a couple of years ago. While my friends sit in traffic and work a traditional lifestyle I work at my leisure from my apartment, or not at all, depending on how I feel and what I have planned for the day. This year alone I traveled through Europe for nineteen days following my favorite artist from Paris to Brussels, Amsterdam, Prague, and Cologne. I have a picture of Dave Matthews and me outside a small club in Brussels, Belgium. I spent a weekend at Taste of Chicago playing cribbage and Frisbee in a park, and capped the whole experience off with a show on Sunday night in the Windy City. I woke up that Monday in Chicago on a workday without a worry in the world. My only concern was if I was going to make it back to Minneapolis in time to go the Best Buy Charity Classic to see Dave Matthews for the second night in a row. This past weekend I took Friday and Monday off and had a weekend getaway with my girlfriend. We camped in a state forest and went to the Alpine Valley Amphitheater to see her favorite band, Nickelback. I spent Sunday at Noah’s Ark water park cruising down waterslides. I will be in Chicago again for Lollapalooza and back at Alpine Valley for another show in a group camping site with forty friends from all over the United States.

None of what I have just described would be possible in the old work environment that helps create the perception of “Evil Corporate America.” I basically do what I want, when I want, all the time. I do my work, for the most part, when it is convenient for me. Since I always get my work done I can enjoy life to the fullest while working for a great company.

Excerpted from WHY WORK SUCKS AND HOW TO FIX IT: NO SCHEDULES, NO MEETINGS, NO JOKE—THE SIMPLE CHANGE THAT CAN MAKE YOUR JOB TERRIFIC by Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson by arrangement with Portfolio, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc., Copyright (c) Thompson & Ressler, LLC, 2008.

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