Is Your Life Working?

Hammonds: So your work-life strategy is simply to set a tone that recognizes that people have lives -- rather than writing rules that dictate terms of work. That can work if the workplace is a meritocracy. So the question is, Is Silicon Valley truly a meritocracy?

Meyerson: In Silicon Valley, there's certainly a strong myth that a meritocracy exists. But it's important to differentiate between smaller companies and larger ones. In startup cultures, which tend to be very results-oriented, there is much more evidence of a meritocracy. But the big Valley companies that have been around for a while look remarkably similar to traditional brick-and-mortar companies. I've been surprised at how entrenched they are.

Hammonds: So how do we think about work-life in this environment? Is there, in fact, a new model?

Meyerson: I think that Silicon Valley has been ahead of the game in terms of flexibility, telecommuting, and experimenting with hours. But if you ask people what they really want, it's control. I haven't seen flexibility translate into control in people's lives. How do we change that?

Binswanger: AOL tries to emphasize both individual needs and team goals. Then it's the employees' responsibility to determine how they're going complete their work assignments. Managers aren't so focused on how employees' are going to do something.

Hammonds: So maybe the new model is no model at all?

Binswanger: That's what managers would like to drive toward. It doesn't work in every case, but that's what we strive for. The company supplies programs that employees can take advantage of, but whether they take advantage of them is their decision.

Meyerson: But there's a pro and con to the "no-policy" policy. The pro is that it normalizes flexible work schedules, making it easier for people to use that flexibility without stigmatizing themselves. And we see lots of evidence in Silicon Valley, for example, of men working part-time without compromising their careers. But the downside is that there's the potential for such practices to have a different impact on women than they do on men. If companies aren't true meritocracies, and women have an extra burden of proof, then the flexibility of a no-policy policy may not play out the same.

Binswanger: I'm not sure what the answer is. People are still judged on the merits of their work. But the difference is that we're not going to judge them on whether they're sitting at their desks from 9 to 7.