Does piece work have a future?

Octinver is a new business and in this early phase of its existence, I have been spending some time thinking about business models. I guess what I do is best described as independent consultancy though I am not entirely happy with that description. One very persuasive approach for the independent consultant, strongly advocated by Alan Weiss, is to use perceived value as the basis for establishing fees and to avoid like the plague using ‘day rates’. He highlights with this guidance the contrast between valuing input as measured by effort multiplied by time as opposed to valuing output directly. On reflection I am convinced that valuing output directly brings obvious benefits for the knowledge worker and for his or her clients; it involves a process of establishing value, a responsibility to provide value and a considerable degree of freedom in how the value is delivered.

It led me to consider how our current pattern of ‘9 to 5’ work has evolved as it appears to a classic example of the ‘effort multiplied by time’ formula. Apart from the obvious fact that the availability daylight probably had something to do with it but I suspect that organised labour began with slavery which then provided the model for patterns of industrial employment. No doubt there is extensive literature on this, ranging from the philosophical through the political to the biographical and one need look no further than Wikipedia to confirm this.

What managers like is control; slavery provided complete control over all aspects of life, wage employment provided pretty extensive control, sanctified through the concept of employment for life which for all its altruism is solidified around the belief that the employer knew best. If managers have control of input then they can manage their resources to generate the output they require.

Given that we have managed to survive and prosper in the developed world without slavery for nearly 200 years, is it possible to envisage a modern society that can flourish without deference to the ticking clock in most if not all instances of what is called work? Is it possible to imagine a more equal society, perhaps not in wealth but in the freedom to decide how to spend time and the confidence to negotiate a value on the output of labour. To keep managers happy the point of control would need to be transferred from input to output; this brings to mind the comparison between ‘push’ and ‘pull’ which is a subject that Hagel and Seely Brown have written about quite extensively. If I am not mistaken it also has something of the ‘kaizen’ approach about it so it is not totally out of sync with recent business thinking.

While it is possible to imagine at least partial manifestations of the ‘pull’ in manufacturing, it requires of me little more determination to see how the ‘pull’ model might work in some service areas of our economy – apart from consultancy that is. Consider for instance security (including the police and fire services), welfare, health care as well as commercial services such as banking. I guess that one of the best examples of a ‘pull’ service might be the lifeboat service in UK which is largely resourced by volunteers. What is also of interest is the increasing prevalence of ‘patient led care’ in the treatment provided by the UK National Health Service. There is experience, then, on which to call for reference when contemplating alternative models of work.

What is really interesting here is that once you get below the surface there is scope for quite radical redesign of working patterns that could be healthier for the individuals and corporations alike.