I was playing pickleball at 11:00am the other day on a Wednesday.
I was definitely the only person in his 30s playing on the court.
I was the youngest by 25-30 years.
(and yes, getting my butt schooled)
A person I played with approached me and asked me the following:
(with a straight face and complete seriousness)
Are you retired?
I paused for a second and didn’t know what to say!
If you think of the goal of “retirement”, it’s to do what you want, when you want, how you want.
I am extremely fortunate to be able to design my days how I want (for the most part).
What the person didn’t know was the following.
I had risen by 6:45AM and was checking emails by 7:00AM.
I already had 3 cleaners cleaning 3 homes by 9:00AM
I had had 12 software engineers and 2 data scientists working on a project I kicked off at 9:30AM.
I probably had already completed a full day worth of productivity before 10:00AM.
Yes, I was playing pickleball from 11:00 to 12:00.
I was also in Zoom meetings from 12:30 to 5:30 with maybe 30 minutes of breaks.
But after reflecting, maybe I am retired…?
I generally get to structure my days, have autonomy over my time, and decide what to do, when I do it, and how I do it.
Of course there are exceptions to this rule.
I don’t own my 9-5 company and I can’t always do what I want, how I want, and when I want.
But on that day I would say, maybe, I was retired.
I get to do what 99% of people in their careers cannot do.
Have autonomy.
It reminds me of my dentist growing up.
At noon Monday to Friday, he would run a mile to the local YMCA, play 30 minutes of pickup basketball, and run back to the office to continue his day of cavities.
He called his own shots, when he worked, when he played, etc.
Yes he was 9-5 professional dentist but I think that misses the point.
We all want and need to work / do something to feel productive and stretch our brain muscles.
He probably felt retired his entire career (at least a little).
I think we extremely underestimate the power of autonomy.
I see a lot of companies suffocating their employees with control and arbitrary rules.
It’s a tight grip they have these days.
But the best companies and the most successful ones give their talented people autonomy.
They put the right measurement mechanisms in place to ensure folks are performing.
It doesn’t mean they are not working hard or making sacrifices.
But just a little goes way further than a manager might think.
So the next time I am asked if I am retired at 11:00 on a Wednesday, maybe I’ll respond with yes 😉
Extra Credit:
I bring this value of “autonomy” into my cleaning business.
Yes, cleaners need to be at a home, by a certain time, at a certain location, and follow certain guidelines.
But here is how we give our professional cleaners autonomy.
If a cleaning business can do this, so can large tech companies.
We pay by job, not hour:
Cleaners get paid a large % of every clean. This allows cleaners to be as efficient as they want. They can work slower. They can work really fast.
Cleaners that get paid by the hour have the following issues:
They get done early but have to waste their time by “acting busy” (insert you reading this at work acting “busy” 😉)
They are asked to do too much in a short window, causing frustration, anxiety, and poor results.
Customers track hours and not whether the home is clean.
We hire contractors, not employees:
Contractors can work for multiple companies at once.
Contractors can create their own hours and schedules, working around their lifestyle and needs.
Contractors are not limited to 40 hour work weeks. If they want to hustle 60 hour weeks, they have the ability to do so. If they want to work 10 hours, by all means.
Contractors can pick and choose the types of jobs they do. Maybe they only want one-time deep cleans, Great, we accommodate this and encourage it.
Cleaners clean their way:
We don’t have long room by room checklist.
We don’t require cleaners to use certain products.
We don’t require cleaners to wear uniforms.
Great professional cleaners know how to clean and know what to use and on what surfaces/materials.
Each home and customer is unique.
Some customers like the smell of Clorox and some like Murphy Oil Soap.
Professional cleaners know how to communicate and ask customers about their preferences.
We measure outcomes, not output
We check-in with customers multiple times during a clean and afterwards.
We aim for a rating of 5 out of 5, every single time.
If the customer is happy, we are happy.
If the customer has feedback, we address it immediately.
I do not care how long or fast something takes.
I don’t care if a cleaner spent 5 hours or 5 minutes cleaning something.
It doesn’t matter.
5 stars is 5 stars.
A checklist (output) is not 5 stars.
TLDR;
It is possible to give your people autonomy. It does’t need to be a free-for-all.
Just a little freedom to perform their talents how they see fit is a superpower to accelerate your business and culture.