I took some time out today to browse through the latest Harvard Business Review: a rare luxury. It features an article (Making Time Off Predictable - & Required) in which is shown that Boston Consulting Group is "getting better results by experimenting with down time - even in this economy".The authors say that their research shows that slaves to Blackberries and 60+ hours a week work can meet the highest standards of service and still have planned, uninterrupted time off. The company helps them by imposing a strict mechanism for taking time off even at the busiest moments; encouraging discussion on what is and what isn't working about the scheme; promoting experimentation with different ways of working; and ensuring top management buy-in.
The "designated periods of time that consultants were required to take off" was called by the authors 'predictable time off'. I hate to be an old whingeing exile, but isn't this what we used to call Sabbath?
Back to work ...
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