Why Managing Sucks and How to Fix It: A Results-Only Guide to Taking Control of Work, Not People

Chapter 1

Wake Up!

Go Beyond Telework

Nothing like starting out a book with a command, right? Consider it fair warning, though; this is a taste of the way we’re going to interact with you as you continue reading. We’re not going to pussyfoot around and make you wonder what we’re really trying to say. You’re going to know exactly how to move into the twenty-first century as a manager who is focused on what matters.

Now, could it get any more daunting to think about how things need to change as we continue down the road of this century? We talk with CEO after CEO who says “What got us to this point of success over the past 50 years will not keep us successful over the next 50 but we don’t have a map that tells us what to change or how to do it.” That’s one of the reasons we decided to write this book, and I must admit that although I was excited to write it, I was also pretty anxious. Distilling the messages we want to share for approaching work and management for the next 87 years of this century (and maybe beyond) isn’t something you can just sit down and whip out. But then I remembered something. When Jody and I were creating the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)—and experimenting with ways to design a work environment that catalyzed maximum happiness and productivity for employees’ lives—we realized something. And that something literally made us stop in our tracks. I can vividly recall both of us walking back to our cubicles (ah, yes, the lovely cubicles) from Sandy’s Place ...