We must fly in the face of convention if we are ever going to grow. If convention had things its way, conformity would rule over ingenuity, innovation and progress. Great workplaces, while distinct from one another, have at least one thing in common: they defy convention. They challenge, with little apprehension, the norms that many workplaces seem to follow without question. Thus, it is not uncommon for great workplaces to devise creative solutions to traditional challenges.
Challenge in question: what do you get when you cross the creative, morning energy with the drowsy feeling that seems to tease us in the afternoon? According to NASA and Union Pacific, the answer is nap time. It was observed by these workplaces that morning meetings were more likely to be filled with creativity and energy than afternoon sessions. So, as an experiment in maximizing creative potential, they fell back on the practices of luminaries, such as Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison who napped daily, and a Harvard study that showed a mid-day nap reduced ‘information overload’. That’s right; nap-time in the workplace. Pretty unconventional right!?
Valve, a video game development company, has crafted a workplace system that truly defies conventional workplace standards as we understand them. Here is a direct quote from their website that summarizes their workplace dynamics: “Imagine working with super smart, super talented colleagues in a free-wheeling, innovative environment—no bosses, no middle management, no bureaucracy.” Sound impossible? Believe it or not they are actually fulfilling this espoused value with the creation of the about an unconventional partnership between competing companies GM and Toyota, and the impact it had on organziational culture.
Joseph Alonzo recently graduated Saybrook University with a Master's degree in Organizational Development and is a guest blogger for Great Place To Work®.
