Work is something you do (duh!)

This article is part of the Renegade Manifesto Series.

Work is something you do. Sometimes that means you have to dress a particular way, be in a particular place or work at a specific time. Often, though, those things don’t matter.

One of the most important things you can do to improve the quality of your workforce is get out of the way and let your people be amazing.

That means treating employees like grown-ups and expecting them to act that way. It means less policy writing and enforcing. It means not always telling people what to wear, where to be, and when to be there. Often, when, where and how don’t really matter.

There are times that when, where and how do matter. A hospital or retail store needs to be staffed at specific times. At Disney, what people wear is an important aspect of the magical world they’ve created. When, where and how are clearly relevant to the work that some people do.

For many jobs, though, these things don’t matter. It’s important to understand when something is relevant to what people do, and when it’s just another rule for the sake of having one.

Let’s get out of the way and let people do amazing things.