The seven day weekend changing the way work works

Yetwe go onprovingthatin redistributingtheweekend across theworkweek, our employ-ees findbalance and Semco makes money.In thatregardalone, we are an excellent business case study.. As w

THE SEVEN-DAYWEEKEND

iconoclast of real-world business

practices, still asking questions so basicthat they're as difficult and

relevant today as when he started

—FORTUNE

Ricardo Semler's favorite question is "Why?"

Whydo peopleroutinelybringworkhomeonthe

week-ends but never go to the movies on a Monday

afternoon?Whydowe needto sitatthesame deskeveryday?Whydowe havetofill outtimesheetsor

interviewed byourbosses but never getto interview

Forthe lasttwenty yearsSemler has been doing

a lotmorethan asking questions—he'sactuallybeenrunning a companyby breakingevery tenet in the

employ-ees to playhooky He tellsthem notto bother withgrowth plans Employees choose theirown salaries,settheirown hours,and have nojobtitles.

Ridiculous?Inefficient? Arecipeforchaos?

Per-haps But Semler's ideas work.They worksowell, in

fact,that hiscompany,Semco, has grown from $35

million inrevenueto$212million inthelast sixyears,

andeven with morethan3,000employees,ithas

vir-tuallynoturnover.Peoplecomefromaroundtheworld

tostudySemler'sradical management practices

If youfeel like work has taken over yourlife, TheSeven-DayWeekend is foryou It'sa manifesto that

proveswedon't have to be slavestothe

THE SEVEN-DAY WEEKEND

butwillstayinSemco'sheart forever

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to those feisty pros without whom this book would

neverhave seenthelightofday:foremost RogerGittines,with

my editors Adrian Zackheim and Stephanie Land — where all

lastlybut neverleastly, HeatherSchroder, myagentatICM and

afriend forallseasonsofpublishing

At home, Fernanda, withthewarmestfactory-builtheartI'veseen,whocheerledwhentheteam waslosingand whoisin

theprocessof redesigningmy ownheart She'sthe onlye-mailthatcomes withUn-attachments.

To myfour-year-old Felipe, anangel ofinspiration, who

picks up his toy computer and says he has to worknow The

To Curt, a firm handshake (and a peck on the cheek)acrossspaceandtimeforthefifty-yearanniversaryofSemco

—

"SometimesI sitsandthinks,sometimesI just sits.'

—SATCHELPAIGE

never mind the cheese — who moved my weekend?

The next thingwe knowthecellphoneisringing, e-mailis ing up, and the fax machine is vomiting paper onto the floor

pil-Paradiselost. Welcometothe seven-dayworkweek.

I've got a much better idea, though, one that I've been

roadtestingnowformanyyears:theseven-dayweekend.Ifthe

workweekisgoing to slopoverinto theweekend — and there's

no hopeof stoppingthatfrom happening — whycan'tthe

week-end, with its precious restorative moments of playtime, my

time,and ourtime, spilloverintotheworkweek?

weekendis alreadyhappeningat Semco, anunusual company

that 1*11 introduce you to in the pages ahead What you are

shudder,groan,andheavethebookacrosstheroom,I'llhasten

toaddthatit'salsoaroadmaptopersonalandbusinesssuccess

Wehave to find a betterwayforworktowork The seven-day

workweekisshapingupasa personal,societal,andbusiness aster Itrobspeople of passionandpleasure,destroysfamilyand

dis-communitystability, andsetsupbusinessorganizations to

The seven-day weekend approach is an alternative thatbridges thegap betweentheairytheoriesofworkplace democ-

anchor You're welcometo take the turnof phrase literally or

abol-ishingwork Aseven-dayweekend, howeverpleasant a fantasy

of endless strolls on thebeach, will mix worktime with sonaltimeinnew andpossiblydisconcertingways.Don'tworry,

FOREWARNING

your laptop Your first reaction may be dismay at the loss of

your conventionalweekend; afterall, we naively define

week-endsasfreetime,personaldays, idleness But that definitionis

outdated.Thetraditionalweekend and workweeks endedlongago This book faces that fact and explores ways of making

work morefun,andoffinding abalancebetween work andvatepassions,sobothcanbesignificantlygratifying

Now Semco employs three thousandpeople workingin threecountriesinmanufacturing,professionalservices,andhigh-techsoftware Butevennow,Icontinuetohearthatourexperimentscould neverwork anywhere else. Yetwe go onprovingthatin

redistributingtheweekend across theworkweek, our

employ-ees findbalance and Semco makes money.In thatregardalone,

we are an excellent business case study Wefit neatly into any

MBAexamination ofsuccess

It's very simple—the repetition, boredom, and tion thattoomanypeople acceptasaninherentpartofworking

aggrava-canbe replacedwithjoy, inspiration,andfreedom

That'swhatIwishforeveryonewhoreadsthisbook

RicardoSemler

(Lyinginahammockwith a laptopandmylittle boy,

having fedtheducksata nearbypond)

ANY DAY

i»m a catalyst, and that's why Iwas on a ten-hour Varig

makingsurethe tray tablewasinanuprightandlockedpositionforlanding

Youreadthat correctly thefirsttime—catalyst By

I handlethe role isbybroachingweirdideas andaskingdumb

questions Strictly speaking, I'm a highly evolved CEO, as in

"ChiefEnzymeOfficer."

As was makethe themomentI

casu-allysaid tomy Semco colleagues, "Ibetwe cangetthephone

number of the Rockefeller Group by calling information It

must belisted,don'tyou think?"Itwas Like agood enzyme, I

evenoffered todialthenumber,too, sinceIwas perched onthefrontedge ofmydesk, afavoritespotthatallows metoget to

myfeetquicklyto end meetingsthatstarttodrag

"Oh,Mr Mirante,you mean," thecompanyoperatorsaidwhenIblandlyaskedthenameofCushman &Wakefield'spres-

CushmandCWakefieldisthecommercialrealestatearmoftheRockefellerGroup When ArthurMirante'ssecretarypickedup

reason that worked magic — maybe she had a secret fantasy

Presi-dentMirante himselfwas ontheline.

didn't have a clue about me or my agenda I explained who I

was —leavingoutthebitaboutbeinga catalyst— andsuggestedthatwe gettogetherface-to-face to discuss abusiness proposi-

Now,standinginthecabrankatJFKAirport,havingbeen

strandedbyano-showlimodriver, Iexperiencedmylatestpang

ofmisgivings: "Cushman &Wakefieldisgoingtoagreeto

part-nerwith an obscure Brazilian company? Get serious, Ricardo.Thisisoneweirdideathat'sabouttofizzle."

track for my trip through Queens to midtown Manhattan. I

askedthecabbie toturn itdown,buthecouldn'thearmeoverthe noise Earsringing, Igotouton FifthAvenue, wended my

way past the famous ice-skating rink (in springtime

world'slargest realestatemanagementfirms

pastthe securitydeskwithoutstopping, affectingthebearingof

aRockefeller scion(RockyRicardo?), alittlegameIusedto playprior to9/1 1 Iwasprettygoodatlookinglike Iknew where I

was going; guards rarely stopped me for ID or destinationchecks.(Alas,those daysareoverintheUnitedStates.)Theele-

vatorrideto thethirty-sixthfloorgavemejustenoughtime toreviewmy predicament withouttriggering full-fledgedqualms

property managers, Iwas abouttoproposethatSemco, a

Rockefellerfamilytohandle thenitty-grittybusiness offacility

managementinBrazilandtherestofLatinAmerica

Iintroducedmyselftothe receptionistand momentslater

beenwisetowearjeansanda blazer The doubtsabout my tirewerealmost instantlyreinforcedwhenintothe officesuite

at-strodeArthur Mirante II, tallandstylishlydrapedinanelegant,Italian-designersuitthatreeked ofmanyfittingsbycadresofat-tentive artisans

His firmhandshake and warm, opensmileputmeatease

ANY DAY H

reminded myself was supposed be andso,presumably,washe.Inoticedthathegavemyjeansaquickside-

waysglanceofappraisal.Webanteredafew moments aboutnotusually settingup meetings based onathree-minutephonecall,

orflyingtenhours onthesameflimsy pretext,andthen quicklygotdownto business Isummarized myproposal,emphasizing

Tm sorry you came all the way for this, then," he said

mainlysupportsourotherrealestateinterests."

out ofitin Brazil.Miranteaskedif Ireallywouldn'tbe moreterestedin thebrokerage business I confessedthatmy knowl- edgeofrealestate startedand ended with buying my home Withthattheexecutive shrugged and took me to seehis

in-facilitymanagementpeople.Afterward,Isuggestedthateach of

usput up$2,000 tocoverthelegalexpensesofestablishingtheventure We'd be fifty-fifty partners Arthur agreed, we shook

hands, andoff Iwentin ahurryto pickup tickets to theNew

YorkPhilharmonic,havelunchwiththewriter Peter Carey,andhitthelegendary Strandbookstoreforthreehoursofbrowsing

That wasAprilof 1993.Ayearlater,theSemco Cushman

&Wakefieldjointventureemployed 150 peopleanddid$4

revenues ofmorethan $65 million

Why amItellingyouthis story,muchlessstarting abook

and unlikely combination Staid, proper, blue-blooded

Cush-man & Wakefield united with casual, off-the-wall, planning

ButI contendthestrangenessis itsstrength There'sresiliency,

flexibility, andsustainability totheventure thatwould be

lack-ingin amore conventionalpairing

buried the better off we all will be Incendiary words, yet

jointventuresthatIwilldescribe shortly,suggests that the

nearly as socially disruptive as might befeared at first. Onthecontrary,thepathSemcohasbeenblazingformorethantwenty

years has led to an unprecedented record of innovation,

command-and-control management practices that cause much laborunrestandpersonalmisery,fromthetopto thebottomofmanyorganizations

Oneoftherecurringthemesofthisbookistheneed —theabsolute necessity—to give up control in order to cope with

changes that are transforming the way we live and work As

counterintuitiveasthatsounds,itdoes notcontradict the rienceandvaluesatthecoreoffreemarket,democraticcapital-

expe-ANY DAY H

ism Idontwantto speakforArthur Mirante,whoisindeedan

excellent friendand wonderfulpartner,butitseems tomethat

entrepreneurial instincts He was willing to take a chance —togiveupcontrol.Isn'tthatwhatentrepreneurs do? They'reflexi-

havefun

But many entrepreneurs— be they leaders of great orsmallenterprises—can'tbringthemselvestoletgo Theyproba-bly wouldhave shown me the door, and turned away from a

$65 million venture I believe the obsession with control is adelusionand, increasingly, a fatalbusinesserror The more we

grabforit,themoreit slipsaway,andevermoredesperate

mea-sures are applied, spawning Enrons,WorldComs, andhosts of

andharsher, what'slostisthe centralpurpose ofthe business,

any business—a satisfying, worthwhile life for those involved

andareasonablerewardfortheirinvestmentandhardwork.

The seven-dayweekendisSemco's wayofgettingout ofthecontrolbusinessand backto ourcentralpurpose

NearlytwentyyearsagoaprominentBrazilianpoliticianinvited

me to the far north of Brazil for a conference SenatorJose

asasoap salesman Bythe met he

Ispoke attheconferenceforan hour about Semco andits

unusualpractices,andthen SenatorMacedo openedthe

his shoulder atthehundreds of peoplewhofilled the hot,

hu-midauditoriumandasked, "Mr Semler, beforeansweringotherquestions, can you please tellus what planet you're from?" Ittookseveralminutesfortheroomtoquietdown, andIcanstill

Incaseyou'retemptedtoaskthesamequestionafteringafew morepages ofthisbook,Isuggestthatwefirstpursue

read-anotherlineof inquiry thatmightprovemore helpfulandless

inflammatory.ThequestionthatIhaveinmindis,whatisSemco?

answer If you ask me to describe it in conventional businessterms, I'dhaveto admit Ihave noideawhatbusinessSemco is

Once yousaywhatbusiness you'rein,youcreateboundariesfor

youremployees,yourestricttheirthinkingandgivethemasonto ignore newopportunities "We're not inthat business,"

rea-they'llsay.

Insteadof dictating Semco'sidentity, I letour employees

shape itwiththeirindividualefforts, interests,andinitiatives.

Youprobablydon'tlikemyanswer,andIdon'tblameyou

I'll try again from another angle Instead of explaining what Semcodoes, I'lltake arunatwhatitdoesn't do

ANY DAY

Semco hasno official structure It has no organizational

two-year or five-yearplan, no goal ormission statement, no

long-termbudget The company often does not have a fixed CEO.

There's no humanresources department There areno career

ap-provesreports orexpense accounts.Supervision ormonitoring

Mostimportant,successisnot measuredonlyin profitand

growth

Strange, eh?My summary may make Semco sound likea

company with anoffbeatmanagementstylethatwouldn't

what makes us tick. The visitors are curious about Semco causetheywant what wehave— huge growthin spiteofafluc-

be-tuating economy, unique market niches, rising profits, highly

its annual revenue between 1994 and2003 from $35 million a

year to$212millionwhenI—thecompany'slargestshareholder

—

rarely attendmeetings andalmost nevermake decisions They want to know how my employees, with a show of hands, canvetonewproductideasorscrapwholebusiness ventures

This book will the

andpracticesthatmake Semco oneof the world'smost unusual

workplaces.Be warned — manyofourbasictenetsflyinthe face

of eventhemostprogressivebusinessownersormanagers Our

"architecture" isreallythesumofalltheconventional businesspracticesweavoid

It's our lack of formal structure, our willingness to let

It's our insistence that workers seek personal challenges

It'sour commitmenttoencouraging employeestoramble

ideasand newbusinessopportunities

It's our philosophy of embracing democracy and open

beinvolvedinchoosingtheirownleaders?Whyshouldn't they

managethemselves?Whycan'ttheyspeakup —challenge,

ANY DAY H

RELINQUISHING CONTROL

Semler, foundedin 1954 It startednot long afterhe movedtoBrazilfrom Argentina, having emigratedbefore that from his

nativeVienna.Hepatenteda centrifuge forseparatingoils,and with that started his own small machine shop, choosing its

name from a contraction of Semler & Company Soon Semco

wasa$2 million ayearbusiness.Then, inthelate 1960s,mytherformedapartnershipwith two Britishmarine pump man-

fa-ufacturers,and Semcoquicklybecame a majorsupplier to theBrazilian shipbuildingindustry

Forthenexttwenty-fiveyears,Semcobuiltmarine pumps, anditsname became synonymous withtheshippingindustry.It

could also have been synonymous with rigidity and tradition

spent many youthful years in a rockband and one miserable

summer asan interninSemco's purchasingdepartment After

this? How can I stomach yearsof babysittingpeople to makesurethey clockinontime?Whyisthisworthdoing?"

WhenItoldmyfatherabout myqualms,hereassuredme

with"that'llpass,young man,"or"I,too,was oncelikeyou."Of

coursethat only madematters worse Instead, Ibeganto

won-der if it was possible to foster change by creating an entirely

newkindoforganization

The answer

principle—relinquishing control in order to institute true

democracyatSemco Andthatisverycomplicatedindeed.

Con-vincedthatmyfamilywouldn'tletmehave free reinatSemco,

Ispentayearinvestigating afalteringladdermanufacturer.Iwas

danger-ousventure before I made a commitment to family interests

OnthedayIwas to sign the finalpapers toacquire theladder

After much debate and negotiation, we agreed that I'd

at Semco tookthe news seriously Clovis Bojikian, today one

of five senior Semco managers and our venerable human

resourcesguru, remembers comingto Semco foran interviewshortlyafterItookover

"Theyput mein aroom, and aboyarrived," Clovis saysnow "I thought he was a messenger He was about my son'sage.Hesatdown andstarted toaskmequestions,anditwasRi-

cardo Semler."

senior managers outright A risky

move that I felt was necessary to

quickly implement reforms

with-out foot dragging from the

en-trenched executives I then spent

the next two decades questioning,

WORK-ERSCANVETOADEALOR

CLOSEAFACTORY WITH A

SHOWOFHANDS.SEMCO

PERCENTA YEARANDHAS

ANY DAY H

today, i can ho nestly say thatourgrowth,profit,andthenumber of people we employ are secondary concerns Out-

quan-tify our business These are the yardsticks they turn to first.

That'sonereason we'restillprivately held Idon'twant Semco

waltz that startseachday with an openingbell and ends with

thethump ofthe closinggavel

Thanks, but nothanks Wegenerate enoughof our own

cash,andwe'regrowingnearly40 percentayearwithoutpublicinvestment Yes, we're successful by market standards—we've

Butthatsuccessmeanslittletomeif it'smeasuredonlyinthoseterms Sure,it'swonderfultohavemoney.Yetitdoesn'tchange

work, and performingajobdayafterday

The principles we nowpractice have resultedin

tremen-dousgrowth:Semcohasgone from myfather'speakof $4

ninety employees have increased to nearly three thousand

technology without givingup anyearlierbusinesses

Semco workers make moneyforthecompany andtakea

good chunkof itfor themselves in a profit-sharing plan Most

important, they make it the kind of organization that people

ger-manetoanyorganizationwhereflesh-and-bloodrealitiesofthe

organization is irrelevant—that's why Semco practices have

largeandsmallcompanies aroundtheworld

notbecauseit'stoo bigtomanageorbecause I'vesteppedback

toofarfromday-to-dayoperations Idon'twanttoknow where Semcois headed Itdoesn't unnerve meto see nothing onthe

Fortunately, my convictions haveborne results that

busi-ness people value, and more important, can understand:sustainability productivity, profit, growth, and new ventures

employ-ees areencouragedto establishtheirownsenseofbalance.Andthe increasinglypopular concept ofwork/lifebalance

is not all that we seek Balance also ensues when people aregiven roomto explore so theycan findout where their talents

goalsofthecompany Once employeesfeelchallenged,

ANY

profit and growthforthe organization That'swhattheSemco

tencompanies,giveortake.I'mnotsure,because theycome and

go;we'vehadaminimumoffivefortwentyyears.WealsohavesixInternet companies,sowecould claimsixteenunits,butwe

don'tknow how manyof thosewillsurvive,orinwhatform

Attheriskofoffering a description,Semcoisafederation

ofbusinesseswith aminimum commondenominator What Imeaniswe are not monolithic, yet there are common themes andthreads uniting us All our business units arehighly engi-neered, premiumprovidersand marketleadersintheirniches

Wehaven'tventuredintoanyofthem bychance

movedintoindustrialmixers,and now producesonly high-tech

mixers usedforpharmaceuticalsandatcandyfactories

Balti-moreAir CoilintheUnitedStates Essentially,we makecoolingtowersforcommercialproperties.The thirdcompany isCush-

billion world leader in facility management to

propertieslikehospitals, airports, hotels,and hugefactories

world'spremier environmentalconsulting companies

outsourcingof HR activities for large companies; and

Semco-RGIS,ourinventorycontrol firm

came tobepartofthesamebusiness Buta closerlookwillveal ahiddensynergythatsatisfiesthree basiccriteriawhen we

re-consider a new venture First, we lookfor complexity, which

usuallymeans"highlyengineered."Everything hasahigh entrybarrierofcomplexity.Ifanewbusinessisn't difficultforusand

forothers tobreakinto,then we're notinterested

Second,we demandthatineach ofourmarkets,we bethepremium player We want to offer a high-end product or ser-

pro-vide the premium that stretches what the customer will pay

makes us amajor playerinany given industry Tous, thislowsnaturallyfromthefirsttwo requirements.We wantto be

fol-only in businesses where our disappearance would cause our

disheartenedcustomerstocomplainloudly.They'dsurvive,butthey'dhave substantialdifficultymovingon

ANY

EMPLOYEESMUSTBE FREE

TOQUESTION,TOANALYZE,

and

meetthesecriteria,and weleveragethe

powerof ourunits For example,

Wal-Marthas graduallybecomeacustomer

of four ofourunits— we counttheirventory, manage their cooling towers,administer their buildings and ware-houses,and conduct environmentalsiteinvestigationand reme-diation

us Thepoint of entry may change,but ourobjective remainsthesame —synergy

Whicheverunit serves asthepointof entry,it soon finds

businessopportunitiesforthe others.Signingon withaclientis

usually our biggest hurdle, since we are more expensive than

our competitors Once a customer is on board, however, we

rarely have operational problems, we rarely abandon a tomer, and they rarely leave us Repeat customers represent

cus-some 80percentofourannual revenue Ican count on mygersthenumberofclientswhohavedroppedusintwentyyears

fin-ofbusiness

THE WHYWAY

Askit allthe time,askitanyday,everyday,andalways ask

itthreetimesinarow

This doesn'tcomenaturallyPeople areconditionedto

re-coil from questioning too much. First, it can be perceived as

rude Second,itcanbedangerous,implyingthatwe're ignorant

mayturn outtobeincorrector incomplete Last,management

is usuallythreatenedbythe prospectof employees who

or pat answers that have resulted from what I call "calcified"

thinking, thatstateofmind where ideashavebecomeso

hard-enedthatthey'renolongerofanyuse Employees must befree

to question, to analyze, toinvestigate; andacompany must be

keyto longevity,growth,andprofit

therefore of essence When I tell my four-year-oldsomething

isnosolutionbuttobuy him anicecream

Thus it is at Semco meetings Sometimes they are like

scenesfrom anoverly artsy foreign film— we address the same

subject again and again The angles are quirky and the focusfuzzyWeaskwhyrepeatedly.Andnothinggetscarvedinstone.That'sbecauseasacompany wehate writtenplans.Peoplewill

followaplanlike aPied Piper—mindlessly,with no thought as

ANY DAY

At Semco, we often jot down generic ideas and broad

numberssowe canvisualizethedimensions of anew product

originalnotes That way we cannotfall intothe trap of "fixedassumptions."Itforcesustoreconsiderallthevariables

When anexecutiveisnewto Semco, he or shewilloften

stammer: "Butwe already decidedthatat thelastmeeting," or

"Why are we goingover this again,instead of forging ahead?"I'm sure it's frustrating for them But when they watch theprocessunfold,andiftheylistento their colleaguesaskingwhy,

they'reroaringdownthewhyway withtherestofus

Inthe 1990s, ourphilosophies, practices, andhigh speed

people have written tous, curious about Semco, and hundreds

BBCtelevisionand dozensof otherTV programshaveprofiled

us I'vegivennearly threehundredspeechestocompanies, ferences, charitablegroups,youthgroups,anduniversitiessuch

con-as Stanford, Harvard, MIT, the London School of Economics, and INSEAD Semcoisacase studyat 76universities, andtexts

ofourorganizational practices arerequired readingat271otherschools Sixteen master's and doctoral candidates have made Semcothe subjectoftheir theses

And the first book about Semco, Maverick, was on

copies even though we had yet to really prove ourselves, letalonedemonstratestayingpower.

ButthepointI'mmakingisthatallofthisdemonstratesa

democracyintheworkplace —well,oftenthosestarry-eyed

andin the pursuitand attainmentof personal happiness? Andforthe third consecutivewhy, why do organizations and their

leaders cling toa rigidformofcommand andcontrol thatisat

plentyofmoney Butletthewhyslingerandripen.Theanswers

—

ormore whys —will comeinduecourse We needtofirstwalk

Semcoway Oh,didIforget tomentionthatamongthosethings

Semco doesn't do is a Monday to Friday workweek? If rockclimbingismoreinvitingonaWednesday morningthanabud-get planning meeting, then break out the rope and pitons If

than permission to play hooky It's about creating an phere and culture that grants permission to employees to be

atmos-men and womeninfullforseven days aweek Whyshouldthe

ANY DAY

fulfillment,and freedom stop thingMonday morning

parkinglotwhensheorhegoestowork.It'salousywaytolive

andalousywaytowork.

what Semco does do, I can saywe've changed the way work

works and improvedthe qualityofourlives— andsocanyou

Whydoes aweekendhavetwodays?

SUNDAY

Form newhabits.

sometimes at business workshops thatIconduct,Iaskparticipants towritedown whattheywouldratherbe doingat

thatmoment.I'veneverhad someonewrite: "Nothing.Isigned

time."Theyalways writefishing,golfing,playingwiththekids,

digginginthegarden,orevenansweringe-mail

Butshouldn'ttheysaytheworkshopistheonlyplacethey

wanttobe?Whyis itagiventhatworkisthelastthingsomeone

it isthatlamentationthat hintsatan answertothese questions

Freedom an empty word without "free don't mean

chore time, errand time, homework time Free time must be

unencumbered byato-dolist It isepitomized byidleness, erwise time is notfree if itbelongs to something or someone

oth-else. Robbed ofidleness, freetimeisstripped ofits restorativepowers

Workisso intense these days, so all-consuming thatit is

the archenemyof freetime Itlooms like adarkcastle onthedistant horizon, symbolizing oppression My workshop ques-tion taps an instinctive awarenessofthatfactandgenerates an

almost romantic longingfor free time and a preference to be

somewhere else evenif itmeans also forfeitingidlenessin the

formofaweekendoff thatisactually aweekend onsteroids

Consequently,we no longergraspthe differencebetween

andaction-oriented Ifyou goto thebeach,youdon'tspendthe

walk-ing, collectingseashells, swimming, fretting about your tan or

youroverexposureto the sun.Mostof us have tokeep oneeye

on ourchildrenwhileslatheringonsunscreenandplanning

There'snotrueopportunityto sitback, relax,andletthemind

wander That's too bad An idle,

wan-dering mind is not the devil's

play-ground, as the Puritans believed, buta

contemplation Even when we set

WE NOLONGER GRASP THE

DIFFERENCEBETWEEN

weekends aside to do what we want, we often spend most ofSaturday and Sunday engaged in chores, personal tasks, and

otherobligations Inmybook,that'sstillwork —you'rejustnot

gettingpaidforit,andyou'recertainlynotrelaxing

Weinsistthatspendingqualitytimewith ourfamilyisthenumber onepriority And astudy donein2001 would seemto

backthat up.Itreportedthatkidsbetweentheagesofthreeand

twelve spentthirty-one hours a week with their mothers and

twenty-threehours withtheir fathers.They had moretimewith

Is thisthe kind ofqualitytimewe hadin mind? Are anyof usbetter off forit?

into the gaps between weekend activities. We can work at

home, betrackedon ourcellphonesatthebeach,readreportssent tous anywherevia e-mail.Technologyhasmadeusacces-

re-spectfortheweekendorforthe sanctityofaSundayafternoon

on andatelltalebeeping announces ane-mailwith an

SUNDAY

believewe must makedeliberateeffortstobeatitback.

Chang-ingtheway work worksisthewayto go.People shouldbe

ofaworkweek andaweekend, anddividetheseven daysamong company time, personal time, and idleness (free time) Then

they shouldlookformoreefficientwaystomanagetheirtime.Insteadofwastingitinrushhourtraffic,rearrangeyoursched-ule towork when most other people don't Run errands on aquietMonday,particularlyifyouVespentyour Sunday answer-inge-mail

much moreproductiveworker.Itwillultimately benefit zationsbecauseemployeeswillfindequilibriumin theirprofes-

busi-ness successandgaining competitive advantage

Toputitanother way, peoplewhohave learnedtoanswer

e-mails on Sundayevenings alsoneedto learnhowtogo to the

discover that happiness, contentment, and inner peace do not

come from joining the rat race in order to acquire DVD

recorders, big screen TVs, cable hookups, expensive cars, and

bighouses, much less private helicopters and pilots Even so,

I'mnot preachingantimaterialism.Wedo,however, desperately

needa betterunderstanding ofthepurposeofwork, andto

or-ganize theworkplace andthe workweekaccordingly.Without

onesideandknee-jerkprofiteeringonthe other

noth-ingwillgetdone." Butthat'snotgoingtohappen;peoplewant

towork when workisnot theenemyof personalfreedom and

legitimate self-interest Let's sayyou declare every day a

Sun-day,andleavepeople alonewiththeirtoysandaccessories.You

wouldn'tbegrantingthem automatic peace andcontentment

The lackof challenge, meaning, and purpose would be

future—justdon'taskthemtodoit allthetimeand withoutthe

freedomtosay, "Now,Ineedtimeforme."

week-endisthatbyredesigningthe architectureoftime,wecanmake

Sinceworkissoubiquitous,wehaveto findwaystomake

it fulfillingandtocurbitspropensitytosuckupalltheavailable

hours Let's startby borrowingatermthat'susually associated

SUNDAY

with Easternreligions—symbiosis Roughlyspeaking itmeans

"alivingtogether,"andimplies that thecombinationismutually

beneficial,ifnot downrightblissful. Forinstance,the"work" of

a Tibetan monk exists symbiotically with his intimate beliefsandsense of purpose Now there's ahappy, contentedman, at

peacewithhimselfandtheworld around him —orsoitseems

WhileImay not be sureaboutthemonk'ssoul, I amtainthatweallneedthatkindofsymbiosis.Firstwehaveto face

cer-upto thetechnological changesthathave occurredandnize dailylife with theminmind.Sociologistsmightarguethateliminatingfixeddaysandevents andcreating aworldof con-stantand sudden change would makepeopleinsecure,perhapsunhinged.Buta seven-dayweekend(andimplicitlyaseven-day

reorga-workweek) doesn't mean that the regular Sundaylunch with

theparentswillcease toexistorthatweekly Masswillbe on

they'dlike to cancel The rest ofthe time, they'll create otherfixedeventslike Marcio Batoni,the CEOofSemco RGIS,who

hasaregularTuesdayafternoonmoviedatewithhiswife.Semcoisbuckingnot onlythe traditionalbusinessmodel,

we're resisting a code of behaviorat thevery core ofWestern