Work-life balance
Not Necessarily Well-Planned or Summoned, but Integrated and Purposeful
(1 vote)
One of the most-linked topics I've seen this week is Clayton Christensen's Harvard Business Review article and David Brooks' New York Times op-ed response. If you haven't read them, go do it now. What immediately struck me about Christensen's address to the HBS graduates was its genesis as a request from the students for Christensen to advise them on their personal lives instead of their careers. No less striking was the context Brooks (and even the HBR editors) placed on Christensen's religious viewpoint and its influence on his advice. Both of these highlight the prevalence of fractured lives; of strict demarcation between business and personal, between secular and religious.
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Consciousness, Integral Consciousness
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Integrating Law, Politics, Spirituality
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Lawyer Well-being and Psychology
Topics:
Personal Growth and Development
Topics:
Reflection, Spirituality, Consciousness
Topics:
Wholeness and Balance
Audience:
General Interest The Downside to Passion?
In his "Work Matters" blog at Psychology Today, Robert I. Sutton, author of "The No Asshole Rule," asserts detachment can be as important as passion for maintaining well-being. Sutton presents two main reasons: 1) human cognitive limits prevent us from being fully passionate about everything we do, so we need to be indifferent about things that don't matter; and 2) passion is a recipe for self-destruction if you are in a poisonous setting, so exercising detachment is necessary for self-preservation.
Sutton also discusses change management consultant Ann Michael's idea that passion can blind one to the big picture and be confused for license to be a jerk. He points to David Maister's confession of being an asshole when he "got overexcited and overenthused on a topic."
Passion is a hallmark of the Inner Purpose in my 7 Purposes of Wellness model. Here is an excerpt from my Introduction to Purpose eBook:
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Lawyer Well-being and Psychology
Topics:
Personal Growth and Development
Topics:
Wholeness and Balance
Topics:
Neuroscience, Psychology, Biology
Audience:
General Interest ABA Journal continues "Work/Life Balance" coverage
The ABA Journal's Question of the Week this week focuses on "work/life balance," asking "What's your personal work/life balance, right now—and are you happy with it? How many hours have you worked in the last seven days? How many of the last seven days have you taken off from work? Is this typical?"
I'll be following the answers posted on the ABA Journal website and their Facebook page, and I'm interested to see if responders speak of "priorities" and "sacrifices" as has been the theme thus far.
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Lawyer Well-being and Psychology
Topics:
Wholeness and Balance
Audience:
General Interest The Fantasy of Scheduling "Work-Life Balance"
The ABA Journal recently picked up a Texas Lawyer article by coach and psychologist James Dolan on the fantasy of achieving a perfect "work-life balance." While Dolan's article is thoughtful and hints that finding this balance requires some introspection into the meaning and purpose of one's life, the ABA Journal's distillation is flat and trite. The article reduces his advice to "work toward a schedule that allows personal and family time, knowing that sacrifices have to be made on one side or the other."
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Lawyer Well-being and Psychology
Topics:
Personal Growth and Development
Topics:
Reflection, Spirituality, Consciousness
Topics:
Wholeness and Balance
Audience:
General Interest
Audience:
Lawyers Daily Practice - April 1, 2010 - Workplace Flexibility
How fitting that as the Daily Practice resumes, the White House holds a forum on Workplace Flexibility, with the Council of Economic Advisers releasing a companion report. The report, though unfortunately titled with "Work-Life Balance," addresses the longstanding changes in American culture that workplaces have ignored. Citing economic reasons for employers' reluctance to adopt flexible working arrangements, such as telecommuting, job-sharing and flexible hours, the CEA points to seemingly win-win solutions for both workers and employers.
Cutting Edge Law Categories:
Lawyer Well-being and Psychology
Topics:
Wholeness and Balance
Audience:
General Interest 
