Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.
“I call it work-life integration. There are times that your life requires a lot more, and there are times that your work requires a lot more. … I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
Sometimes I pour more into work, sometimes life needs my attention. Sometimes I’m eager to finish working on a work problem, sometimes work can fuck off for a bit. At my last job I’d sleep in in the mornings and work past “close” when fewer people were bugging me.
I find it more stressful to be strict about keeping work and life seperate. Maybe I want to login at night and test some ideas that I wouldn’t risk during the day. Many times I’ve been on a hot streak and don’t want to stop at exactly 5PM. Maybe I’m not getting a lick of work done, know I’m being useless and pop out to hike before I run out of sun. If I’m bored shitless, I may run through my email and clear out the crap so there’s less staring at me Monday morning.
Did no one read the article? Or have none of you had a professional job with responsibilities? FFS, she’s merely saying do what works for you. Point to a single unreasonable thing she’s saying here.
tl;dr: I was already working exactly as she talks about and that left me with the least stress, most satisfaction.
The unreasonable part is where it’s intended to be useful information for anyone outside of her specific sphere. If I do anything you and her describe, I’d be fired the next day. That’s even considering that my current job is the most lenient and acomodating place I’ve ever worked.
Her style works for you, good for you. I admit I’m sometimes also guilty of checking work stuff when I shouldn’t be. The problem is that it does not work for everyone and some people want clear boundaries and separation, and her saying this is in a way telling her people what they should be doing:
That’s why it’s up to leaders to set the tone for boundaries in the office and what good work-life integration may look like
Just because you don’t have a problem with it, doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t either. If she was an ordinary cog in the wheel like you and me, people might not give a shit if that’s how she prefers to work. But she dictates policy with her position and influence.
Her take is perfectly reasonable:
Sometimes I pour more into work, sometimes life needs my attention. Sometimes I’m eager to finish working on a work problem, sometimes work can fuck off for a bit. At my last job I’d sleep in in the mornings and work past “close” when fewer people were bugging me.
I find it more stressful to be strict about keeping work and life seperate. Maybe I want to login at night and test some ideas that I wouldn’t risk during the day. Many times I’ve been on a hot streak and don’t want to stop at exactly 5PM. Maybe I’m not getting a lick of work done, know I’m being useless and pop out to hike before I run out of sun. If I’m bored shitless, I may run through my email and clear out the crap so there’s less staring at me Monday morning.
Did no one read the article? Or have none of you had a professional job with responsibilities? FFS, she’s merely saying do what works for you. Point to a single unreasonable thing she’s saying here.
tl;dr: I was already working exactly as she talks about and that left me with the least stress, most satisfaction.
The unreasonable part is where it’s intended to be useful information for anyone outside of her specific sphere. If I do anything you and her describe, I’d be fired the next day. That’s even considering that my current job is the most lenient and acomodating place I’ve ever worked.
Her style works for you, good for you. I admit I’m sometimes also guilty of checking work stuff when I shouldn’t be. The problem is that it does not work for everyone and some people want clear boundaries and separation, and her saying this is in a way telling her people what they should be doing:
Just because you don’t have a problem with it, doesn’t mean everyone else doesn’t either. If she was an ordinary cog in the wheel like you and me, people might not give a shit if that’s how she prefers to work. But she dictates policy with her position and influence.