What’s Your Workstyle?

by Robert Pease | December 28th, 2010 | in Gistful Thinking | 51 Comments | Trends, work, workstyle

Here at Gist, we have embraced the phrase “connected people change history” as core to our mission and vision. We believe that technologies are more accessible than ever to the individual and that the more connected we become, the more we are able to do amazing things. Over the past couple years, we have talked to many smart people, learned a great deal from user feedback, examined how we work as a team, and looked forward to where we believe things are headed in the future leading us to the notion of the “new workstyle.”

So, what is the “New Workstyle?”

The New Workstyle blends the latest technologies and tools with our daily activities allowing us to accomplish more in both personal and professional endeavors, accelerate ideas of our own, and lead more productive lives.

Unlike workflow which is defined by scripted and static process for everyone to follow, workstyle is unique to the individual who calls upon information, technology, and connections as needed.

This definition along with our understanding of it will evolve as the pace of innovation accelerates and individual “style” is applied to work. Jason Fried’s great presentation at a TEDx event about “why work doesn’t happen at work” is an exclamation point on our concept.

We believe there are 10 characteristics of the New Workstyle:

1. Mobile – always on and aware.

2. Connected via hi-speed/broadband access – connected by a seriously big pipe. No dial up in the new workstyle.

3. Self-sufficient - have their own equipment which is often superior to what is provided by their employer or used in lieu of (computers, mobile device, printers, software, etc.). Demonstrate resiliency in their ability to navigate and thrive in an increasingly ambiguous workplace (and world).

4. Virtual – location independent with minimal impact on contribution. In fact, productivity is higher as the lines between work time and personal time blur along with designated work and personal locations.

5. Broad personal and professional on-line networks – meaningful connections across social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn that are not just collected and counted but leveraged and often engaged around questions or for advice.

6. Productive – not obsessed with productivity per se but owns the concept and applies it every day focusing on outcomes and accomplishments versus activities. Is always looking for tools and methods to improve an already productive daily pace.

7. Off-line driven – an important dimension of the new workstyle is both a consciousness and focus on off-line, person-to-person interactions facilitated by on-line tools and forums.

8. Balances work and personal lives – knits both work priorities and commitments with personal pursuits throughout the day (and night) combining flexibility with increased overall productivity and contribution to both.

9. Gives back – thinks beyond themselves to causes, community, or others less fortunate and uses their connections and resources to make significant contributions.

10. Intellectually curious – constantly seeks out new and betters ways to work by experimenting with new tools, listening to others, and critically examining the things they do and why they do them.

What do you think? Are there additional characteristics to the New Workstyle that we are missing? How would you describe your workstyle? Leave a comment below or send us an email and we’ll post your thoughts here on the Gist blog.

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This post was written by Robert Pease, Vice President of Marketing at Gist. Feel free to contact me anytime with questions, feedback, or if you just want to say hello at robert@gist.com.

Antonie

As placed on Facebook under your post:
Liked the post placed by the link. Yes, I think you covered all the points – no 3, 5, 7 stand out for me. No 8 begs many questions and in closing poses the challenge that one can get involved with too much
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http://twitter.com/ConwayMatt Matt Conway

Thanks for the posting, Greg, but let me strongly, passionately and loudly disagree with your very first point: Always on and Aware is crap. Actually, as long as I’m punching you in the face, let me go for full offense: it’s dangerous crap bordering on an obsessive fetish.

There. That feels better.

It’s like this: creative work, efficient work, just plain good work, done by happy, stable people *requires* that those people step away from the work, unplug and do something else.

Every scientific study ever done proves this and every spiritual leader ever worth a soap box has said as much. The mind requires a breather in order to move forward. And that part about step #8 in your list about work-life balance? How the heck do you get #8 if you insist on #1?

Instead, let me offer a loud, affirmative refutation of “always on and aware”, replaced with this:

#1: Predictable and Stable Communication Channels
In which people treat time like the non-renewable resource it is.

It is made up of behaviors like:

- a mindful communication with your team about when you are and critically when you are NOT available.

- setting your “out of office” notice as needed to let this communication go wide, even when you are not out of office

Sorry for being a grumpy old man about this, but I’m on a bit of a crusade. Join me?

http://www.mac-live.com Shane Mac

While I totally agree with you, I don’t think the point of number one is what we “should” do but more about what we “actually” do. We are not creating and saying this is what you should do but rather observing a shift that is happening.

I do believe that cutting yourself off is one of the most important things we can do for all of the things you mentioned above.

Take a look around though and you will see exactly what #1 says whether that is for the better or worse…

Thanks for your comment!

-Shane Mac
http://blog.gist.com/ GregAtGist

Matt -

Thanks for the response and I appreciate that you approach it with full-on punching!

I agree 100% with your assertion that creative types need to have time off/time away/focus time/however you describe it, in which you are NOT online and aware.

I will argue here many people (irregardless of the fact that it can be damaging to be always on and aware) will strive to be always available and mobile.

Perhaps we can reach a middle ground by pointing out that #7 in this list explicitly calls out offline interaction, and that perhaps #7 needs to be higher in the list and #1 lower.

Is that better? Still want to punch me? I love your description of Predictable and Stable Communication Channels and would like to know your take on providing the data-driven productive justification to allow all of us to feel more comfortable in taking the time off that we need (while still setting the right expectations to be available where we have committed to being available).

Looking forward to more conversations,

Greg

ResuMAYDAY

Every time someone uses the word ‘irregardless’, an angel gets a nosebleed.

http://blog.gist.com/ GregAtGist

Thanks for your comment.

–Greg

http://twitter.com/resonantview Nick Trendov

Why not call it a content curation and brokerage space? You may not think of GIST this way but that’s how people use it http://tinyurl.com/S5-GIST
Cheers,
Nick @Groups_Groups or Groups on GIST

http://www.genyjourney.com Tyler Durbin

I don’t think you’re being a gumpy old man at all

I really like the predictable and stable communication idea. That’s a big deal. Even between clients and co-workers, I find it odd sometimes when I can reach them and when I can’t. It’s all about expectations.
highly spankable

Amen, dude. It’s bizarre how obsessive-compulsive disorders are often misinterpreted (and reinforced!) as a “good work ethic”.

Vice is vice, regardless of form. Work obsession — being a workaholic — is a vice. And if abused in excess, it destroys lives like any other vice.

Bryan

Great list, but i wiuld priotitize them differently. I think “10. Intellectually curious” should be 1. followed by “3. Self-Sufficient”. To me, most of the rest result largely from these two characteristics.

http://www.mac-live.com Shane Mac

I may agree with you Bryan! Thanks for the comment…

http://www.mohanarun.com Mohan Arun

Being Connected = Essential
Being Productive = ‘Desirable’
Being Intellectually Curious = Optional

http://www.fillthefunnel.com/ Miles Austin

Disagree with #3 being optional. I take this to mean an open-mindedness to things developing around us. Alvin Toffler said “The illiterate of the 21st century will mot be those who cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn again.”

http://blog.gist.com/ GregAtGist

@Mohan – thanks for the comment.

@Miles – thanks for the additional idea.

Here’s a great article on Curiosity and innovation: http://www.innovationtools.com/Articles/ArticleDetails.asp?a=172

–Greg

http://carlosalbertoteixeira.myopenid.com/ Carlos Alberto Teixeira

Title should be: “How to be unhappy and stressed”

http://blog.gist.com/ GregAtGist

Carlos -

Thanks for the comment – do you have suggestions for being happier and less stressed?

–Greg

http://www.fillthefunnel.com/ Miles Austin

Another that I would add to the list is to invest in your own training/professional development and pay for it out of your own pocket. It you are waiting on your employer to approve and provide your professional development training, you will fall behind in a very competitive job market.

http://blog.gist.com/ GregAtGist

Miles – thanks for the comment! We should all be lifelong learners … and who better to know what you need than yourself?

–Greg

Matt Scobel

Every once in a while you come across an article or blog post that feels like it was written right at you. This was one of those articles for me. I’ve been a Gist user since the early beta, and left my job in early 2010 to pursue this lifestyle. All 10 of these points speak to my preferred style of work, and will act as reference points as I continue to develop in 2011. Thanks Gist. You guys are really doing a great thing.
Jane Young

Nice post Robert.

I’d say an expectation of trust is essential too. The New Workstyle depends upon people treating one-another as adults. It’s a simple thing, but surprisingly rare, even in small companies that don’t realise their people are still clipped by outdated notions of hierarchy and other cultural traits that don’t lend themselves to autonomous workers reaching their potential. The best people are becoming less willing to accept anything less than total autonomy. They expect to be trusted to do what they want, when and how they want, given they’ve been granted the opportunity to fully understand the business, like the clever grownup they are

A nice by-product of this is rising happiness and satisfaction all round. Not to mention profitability.

Another point might be broadness of skillset and adaptability. There seems to be a general shift away from emphasis on doing one thing well, to doing lots of things well. A tall order, but an inspiring one. Our fragmented world calls for fragmented skillsets. Not true 100% of the time of course, but significant. Uni education doesn’t lend itself to this; and the more educated people are, sometimes the fewer opportunities they’re left with. Plenty of folk who’ve landed PhDs leave it off their CV to get a job.

Our Google skimming culture has led to concerns around reduced concentration spans; and constant, instant comms via social media get the same criticism. Likewise in the workplace there are concerns around lack of depth of understanding and commitment from freelancers or flexible workers… and perhaps employees who recognise the New Workstyle is optimum, but find themselves in an environment that doesn’t get it.

Panic about loyalty / commitment, or lack of, felt by ‘bosses’ is a symptom of a deep-seated subordination thing going on. A superiority complex. There’s less concern around loyalty the other way around. The New Workstyle advocate is more concerned about wasting our time on Facebook than her boss is (!) – because she actually cares about the work she’s doing and the goals she’s trying to achieve.

I think we need to come to terms with the fact that if job is done well and happily, employer fear – in the guise of sensible business process and order – betrays lack of trust and lack of conviction that people will perform well and consistently.

The best people won’t stand for anything less than open acknowledgement of this and refusal to operate in any way other than the New Workstyle. They expect complete trust.

They know that life’s too short not to work in a better way. They recognise that the accelerating pace of change in the world calls for shorter lifespans of organisational forms and new success measures – measures based less on conventional notions of what you’re expected to do (mindless zombie routine); and more on what you’ve achieved for the business, yourself, your colleagues and customers by whatever means you saw fit.
Cruisintimes

Right on all counts! I could probably reduce the entire article to two words (Gorilla tactics!) It’s always the independents that apply the 10 techniques that can beat corporate america. While they’re meeting themselves to death, we’ve already done the research, met with a client at a coffee house, answered emails and changed our websites 5 times and picked up 10 new friends on facebook, one of which is a potential customer!!
John Shapiro, magazine editor
Tracyo

Do we have to choose just one? I’d say 6, 8, 9 and 10 – all because of the inefficiencies I see in technology (spending 10 hours of deadening work formerly delegated to support staff making half the salary, that I now have to do myself) I’m constantly seeking efficiencies, looking for something intelligent to do (usually in non-profit service work since my ‘day job’ I used to be wonderfully challenged by, could be done by a trained chicken) and seeking balance – once work took the place of other aspects of my life that were less rewarding – now it’s the other way around.
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http://www.WomackCompany.com Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA

Something else to consider, you’re work-ing style. That is, not just what you do, but how you ARE.

I did a video on this for our Online Course, here’s the “unlisted” link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM7Z4EKBkeE

Robert, one of the things I find in my Workplace Performance coaching is that everyone has “HOW” they work and the push that up against WHAT they do. By studying both sides of that, through a magnifying lens, we can discover more effective/efficient ways to do the things you write about above.

For example, #1: Always on and aware… For someone who is an auditory learner, this may mean that they constantly have a “mental to do list” going. For someone who’s more kinesthetic, they’ll have “gear” (Moleskine, Blackberry, iPhone, etc).

The trick, as I’ve found and written about it for 14 years, is to identify HOW each team member works, and then coordinate systems and tools around them to magnify the impact of that…
http://www.mutuellesmutuelle.com devis mutuelle

Thanks so much for talking about this!
http://www.1rachatdecredits.com rachat de credit

This is an excellent list. It is very informative. Thank you so much.
http://twitter.com/joakim_nilsson Joakim Nilsson

Some of the best company values I’ve come a cross for a long time
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http://ericstandlee.com/ Eric Standlee

I’d actually love to see how you do this once you understand “Information Processing Styles” and I-Opt or Decidex. I believe that your responses are indicative of people’s different ways to process information. No “one-size fits all” in information processing…
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iminimalistic

Certainly an interesting post, definately for me it is. Currently Im working on including myself into this “New Workstyle” and with this post certainly I have a great feedback to include in my process. Thank you very much Gist! Saludos!
http://www.facebook.com/andorinho Ricardo Andorinho

Great. Awesome!
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Tyler

Sounds like me whether I like it or not. My employers seem shell shocked. New hires don’t want their crappy desktop and a land line. People come in a 11am but have more done than the dedicated 9 to 5ers. Can’t say I like it or hate it. It just is.
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http://www.lifetime.fi/ ristopaarni

Robert, well done! These are Risto’s notes for this important entry(with same numbering):
1. Work Anywhere, anytime.
2. Send and receive Streaming any direction
3. One delivers value, focus on value creation
4. Chosen Ecosystem is Cloud services interconnected
5. Quality of personal Contacts (QoC) increases daily
6. Team working daily for anything add value
7. Have focus on People
8. Balances his/hers processes (BPM/PPM)
9. ‘Give and Go’ (get the ball back for scoring. Together based value chains)
10. Keeps up learning new.
http://jplovescotton.com/ Janice

Wow. There’s an actual group for folks like me! I think most people usually think I’m stupid for going ahead and upgrading my home digital stuff rather than waiting for corporate America to catch up. It keeps me so ahead of others though! And the lines between personal & professional get harder as I chose a career that taps personal passions. My bosses “get it” that this works to their benefit on so many occassions but sometimes it doesn’t seem others do. Thanks for the picture!
http://BestSellerAuthors.com Warren Whitlock

how is a workstyle different than a lifestyle? I say “if you can tell the difference between work and play, you aren’t doing one of them right”
http://zaralockwood.myplaxo.com/ Zara Lockwood

I used to be on-line and aware 12 hours a day for many years, I’m down to 4-8 hours a day now – job working hours, most of what people do on-line is ignored, a small percentage of people make it look like successful on-line working is a common thing, no sour lemons here, just slightly weary of being connected and poor!
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Sara

I will probably be one of the few that respond to this of my age cohort. First of all, I love GIST. Your platform is easy to use and certainly understands the way our brains are functioning today.

My kids were coming of age as Facebook was going national so I have been a participant as well as observer in this new communication age.

At the end of the day, let me suggest everyone go back and read Harvey MacKay’s book Swim With the Sharks. The more connected we seem to become, the more we expect of others to respond to OUR cause, OUR business, OUR world. We can substitute OUR with MY and that will work as well.

I would hope that each of us would slow down enough and stop all the asking and find ways to deliver in a mutually beneficial manner. You can no ask for folks to support your cause if you have not supported theirs.

Somewhere, way up high on the list should be Cultivation of MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL relationships.
http://twitter.com/AlanVersteeg Alan Versteeg

Great post. Thanks. According to research unpacked in David Rock’s Your Brain at Work, constant emailing has three times the affect on your brain as smoking cannabis. Read this book, the verdict is out…productive people are NEVER always on.

Gist.