Work-life balance and seeing the fuller picture

On the mountaintop

Silicon Valley’s mythos is grounded in stories of scrappy entrepreneurs who upended their entire lives in pursuit of their mission. An archetypal example is Marissa Mayer, who started as employee number 20 at Google before rising through the leadership ranks, eventually moving to the top spot at Yahoo. She proudly notes that during the early years work demands would often keep her in the office overnight, as well as throughout weekends.1

This ethos of total dedication has influenced many other companies, and the image of the single-minded founder foregoing sleep, exercise, and personal attachments is a common one. This isn’t limited to the startup phase, as a similar mindset prevails in larger firms—those foosball tables and free cafés now de rigueur for the millennial-friendly organization might seem benevolent, but they are also a mechanism of further enfolding employees’ lives into the all-encompassing world of work.

The business world is not alone in valorizing such outsized dedication. British historian Niall Ferguson has received numerous accolades for his prodigious output of books, speeches, and television series unpacking topics in economics, finance, and international affairs. His academic career has included teaching and research at several of the world’s great universities. Measured by popular acclaim and impact he has reached the pinnacle of his profession.

Yet as with the entrepreneur, such success in academia was not accompanied by a fully-rounded life outside of it. When interviewed about his work ethic Ferguson responded with a telling reframing of Descartes’ famous dictum, claiming “I work, therefore I am”. He further claimed that he had no hobbies, sacrificing almost everything else to allow for such productivity.2

The world of entertainment is no different. Jay Leno is one of the most accomplished comedians in American history, helming the top-rated late-night program for years and maintaining a grueling touring schedule of live shows despite long having assured his place in the comic pantheon. Reaching this level of prominence was not without tradeoffs, as Leno and his wife decided to forgo parenthood, which facilitated a career involving thousands of days spent on the road.3

Extreme achievers in many fields present one facet to the world, but the highly visible share price, or bestselling book, or sold-out headlining performances are only part of the picture.

Hidden figures

Only a few of the things we commit energy to have direct, visible outputs that others can also evaluate. The most basic of these is usually paid work, which corresponds to money, a measure which allows for the most obvious comparisons.4 Wealth can be flaunted, and the lack of resources imposes visible constraints.5 Yet much of what is meaningful is experienced in smaller communities and more intimate ways, which do not translate well to public scrutiny.

Professor Clay Christensen is known for his work on what makes businesses succeed or fail as the competitive environment evolves, and he applied these strategic theories to the lives of students embarking on careers. He noted that, as with organizations, individuals tend to commit their limited personal resources to those things with more obvious, short-term, or public measures.6 One aspect of life then starts to crowd out others, and the ramifications manifest themselves only after it is too late to change decisions.

It is easy to neglect investments in health or relationships, or to forego rest or play, or ignore the spiritual dimensions of life. A more complete way of evaluating performance should include those aspects that are not publicly valued. In this framework everyone is on the same scale and the totals always sum to 100 percent—the only differences are how the different components are allocated. This broader view will be highly personalized and so is hard to compare between individuals, which is a feature and not a bug.7

At every moment each choice is a tradeoff, and the measures for each element are unique. Isolating a single dimension and elevating it above all others may sometimes be necessary for extreme situations or unusual talents, but it comes at a profound cost.8

Finding the balance

Society can fixate on those with extraordinary or dramatic achievements, because their successes are public and the costs often hidden.9 Consider several techniques to avoid falling into this trap.

• Don’t judge now what can only be seen later. Timing matters, a lot. Some investments pay off in the short-term. Others show their fuller value only later and in subtle ways. A politician could use his electoral mandate to focus on advancing his career and entrenching a network of supporters. Alternatively, he could set a government on a path to multi-generational fiscal stability, despite the likely hit to his popularity and the fact that the unborn beneficiaries of the plan cannot vote for him. A corporate example is the financial conglomerate Citigroup, built up over decades into one of the world’s most powerful institutions. For many years it was the toast of Wall Street, until the 2008 economic crisis blew up and exposed some profound weaknesses. After the company’s meltdown and subsequent government bailout the foundations of the company proved to be less enduring than once thought.
• Don’t evaluate your private choices against others’ public ones. The nature of the market is such that only a few areas of life are truly played out in the arena for all to see. A professional athlete’s performance is gauged in real-time, and effectiveness is obvious. Leaders of publicly-traded companies have continuous market feedback on their performance, and success or failure are headline news. In contrast the sick child or friend who requires hours of your time does so quietly and privately, and sometimes only those who have been helped will ever know. That in no way diminishes their significance.
• Remember that effort does not equal output. Investments in personal development could be rendered moot by an unstable political system that no longer facilitates entrepreneurship. Caring relationships may not be reciprocated. Health issues can unexpectedly derail even the most diligent exerciser. The lottery of circumstances can conspire to elevate a result far above or beneath the quality of the effort that went into it, in any of the dimensions of life. Knowing this hold such outcomes in loose regard, whether they are your own or others’.
• Consider the full picture. Humans are multidimensional, and public achievements are not meaningful absent relationships, health, faith, beauty, purpose. Extreme accomplishment is not found only in the academy or arena or marketplace—it can be just as profound in the family, the church, the school. Given that only a limited slice of another’s life is visible to you, acknowledge that your insight into others’ choices is incomplete. They may not be the best guide for balancing your own competing interests.

Given this comprehensive view, what in life matters to you? How is the balance you strike influenced by those you observe, and how should it be?

References

Bloomberg interviewed Marissa Mayer in 2016.

Niall Ferguson spoke to the Guardian about his philosophy of work in 2006.

“How Will You Measure Your Life” by Clay Christensen published in Harvard Business Review.

The New York Times covered Citigroup architect Sandy Weill’s reflections on the company after the 2008 financial collapse.