Take a Sabbatical? HBR says ... Yes!
- Andy V
- Apr 8, 2025
- 3 min read
In the February 2025 edition of the Harvard Business Review, DJ DiDonna (and others) explore the impact sabbaticals have on individuals and organizations.
DiDonna has been exploring the impact of sabbaticals for years and opens the article with the following observation:
For the past seven years, I’ve studied the overwhelmingly positive impact sabbaticals have on people’s mental and physical well-being, creativity, and confidence. Through hundreds of interviews with people who have taken sabbaticals, I’ve learned that the benefits extend to the teams and organizations in which they work
Of course, I agree -- given that I am on one currently!
Aside from the life goals I am pouring into, one unexpected positive side effect I am seeing with my recent disconnect is the dismantling of the imposed (real or imagined) constraints and filters from the job. The ideas (Kool-aid) an organization tends to use to see their reality. And since I am not immediately jumping to some competitor or adjacent company, I am not trading one set of paradigms in for another. There is time and clearance to see in a more unbiased, neutral way what is true in industry, trends, & technology without worry if this aligns with the corner office view on the state of things.
From this clearance of thought, it is a natural next step to understand how one's own strengths can be leveraged to even greater value for the next challenge. There is space to see this clearly -- space which I do not think much exists when jumping straight into the next job. A current analogy might be Russell Wilson taking some time off after the Steelers to really condition and study the successful systems of AFC/NFC franchises of 2024, such that he could leverage his skill set before jumping in with the Giants.
I remember the great Zig Ziglar talking about these life buckets in his podcasts and questioning if a high level executive at a company really was to be admired, at least when scored against the other critical life measures. This scoring wheel is below:
I am further reminded of Cal Newport's Deep Work (https://a.co/d/6X1mlYy) thinking, as well as, the following studies pointing to increased productivity comparing a 4-day work week v a 5-day work week:
Recent studies and trials have provided compelling evidence that a four-day workweek can enhance productivity compared to the traditional five-day schedule:
Microsoft Japan's Experiment: In 2019, Microsoft Japan tested a four-day workweek, leading to a 40% productivity increase. This notable improvement was due to more efficient meetings and enhanced work-life balance for employees.
UK Four-Day Week Pilot Program: In 2022, a trial in the UK included 61 companies and around 2,900 employees. The findings showed that productivity either stayed the same or improved in most instances. Additionally, companies experienced higher revenue, less absenteeism, and better employee well-being.
Iceland's National Trials: From 2015 to 2019, Iceland conducted extensive trials of a shorter workweek, with participants working 35-36 hours over four days. The results indicated that productivity remained the same or improved in various workplaces, along with improved employee well-being.
Fundamentally, I believe the grind of daily emails, zoom calls, meetings and spreadsheets reduces our ability to create solutions that are novel. The executive urgent (but perhaps not important) tasks stifle the expressive and non-linear thinking to break paradigms and static models -- in short, to think differently. To paraphrase Cal Newport, we are so busy using facebook, we leave ourselves no time to learn to code facebook, or similar platforms. Perhaps that is part of the value of time off. It allows for mental reset to think expressively and creatively?
I remember having dinner with Rich H from Proctor and Gamble, where he was telling me that six of the PD guys (himself included) were taken out of work for months to figure out what to do with this new polymer they had stumbled upon. Eventually, they came up with Crest white strips. Could they have come up with this at their desk doing the grind? I doubt it. The pharma CDMO world, as an example, is in need of some novel solutions in the evolution of the space. Maybe some sabbaticals in this regard could help? Some Deep Work thinking?
AV
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