Some people get hijacked by Scripture. I get hijacked by people describing their workflows. In particular, Jason Fried’s. Fried founded 37signals.com, a web-based software development company. In an interview in Inc., here’s how he describes a part of his workday:

I usually get to work between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Of the 16 people at the company, eight of us live here in Chicago. Employees come to the office if and when they feel like it, or else they work from home. I don’t believe in the 40-hour workweek, so we cut all that BS about being somewhere for a certain number of hours. I have no idea how many hours my employees work — I just know they get the work done.

Notice how he said “40-hour workweek.” Some weeks, that may mean you work 60, 70 hours. Other weeks it may mean you work 20. Or 10. Or even four. Either way, younger people seem to gravitate towards “getting things done” rather than “punching the clock”. Either way, this is the quintessential work philosophy for the next generation workforce:

• Show up when they feel it appropriate to show up; when their schedule allows.
• Work from where they want to work. Not necessarily where a company dictates.
• Working to accomplish goals rather than passing the time.

If you are leading a team full of young people, this is how they think. If you want to lead a team of young people, this is how they will think. If you are frustrated with the young people in your workforce because they think this way, they will always think this way whether you’re frustrated with them or not. If you aren’t willing to compromise with this younger generation, they will take their time and talents and find a place that will.

This was a great look into a start-up company with a young person at the helm. As young people take leadership positions in America’s workforce, look for more of this, not less.

A few days ago, I received this comment on the blog:

At first, I laughed. I mean, how can you not appreciate the subtle nuance of “yousuck@hotmail.com”?

Then I thought, “Wow, this person was upset enough by something I said to leave a comment that forcefully told me stop speaking.”

Then, it stung a little bit.

As any person who creates knows, you put something of yourself into that which you create. I create on this blog. I create thoughts and ideas and hopefully a new type of reality that we can step into together. So as a creator, when someone says, overtly or covertly, that they do not like what you have created, it stings.

But this shouldn’t be surprising. Not after the past week I had. Last week was a great week, and the Devil hates when people have great weeks. I’m reminded of something I heard at STORY:

The devil wants to steal your stories by convincing you they’re not worth writing.

Isn’t that the truth? You create and you write and you send your tiny, little creation out into the world hoping it makes it. You tell your story and try to live it out and the devil wants to make you believe it’s worthless. No one wants to read it.

It’s like when a nest of turtle eggs hatch and those tiny little turtles make a sprint for the ocean. Along the way, some are eaten by birds, lizards or fish. Some don’t even make it out of the nest. Our stories, much like tiny little turtle hatchlings, are delicate.

But we keep creating. We keep telling the devil to “shove it” and we keep creating, and telling, and sharing, and declaring: “This is my story. This is my song. Praising my Maker, all the day long.”

Have you ever been discouraged? Has anyone ever told you your story wasn’t worth writing? More importantly, did you believe them? Do you need to “pick up the pen” and start writing again?