Goofing off at work can be good for the company...Associative thinking
For example, consider this sample question from the standard test for this trait, as developed by a University of Southern California psychologist named Sarnoff Mednick: "What word is related to the following other three? Cookies, sixteen, heart."
If you answered "sweet," well done.
Great innovators score off the charts in associative thinking, but most of us are capable of it to some degree -- if given enough slack.
So it could well be that, in the era of knowledge work, the most prosperous companies will turn out to be those that encourage people to build some slack into their days. (A first step, might be to cancel as many meetings as possible.)
If you doubt it, consider Google. The company unveiled a new product called Page Creator, which allows people who can't write HTML code to create their own web pages quickly and easily.
Within hours, this was such a smash hit that the company had to put a temporary limit on the number of Google users who can sign up for it.
Page Creator is the brainchild of an engineer named Justin Rosenstein whose relatives were constantly bugging him to build web pages for them. He came up with the elegant technology behind the product while noodling around at the office on a project unrelated to his regular job.
Google's headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is a famously laid-back place, replete with lap pools, massage rooms, pool tables, free haute cuisine, and loads of other stress-reducing amenities like onsite dry cleaners and hair stylists.
"We want to take as much hurry and worry out of people's lives as we can, because a relaxed state of mind unleashes creativity," says Stacy Sullivan, the company's HR director. "And everybody's on flextime here, so we don't reward face time or working super-long hours. We just measure results."
In the end, what else matters? Of course, not every workplace can match Google's. But plenty of companies might do a lot worse than to emulate the thinking behind it.
Given the amount of goofy ideas out of Washington (and my own state capitol, which passed over 900 new laws last year) perhaps a part time legislative body would be better; then they could stay in their office, take naps, and maybe think things through...its a thought.
But then I prefer the 35 hour work week also, which sadly I am now getting due to the economic situation. I have lots more time to think about stuff now.
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