FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
November 10, 2005
Gym, Meet Keith. Keith, Gym
Fast Company networking resource center contributor Keith Ferrazzi is featured in today's New York Times. He suggests that rather than doing business over the traditional working lunches, people pursue working workouts.
Opening with a lead that recalls an earlier column on golf, Keith says that you can learn a lot about someone's work style based on their workout style. And another source in the story had this to say: "With the increased oxygen flow to the brain, it's amazing how the brain works when you're in a physically active environment."
How physically active is your workplace?
Posted by Heath Row at November 10, 2005 1:53 PM | Category: networking |
8 Comments
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Some further reasons why sharing an activity such as a workout (or walking, dining, putting something together, etc.) facilitates connection & collaboration is that we are more aware of our emotions - in real time - when in motion rather than when sitting still (in a meeting, typing an email,...). Even better than a workout for getting along - getting in sync - (when people are happier and higher-performing together) is to engage in an activity whereyour motions are similiar and you are facing the same way: walking, hiking, cycling side-by-side. Then other vital signs get in sync too (eye pupil dilation, skin temperature and heart beat.... that all supports a sense of kinships that words and later actions can reinforce.
I think this is an excellent idea and I'm glad someone has taken it in front of the larger public. A few years back at our small startup we did do occasional gym meetings and of these I have the fondest memories of any meetings I've ever been to. (How many meetings can you exactly recall anyway?)
"Seeing someone sweat" in a work context may soon take on a whole another meaning.
I'd like to speak for - and perhaps suggest to - the business pros who work from a home office.
I have free weights in my basement. It's a fantastic way to take some rest and recovery time, by working out hard during the day.
Now, if only I could get my prospects to come down to my basement.
This is absolutely idiotic. Why does work need to invade every aspect of life?
What's next? Having meetings while banging the wife? I can see the quote, "the passionate moans and firm breasts of your girlfiend create an atmosphere of comraderie and intimacy the nutures deal-making"
Evidently Keith assumes that because he makes a good impression in the gym others should too.
Let's pretend Keith is a dork when it comes to cooking. Would he say that you can learn a lot about his work style based on his cooking?
Thanks Haggie,
Us gals appreciate the fact that you think all business folk are men!
And for those of us that could have girlfriends -- will you get mad if my girlfriend is hotter than yours?
I agree with Haggie: work is work. In this country, for some inane reason, there is no _balance_ between work and life. We are forced to work long hours in order to impress "higher ups", who only expect more and more. I currently work for a company that has office hours of 9 to 6, and more companies are setting those hours.
France had the right idea: revolt against anything more than 35 hours a week, and find that a true work-life balance means being a happier, healthier person and a better, well-rounded employee.
My first business, now known as ExitPath was built with me living (and working) in the back of a health club. I awoke way too early every morning to Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror", the favorite warmup tune of the aerobics instructor.
Walking through the club at 6AM in my tattered bathrobe to take a shower exposed me to a number of interesting... uh, personalities... and I learned to become somewhat of an observer of the human condition in this environments.
Eventually our business meetings commenced on the lineup of LifeCycle's as my partners and I climbed imaginary hills, the Alpha Dogs among us getting off the saddle to pound through that last "wall" necessary to best their last time... or yours.
Were the meets effective?
I believe a level of camaraderie was established, certainly. But was it more effective than a jeans and T-shirt whiteboard session? No way. Sure, maybe the environment changed (and maybe that's what we all need when it comes to keeping meetings and business "fresh"), but when we walked away, did anyone really remember the next steps, or did the meeting notes get copied and into action items?
Nope.
I prefer what my friends at PRWeb.com do on their Fridays: Chocolate, sandwiches, open dialogue and every once in a while, iPod Nano's given to the editorial crew for a job well done.
Are THOSE meetings remembered? You bet. Do the employees of PRWeb know how to replicate their successful actions to drive even better results next month? Absolutely.
No sweat.
I'm an athlete, but I believe some environments are definitely more conducive to business... and I believe that my workouts and Trikke habit are more effective for my business before or after the meeting, not during (though I applaud those who experience great results while breathing hard...;-)
Best of success,
Mark Alan Effinger
RichContent.com