{"id":300273,"date":"2021-07-15T18:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/your-team-isnt-slacking-off-theyre-thinking\/"},"modified":"2021-07-15T18:00:50","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T15:00:50","slug":"your-team-isnt-slacking-off-theyre-thinking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/your-team-isnt-slacking-off-theyre-thinking\/","title":{"rendered":"#Your team isn\u2019t slacking off\u2026 they\u2019re thinking"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Your team isn\u2019t slacking off\u2026 they\u2019re thinking<\/strong>”
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Boris is the wise ol\u2019 CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech \u2014 from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his news<\/a>letter!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a story about one of the chief innovators at Nokia, who receives a call while walking at the beach. After a few minutes, the person calling him asks about the noise in the background, prompting the Nokia chief to explain where he is. The caller then says, \u201cOh, I thought you were working,\u201d to which the innovator replies, \u201cI AM WORKING. I\u2019M THINKING!\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a funny story that\u2019s always stuck with me. At a lot of companies, there\u2019s an obsession with productivity that seems to overlook human nature\u2026 or even actual results.<\/p>\n

Basically, if you look serious and your hands are moving, you must be working hard. But if you\u2019re staring at the ceiling with a smile on your face, well, that obviously means you\u2019re slacking.<\/p>\n

[Read: 3 semi-useful tips on office \u2018conversation pieces\u2019]<\/em><\/p>\n

I feel like this outlook is based on the archaic master\/servant relationship which defined work-life at the beginning of the previous century: the boss tells the manager what to do, who then makes the employee do it.<\/p>\n

And although I\u2019m not a fan of design by decision, or even democracy as a management form, I do think that empowering your people and allowing them to do their best work is a more enduring and scalable strategy than treating them as soldiers in your imaginary army.<\/p>\n

Every now and again, you hear a story about a company that blocks social media<\/a> or specific websites to save their staff from \u2018distraction.\u2019 The theory being that people should work at work, and only engage in distractions during their off-hours \u2014 such as social media or calling your significant other about whether there\u2019s enough toilet paper at home.<\/p>\n