Bias Interrupted

CHAPTER 9

Isn’t it natural—and inevitable—that people who work harder go further?

Not really. A recent randomized controlled trial showed that always-on work cultures are in fact counterproductive—and that individually negotiated flexible work arrangements aren’t the answer.

Led by Erin Kelly and Phyllis Moen, the experiment worked with teams, not individuals. Researchers helped teams talk through how best to get their work done without overload and burnout. They also helped them rethink how to minimize low-value work, how to be responsive to real deadlines without treating everything as equally urgent, how to communicate both availability and project updates, and how to implement the Results-Only Work Environment (which measures results while ...