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Balance Is Bunk

It's 10:20 p.m. I'm working in my office at home, catching up on email. I'm buried in my Fast Company, reading "Balance Is Bunk!" (October), when at my door appears a little 3-year-old visitor. "C'mon, Daddy, isn't it time for bed?" There's no doubt that the pull of competition -- personally, within our organization, or across the globe -- is strong. But then I think of my little late-night visitor, and I have to wonder: What is it all for? I may not know how to balance, but I sure know where the priorities need to be. Time to sign off and go to bed.

Matt McElrath
Chair of human resources
Mayo Clinic Scottsdale
Scottsdale, Arizona

I read "Balance Is Bunk!" at the gym while exercising on a stationary bike. Yes, trying to have it all. And I could identify with the concept that balance can't be measured in a snapshot of time; rather, it has to be evaluated over the long run. Kind of like investing in the stock market. I've long sensed that, but never heard nor read anyone articulate it as well as Keith H. Hammonds did in his article.

That said, I took issue with a couple of points. It appears that the people you used as anecdotal evidence in your article were either single or had young children. I would suggest that seeking a sense of balance grows exponentially harder as the kids get older and especially when there are several to parent. School, church, athletic, music, and scouting activities are direct competitors to work, not to mention just trying to be there for a distraught/troubled teen who really needs a mom or dad.

I also took exception to your comment about success outside of work not being rooted in achievement. I submit that high divorce rates, teenage pregnancies, near-illiterate high school graduates, and wealthy-but-aimless kids are the result of viewing nonwork activities as matters of little consequence. You can't judge balance in an instant, nor can you judge raising a family and nurturing a spouse that way. The results, while not measurable, are certainly visible.

Charles P. Smiley
Colonel, U.S. Air Force
Division chief, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces
Hickam AFB, Hawaii

The Kids Are Alright

The title "Balance Is Bunk!" immediately grabbed my attention because I'm one of those gen-Xers tirelessly striving for balance in an increasingly complex, fast-paced, high-tech world. What I noticed was most absent from your otherwise enlightening description of the modern human in pursuit of success: health. Too often I've noticed friends my age and elder family members racing around to keep pace with the competition, or in vain worship of the almighty dollar, only to wind up getting some real bummer news from the doctor. We can advance up the corporate pyramid, or build our own assets as a business owner, but at what cost?

Sean James Kennedy
Entrepreneur
Trailblazing Ventures Inc.
Williamsville, New York

I am a 26-year-old marketing executive with a new baby. I enjoy what I do immensely and love the people I work with, but the most important question to me is whether people in my life know they are loved. My daughter, my wife, my family, my church, and my friends are all individually more important to me than work. The best way to show that to them is by spending time whenever possible. As a culture, we are letting our jobs dictate the pace of our lives until it becomes the norm. Life is too precious to assume that you'll be more available the next decade.

Phil Lapp
Product strategist
Company name withheld
Chester, Virginia

Balance? Not Bunk

There is a perfect balance between career and home: Leave your work at work, and leave your personal life at home. You just told my boss -- who passed out your article to all the managers here -- that his employees need to work more and that single parents will never do in managerial positions because of time constraints. Thanks.

Stacy Wiggins
Rutherford, California

I love Fast Company for its ever-challenging premises. This time, though, I disagree with "Balance Is Bunk!". First, I disagree with the article's definition of balance. I don't think it is as simple as saying 50% home, 50% work. We live in a very complex knowledge-driven economy, and as such, we must intertwine lifelong learning, family, faith, exercise, community, etc. Balance depends on aligning our experiences and activities with our value set. That means balancing office hours with learning hours, family hours, community hours, and the rest, all of which essentially give us our life. When we get out of balance, we are spending too much time on activities we do not value.