j***j
发帖数: 9831 | 1 more than anyone else in the world
http://qz.com/134064/the-industrial-revolution-destroyed-the-li
Do Americans—and many Europeans working in American-dominated fields such
as investment bank, consulting and ventures—work too hard?
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Economic data show that in 1950, Americans worked around 1,900 hours per
year. That’s now down to 1,700. But the French, who used to work 2,150
hours annually, now clock up fewer than 1,500 hours—they used to work much
more than Americans, now they work less. And Germans work even less than the
French. On the other hand, people in Singapore, Korea and Hong Kong work
more hours now—around 2,300—than Americans did in 1950. And whatever the
average number of hours, most high earners in the US put in 60-80 hours a
week. With only three weeks vacation, that comes to 3,430 hours a year, way
more than any international comparison.
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Average-Hours-Worked-Annually-Germany-France-Hong-Kong-Singapore-US_
chartbuilder
To make sense of these numbers we need a longer term perspective. During the
Industrial Revolution in Britain, men, women and children in factories
worked up to 15 hours a day. Lord Ashley campaigned for the Factory Act of
1847, which limited hours for women and children—but not men—to 10 hours a
day, six days a week. Mill owners warned that the legislation would lead to
disaster. Yet in Britain today, average real incomes are 20 times higher
than in 1847, and income per hour is 40 times higher.
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What the Industrial Revolution eventually did was to smash the hobbling link
between hours worked and wealth. Machines increasingly took over the worst
human work. The computer, the microchip and the internet have taken this a
stage further. Today the most valuable creation—such as inventing a new
product or business system, or making decisions about how to use resources—
is almost totally delinked from time and physical toil.
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If you still need convincing that long hours destroy wealth, look at 2012
OECD figures. The country with the longest hours was Greece, followed by
Hungary and Poland—and they ranked 26th, 33rd, and 34th out of 34 countries
in terms of productivity. By contrast, the countries working the fewest
hours were the Netherlands, Germany and Norway, which rank fifth, seventh
and second, respectively, for productivity. Overall, the more hours worked,
the poorer the productivity and wealth creation.
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And yet, old habits die hard. Though we do it through endless meetings,
emails and calls, rather than the plough and the loom, we still slog away,
as if our lives depend on it. For an illustration of this pathology, just
look at Michael Eisner, the legendary leader of Paramount movies and then
the Walt Disney Company who worked seven days a week. He once said he had
taken only one week off in 28 years. When his Disney colleague Frank Wells
died, Eisner lauded Wells’ work ethic with these chilling words, “Sleep
was Frank’s enemy. He thought that it prevented him from performing flat
out 100% of the time. There was always one more meeting he wanted to have.”
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Frank Wells died in a helicopter crash, rushing from one meeting to another.
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Did hard work make Eisner successful? In his first three years, the profits
at Disney soared from under $300 million to nearly $800 million. Yet, an
internal analysis showed that nearly all the surge came from just three
decisions. Eisner raised theme-park prices; increased the number of Disney
hotels; and started to sell videos of the animated classics.
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How long did it take him to make those three decisions? The great majority
of his impact came from a tiny fraction of his time.
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When we reflect, we realize that small amounts of time can lead to
prodigious results; and that huge amounts of travail go largely unrewarded.
When we examine our routines, we see that the value per hour of different
kinds of work varies enormously.
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Working hours are dictated by culture, not economics. Of course long hours
undermine productivity—as C. Northcote Parkinson said, “work expands to
fill the time available.” Whatever our religion or ideology, we are still
trapped by the centuries-old Protestant ethic, which viewed long hours as a
badge of moral seriousness. Most firms still value such “intensity.”
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But not every firm. Netflix encourages its workers to focus on great results
, “We don’t measure people by how many hours they work…sustained A-level
performance, despite minimal effort, is rewarded with more responsibility
and great pay.”
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Isn’t that sensible? Why don’t you copy that in your own business, or, if
you can’t do that, join a firm that allows you time-freedom? By only
working where we can achieve a great deal with little time, and by uniting
extreme ambition with extreme time parsimony, we make our most precious and
limited resource—our energy and inspiration—go much further. If we are
confident in our ability to create great results, then we don’t need long
hours; and if we limit our time, we force ourselves to be more creative.
+ | e*******o
发帖数: 4654 | 2 从事创造性的工作，与工作时间不正相关。
重复性的劳动，显然与工作时间相关。 | w****n
发帖数: 25644 | 3 两者没有高低贵贱之分
【在 e*******o 的大作中提到】
: 从事创造性的工作，与工作时间不正相关。
: 重复性的劳动，显然与工作时间相关。
| e*******o
发帖数: 4654 | 4 政治正确的说，你说的对。
【在 w****n 的大作中提到】
: 两者没有高低贵贱之分
| w****n
发帖数: 25644 | 5 创造当然非常重要，但是1000个创造里面能有一个成功吗？没有重复的培养和孕育，创
造会凭空诞生吗？
【在 e*******o 的大作中提到】
: 政治正确的说，你说的对。
| a*****s
发帖数: 6799 | | w****n
发帖数: 25644 | 7 领导什么意见
【在 a*****s 的大作中提到】
: 已阅
| a*****s
发帖数: 6799 | 8 领导啥意见你去问领导去，哈哈哈
【在 w****n 的大作中提到】
: 领导什么意见
| w****n
发帖数: 25644 | 9 没意见你阅什么阅啊
【在 a*****s 的大作中提到】
: 领导啥意见你去问领导去，哈哈哈
| a*****s
发帖数: 6799 | 10 正因为没意见才阅啊，有意见就不是阅了
【在 w****n 的大作中提到】
: 没意见你阅什么阅啊
| g**********g
发帖数: 18118 | 11 我觉得有区别
【在 w****n 的大作中提到】
: 两者没有高低贵贱之分
| r*******r
发帖数: 2376 | 12 肯定有区别
【在 g**********g 的大作中提到】
: 我觉得有区别
| g**********g
发帖数: 18118 | 13 诚实劳作的人， 让我尊敬。。。但是我更欣赏靠智慧成功的人
【在 r*******r 的大作中提到】
: 肯定有区别
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