Well, actually work doesn’t really suck for me. But it used to. And then we changed everything and became the first non-profit in the country to migrate to a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). After that, work pretty much stopped sucking.
Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, authors of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It, just released an updated, paperback version of their book. The new material features a little bit of the story of how Girl Scouts of San Gorgonio Council switched to a ROWE, alongside interviews with me and Mary, another awesome member of my team.
I first discovered Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It in an airport bookstore in June 2008 and it was the most intriguing thing I had read in years. It verifies every suspicion I had that they way we traditionally work doesn’t make any sense and that there is a better way.
If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think.
Want to read more about rethinking the way we work? You should see the stack of books beside my bed…it includes:
- Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeirer Hansson
- The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working by Tony Schwartz, Jean Gomes, and Catherine McCarthy
- Drive by Daniel H. Pink
- Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
- Your Brain at Work by David Rock
Jessica Lawrence Quinn 
I’m reading it right now, 30 minutes a day at work. So far so good. Welcome back, hope your trip was relaxing!
Yay – I’m glad you’re reading it! : )
The authors have some good points but they massively overstate their case. Their point about how efficient people are on the weekends in their own chores is ridiculous. How would they explain all the Christmas lights up in April?
Ha – very true! Obviously productivity varies from person to person, and a person who has a tendency to be unproductive in general (whether it’s Christmas lights or work) is less likely to change their behavior even with a significantly different work environment.