Recently the Marissa Mayer, the CEO of Yahoo, created a kerfuffle by banning employees from telecommuting. Yahoo has a right to establish such rules of course, but all organizations need to be aware that employees operate within what Chester Barnard, in his book The Functions of an Executive, called the zone of indifference.
Managers really only have as much authority as their employees allow them. If a manager or organization steps outside an employees zone of indifference then the employee makes a choice either to adjust the zone…or resist.
Those employees who are the most valuable have many choices. In making changes that violate employees zones of indifference organizations set off a potentially damaging dynamic. That is, the employees with the fewest choices may adjust their zone of indifference and stay. The employees that the organization most wish want to keep may decide to just leave. (Of course, even those who stay may resist in other ways.)
An advantage for people who do something different by enhancing their skills, expanding their networks, and telling compelling stories about themselves and their work, are not stuck when such rulings come down from above in their organizations.
Do Something…Different!
