“I’d love to change the way work fits into my life, but I have too much of it,” is one of the top three excuses people use for not finding a better work+life “fit.” Too much work, or overwork, is part of the challenge of the 24/7 work reality. According to the 2004 study Overwork in America by Families and Work Institute (FWI), “one-third of all U.S. employees can be viewed as chronically overworked.” Ironically, being overworked is the reason these individuals need a new “fit.” But they don’t try to create a new fit because they have too much work. It’s vicious cycle. Getting past the excuses and finding a solution requires answering the question: “What is overwork?” But, there’s not a straight-forward answer. Here’s why: Continue Reading…

For a long time, I’ve challenged the conventional wisdom that work+life is primarily a working mothers’ issue with the proven fact that it’s an “everyone” issue. But recent articles about working mothers versus stay-at-home mothers have convinced me that not only must we recognize once and for all that work+life “fit” isn’t just a working mothers’ issue, BUT that in doing so, we will actually help mothers more. I say this as a working mother with two small children who faces these challenges daily.

This realization hit me while reading the 3/2/06 New York Times article about the stall in the number of mothers returning to the workplace after having children. A former high-tech business development executive with three children was interviewed and talked about how “duped” she felt by her expectations about working after having children. I started thinking about other big work+life “fit” transitions women and men experience over the course of their life and career. And how their expectations related to these experiences are also often not aligned with reality, which leads to similar feelings of being “duped.” Continue Reading…

COMMENTARY

Myth: “Gen-X Employees Don’t Want to Work Hard” – Time to Stop Blaming, Start Changing
Last night I spoke to a group of prospective students interested in Columbia Business School, my alma mater. I discussed the benefit of my degree, but also addressed the question of “work/life balance.” I emphasized that there is no such thing “balance,” only “fit” that you can strategically adjust over the course of your career and life. To me, it seemed amazing that this discussion was even taking place—that the subject of work+life was even on the radar screen. Back in 1992, when I was applying to MBA programs, the terms work and life were never mentioned. No need: work was work, life was life. Enough said.

So what’s going on? Well, like any organization, Columbia is answering the interests and needs of its customers. And, for their customers, how to work and have a life after getting an MBA is important. The subject is also being addressed at other top business schools. I gave the keynote speech last May at Tuck/Dartmouth’s WorkLife Conference, and you can read about my experience speaking to students at Harvard Business School in my article, It’s Fit, Not Balance: The New Work+Life Fit Reality. Continue Reading…