The Carrot

Vacation Stagnation

Now that we're in the heart of vacation season and I just returned from own family get-away to Montreal to visit my dad, these stats from a recent MotherJones' feature, "The Road to Nowhere" got me planning my next trip pronto!

• last year, Americans forfeited an average of 3 paid vacation days – 415 million days total – a 50% increase over 2003

• the value of unredeemed frequent-flyer miles is $700 billion, exceeding the value of U.S. dollars in circulation

• middle-aged men who skip vacation for five years increase their risk of heart attack by 30%

• the RAND Corporation in California now gives its employees a 5% bonus if they use all of their vacation days

I don't get it. Why is it so hard for so many of us to use all of our vacation days? We usually hold out for the best vacation package possible when we sign on. And I know there are many ways to answer the question "What are you working for?" but I thought a front-runner was always the reward that came from a restful, relaxing replenishment of mind, body and spirit?

Guess not. Again from MotherJones, here's what many of us do while we're out:

• 32% of paid vacation time is spent doing non-vacation activities

• 30% of employees do office-work during vacation

• 43% return feeling overwhelmed by the work they have to do

Yuk! Something seems terribly wrong here. Not that there's anything wrong with throwing yourself into the work you love, but hey, I don't think these stats reflect what Stephen Covey had in mind when he described his 7th Habit of taking time off to sharpen the saw!

I guess there's even this thing called "presenteeism," a term used to describe the lost productivity when up to 66% of U.S. workers "often" or "always" come to work when sick. And there's "lesiure sickness," a condition that affects 3% of people who have such a hard time leaving work that they develop flulike symptoms during weekends and holidays. 

What do you think?

Are we really a nation of workaholics?

Are we that insecure about our jobs or ourselves that we can't take a break when we deserve one?

Is there something wrong with our corporate vacation policies that they're poisoning our productivity and passion at work?

I look forward to your ideas – but please, whatever you do – don't share them until after you've enjoyed a nice, long July 4th weekend!

Tags: Motivation Vacation

Scissor-happy UK Hairdressers

What makes work fulfilling?

Ask your hairdresser next time you're in.

According to a recent UK survey conducted annually to track the satisfaction of the country's workforce, hairdressers were found to be the most content. Forty percent of them rated their happiness level at work as a "10 out of 10!" Close seconds were members of the clergy, chefs, beauticians and plumbers. At the bottom of the list was – well you guessed it – white-collar folks such as social workers, architects, civil servants, real estate agents, secretaries and lawyers!

What secrets can hairdressers whisper to us about job satisfaction next time we're in the chair?

The list is probably a long one, but here's my top six ...

1. Constant conversation
We often talk about how FISH! helps to "dissolve barriers and inspire conversations about what's possible" ... sounds like the essence of a typical hairdresser's day!

2. Creativity
Not to say that the few bristles of hair on my head give my barber much to work with, but imagine how fulfilling it must be to work your craft on each new customer who walks in, then be immediately rewarded upon completion by a large smile and a tip in your hand!

3. Authenticity
No faking it in this industry. One 22-year veteran hairdresser put it this way: "You have to be in a good mood – especially in a salon where there's a huge mirror in front of the client who can see the faces you're pulling behind them." (What a passion check! Imagine holding up a similar mirror to the faces we're pulling in our current jobs.)

4. Perspective
Considering all the stories hairdressers hear on a daily basis, their personal perspective on their own lives must be razor sharp!

5. Personal Contact
Kind of obvious, but kind of profound to me. Hairdressers and their customers actually co-create their product and service in real time. It's pure one-to-one. Total experience complete in less than a couple of hours on the high end. No email. No meetings. No process. No bureaucracy. Just you and the customer making magic together. Pretty powerful metaphor to me.

6. Play
You know where I'm coming from here ... but just listen to how one hairdresser put it: "I've been here for 13 years, but it doesn't feel anything like that long. If you love what you do, the time just goes by. Sometimes I wonder whether I do any work because I'm laughing all day!"

I also read that hairdressers work less overtime that any other UK profession and like other folks in vocational occupations, hairdressers enjoy a better social life that their office-bound counterparts!

Now before we all rush off to salon school, all this begs the question: is the situation the same in North America where so many of our hair salons and barbershops are merely cogs in big corporate machines?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

For inspiration, here are a few customer comments gleaned from a great BBC article on this whole topic:

"I have never met a miserable barber in my life."
- David

"Forget doctors, dentists, schools, friends – a good hairdresser is the key. I have one now. When I am at my lowest, two hours in her chair makes me feel like new – far cheaper than therapy."
- Jennifer

"I use a stylist every month who always remembers our last conversation ... there cannot be many other professions where this level of customer satisfaction is received. It's a refreshing change from the usual miserable types that 'serve' you."
- Jon

Tags: Self-Help Motivation Morale

New at ASTD: Screaming Rubber Chicken!

Thank goodness for the Screaming Rubber Chicken! Give it a squeeze, listen to its agonizing reverse squeal. Do it again. Laugh. Another squeeze. Toss it to someone. Laugh some more. Hey, so far, it's the funnest, most inspiring thing I've come across at the ASTD conference here in Orlando.

Bummer.

I came here looking for fresh, cool, innovative training and development ideas, and I'll keep looking. But I'm not thrilled at my prospects. Though not new to ASTD and going fast at $12, the Screaming Rubber Chicken could be it.

What's up with that? The number of exhibitors seems way down. There's a ton of convention bureau associations trying to distract us from our job at hand and lure us to other cities before our work is done here. There's e-learning mania of course. Energy on the expo floor seems low. And one couldn't help but wonder how alive and engaged the exhibitors themselves were in representing their own products and services. A simple "How's it going?" often elicited a deep sigh and a "One-more-day-to-go" response at best.

OK. So I do have another day to go and I'll keep looking for new ideas I can bring back to our own new product development process for The FISH! Philosophy, but I'm not optimistic.

Could be the heat: it is sweltering out here.

Could be the transition the whole T&D world is in: ROI pressures that dehumanize so much of our work, proving strategic value and the like.

Could be our industry is in a rut: we're supposed to be the strategic and conceptual leaders and implementers of fresh, engaging training and development approaches, but I'm just not seeing that kind of shine in the eyes of most people I've met so far.

Hugh McLeod recently wrote that "The market for something to believe in is infinite." In our business, that translates into new life-long learning approaches that inspire myself and others to believe in ourselves: personally and professionally.

I get the distinct feeling that our industry doesn't really believe in itself right now. Rather, it's tentatively tip-toeing around rather than taking a risk and plunging into passionate, personal development ideas and concepts that genuinely inspire all of us to more deeply believe in ourselves, our colleagues, our managers, our organizations and our customers.

OK. Like I said, It is muggy out here and my brain may be getting soggy.

But hey, I came here to get inspired, and dammit, I'm going to find a way to leave inspired. (Maybe that Screaming Rubber Chicken is working after all.)