Results-only work environment (ROWE)

February 11, 2009 by Noel Gomez
Filed under: General, Strategy

The guys over at 37Signals have a great post on how rogue Best Buy employees have been able to accomplish great things around the company. The article’s message is that you can accomplish great things by showing results instead of asking for permission.

In general the article is right on the mark, but keeping things under the radar can be tricky especially if your direct manager is opposed to the idea. Generally it is best to get a few allies. Find others within the company who share your vision and are willing to work with you to get things done.

When I worked as a Manufacturing Engineer and I had an idea I felt was viable, I allied with marketing. My direct supervisor was not a fan of the idea, but marketing loved it. By working with marketing I was able to create a proof of concept which we then sold to management.

So yes, go rogue and show results, but find allies.

If companies got politics out of the way and measured performance based on results, they would see productivity and employee satisfaction go through the roof.

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