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My Boss Will Never Go For It

Dec 27, 2010 » by Michael Reynolds

“My boss will never go for it.” For me, this is one of the most frustrating phrases to hear when talking about ROWE.

I have numerous opportunities to explain what ROWE is to friends and acquaintances all the time and each time I am absolutely thrilled to be able to share the concept with someone who desperately needs it.

Most people who know me regularly talk about how envious they are of my company and how they “wish they worked at SpinWeb” because we are a ROWE.

During these conversations, I usually offer to tell them more about it, how to migrate to a ROWE, and how to bring it up for discussion in their companies. Sadly, the response I usually get is: “my boss will never go for it.”

Why not?

So much of the time, we spend our lives being defeated, resigned, and frustrated because we feel powerless to change our situations. We simply accept the status quo because we can’t imagine anything different. We think we know how other people will react to things and so we mentally play out negative scenarios before they even happen.

Guess what will happen if you don’t even tell your boss about ROWE? Nothing. Your job will not change. Your 8-5 grind will not change. The frustrations you have in the traditional, broken workplace will remain.

However, what happens if you take a risk? What would happen if you gave your boss a copy of Why Work Sucks and How to Fix It: The Results-Only Revolution? What would happen if you approached your boss in a calm and professional manner to discuss the idea of ROWE? What would happen if you actually tried?

This is your life. What is the cost of not speaking up?

Michael is a regular contributor to the ROWE Blog

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  • http://charleshbaker.wordpress.com/ Charles

    The story of the human race is the story of men & women selling themselves short. — Abraham Maslow

  • Persephone K

    I so agree that this is a most commonly frustrating response to ROWE that I get as well. Or the variation is that “it could never work at our company because of…” xyz, usually a variation on we bill customers by the hour. People need that extra help sometimes seeing beyond the benefits of ROWE and how it could revolutionalize their entire business model for the better!

    • Cali

      YES! When people start feeling like they actually own the business, it’s amazing what kinds of ideas and solutions start surfacing. Business practices that have been in place for decades give way to new ways of doing things that, as you say Persephone, can (and do) revolutionize entire business models! It doesn’t have to remain a certain way because “that’s the way we do things” – that kind of thinking will kill a business…slowly and painfully :(

  • http://inaflashlaser.com Sara Gould

    I emailed my HR person and CEO after I heard about ROWE and read the Work Sucks… book. I figured nothing to lose. The CEO said the HR person should look into it, but really meant look into ME and why I wasn’t happy there. We even had lunch, but the idea of ROWE was dismissed right off because of “laws and billing issues.”

    Now I own my own business, so it’s as ROWE-like as I want it to be. I may need to make more rules for myself to follow though as things get busier all the time.

  • http://payrolling-info.blogspot.com/ Maria Payroll

    Great post. As awesome as ROWE is, we have to accept the fact that a company may not be ready to change that easily. If you are the head of a department, you can implement this kind of work environment on your department. Once you have positive results, then you can tell your boss about it and you may be able to talk your boss into changing your company’s work environment slowly.

    • Cali

      So…this may mean that more heads of departments need to implement and share their positive results with all of us so other companies can see them :)

  • http://nyworkerscompguide.blogspot.com Camila Medici

    I don’t know what to say other than thank you so much for your courage and innovative thinking. ROWE is what mostly everyone needs (with exception maybe of some old timers who hate going home, although their ROWE is the choice of staying in the office over going home). I have suffered because of presenteeism, face time, and office politics for way too long. I am so sick and tired of these nay sayers who lack the will power to take the steps that lead to change, even when the change would dramatically improve all lives. I sent a message through the “contact us” form. I am trying to get Oprah to interview the two of you, lol. I am taking advantage of my dad’s reputable name in health economics to spread the benefits that ROWE would bring to healthcare. I want to be a part of your team. If you have room for one more, please let me know. I want to help you help America ROWE out of all the different kinds of depression it finds itself in today.

    • Cali

      Camila – we are speechless. We did receive your note through the “contact us” form and hopefully you receive our reply…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_PJ4DJNEPWK4UAP6C6XDFEHM5NM Jason Bone


     better than anyone. Actually looking for
    payrollin service but come here read the article and It seem like all bosses
    are same at anywhere. You can’t get rid of their faces. I was payrolled once
    and the boss tortured me from his talking.

    http://hubpages.com/hub/Payrolling