How to build your mindset for a work life redesign

What if we told you that when it comes to work and life, it’s all about the redesign…?

A couple of weeks ago, I was doing some research on wellness at work, and I stumbled on a couple of staggering statistics. A 2023 Cigna survey of 12,000 global employees found that a staggering 94% (!!) have experienced at least one symptom of burnout in the past 12 months. This led me to ask why. Why are we so depleted, so unwell at work? Is it the way we work? Is it where we work? Is it how we balance conflicting priorities between work and what happens outside the office???

In a recent podcast on The Evolving Leader, Scott and Jean spoke to Ollie Henderson, author of “Work/Life Flywheel: Harness the Work Revolution and Reimagine Your Career Without Fear”. Ollie shared his experience living through a multi-year burnout, and his belief that what many of us strive for, the elusive work-life balance, simply doesn’t exist.??

Instead, Ollie advocates for an integration of work, life and everything in between in what he calls the flywheel.

Ollie speaks about the fear surrounding making changes in the status quo. In research he launched for his book, he found that 75% of people want to make a change, but few seldom do. Why? At the base, Ollie discovered that we resist change and hang out in the status quo because of;?

• Fear
• Identity

In Ollie’s case, his experience of burnout manifested itself through deep feelings of cynicism while working in a high-profile career he loved. His career was an integral part of his identity, an element of which, for many, this fear stems. It’s terrifying to even fathom making a change to our work life if we base our identity wholly on who and what we are at work. The nuance is in recognizing that there are so many different facets that make up who we are.?

Ollie suggests that the first step to facing this fear is recognizing as an individual if we base our identity solely on who we are at work. When someone asks you what you do, what is your gut answer? Do you immediately answer with your job role? Do you find it difficult to expand on your purpose, your areas of interest, your passions? Does this one dimension of your identity carry over into your life outside work? In Ollie’s research, he found that 9/10 people said they weren’t fulfilling their true potential.??

Next, it’s all about experimentation. Ask yourself, if you could redesign the following, what would it look like?

• where you work
• when you work
• who you work with

Finally, have an honest conversation with your leader. Can you and your leader experiment with integrating new ways of working – new synergies between work and life that will offer you more of what you need to feel well???

But how do we know what we need to feel truly well? And what if we are one of those 94% feeling symptoms of burnout in our bodies? Here at Outside, we’re big advocates for journaling, and Ollie agrees. Being reflective gives you the opportunity to take stock of what’s working, and what’s not. He’s implemented two types of journaling practices that we urge you to try today.

1. At the start of your day: When you first wake up, before you jump into your to-dos, take 10 minutes to micro-journal. This could be through a micro-journaling prompt based book, like the 5-minute journal, or simply a 10-minute free write. Go analog and use a pen and paper – it helps your brain fully integrate the words. Having trouble figuring out what to write? Start with prompts like: how am I feeling? who am i? What aspects make up my identity? What are my passions? What am I grateful for? Don’t think too much about the answers, and go with your gut.
2. At the end of your day: Sit down and note; three great things that happened at work and one great thing that happened outside of work. This practice highlights what you love doing in your day, what elements of your life you should be making more time for. This can also bring you closer to understanding your purpose and passions. When you see things you like doing, you do more of them. Journaling can help with stress reduction, can show progress on the projects and passions that matter to you, and significantly improve memory. Writing it down through pen and paper logs it in brain.?

But how does this integration play out on an organizational level? How can people leaders honour their employees’ individual flywheels???

Firstly, as a leader, ask yourself: am I offering a safe environment for individuals to explore what their flywheel could look like? It’s difficult for people to experiment with this redesign if open communication is absent at work -? if they’re fearful of things going wrong, scared of bringing up a change in the status quo with their leaders.?

Secondly, organizations need to recognize that it’s not wellbeing OR performance -? wellbeing is the answer to optimizing how people work. Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practices at London Business School, believes organizations need to make the most of the global shift in work culture that we are experiencing globally. She explores this in her latest book, "Redesigning Work" which aims to help organizations navigate the changing landscape and offer a healthier work environment for their people.??

Lynda suggests working through 4 steps to redesign what work means and looks like within your organizational culture.?

1. Understand: First things first - understand the nature of jobs and what is needed to be productive within each role.??

2. Reimagine: This step is all about experimentation and exploring new possibilities. This is a time for creativity and thinking outside the box. Remember those questions we asked ourselves above???

• where you work?
• when you work?
• who you work with?

Ask these about your organization. Maybe it’s about considering flexible work arrangements, such as a four-day workweek, remote work options, sabbaticals, or job-sharing.?

3. Model and test: This is where you get to test your experiments. This step involves evaluating the potential impact of the proposed changes on various aspects of the business. Test your experiments against your organization’s core principles to assess their feasibility and effectiveness.?

4. Action: This is the final step -? take action and implement your new ways of working. This is where leaders play a crucial role in setting the tone and modeling the desired behavior from the top. This is also where safety is paramount to making change happen - managers must support employees, understand how the individual employee experience (their flywheel) fits into the organizational change, and actively look for feedback on how these changes are landing. Employee engagement and feedback are essential for a smooth transition.?

Just like each individual’s flywheel will look different, Professor Gratton highlights the need for each organization to find its own path and build its own signature when it comes to redesigning what work looks like. Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach, she encourages organizations to go through the four-stage design cycle to discover what works best for them.?

Lynda’s keys to making this work? Emphatic leaders and engaged employees.??

When employees are actively participating in exploring and experimenting with their own flywheel design, and leaders are open to redesigning what work looks and feels like – that’s where change happens.?

Want to dive deeper? Listen to our conversation with Ollie Henderson HERE, and Lynda Gratton HERE.?

Sara Deschamps, Senior Consultant at Outside Consulting Ltd, July 2023