I have been here in the USA long enough now to understand that Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and the end of the summer holidays in the USA.

But I still don’t understand the American version of ‘holidays’. As far as I know, a holiday is one day when the law or custom dictates that you don’t have to go to work.

Here’s the bit I don’t get. Why do most Americans treat a holiday like a vacation? To me, a vacation is what happens when you spend many consecutive days away from work and, hopefully, away from where you live.

A vacation is a time to rest and recharge, fully, so that when you get back to the office, the office knows that, yes, you are back, all of you!

What I do get is that the brief and frantic holidays-as-vacations seem to leave most people stressed, tired and relieved to be back in the relative calm of the cubicle.

...but that is last month’s understanding.

Things have changed and I am pleased to report that I have been enlightened. I now realize why many people are nervous about staying away from the office too long.

As with all moments of enlightenment, this one struck me in the oddest setting. I happened to be present when a group of executives were discussing the performance of a junior manager. One executive complained that although his own car was always one of the last three remaining at night, junior’s car was always long gone.

Excuse me? That’s a measure of performance?

Well, maybe. Answer this and then decide: Do you feel obliged to create the impression that you work hard (for example, by arriving early and leaving late)?

Now answer this one: Do your colleagues reward those who work hard, while suspecting those who work smart of being lazy?

Oh when, oh when will organizations stop rewarding people for their physical presence and reward them instead for their contributions!

Here’s when: when we finally shrug off the management practices that were developed during the industrial revolution... long before the parking lot was created.

Until then, some executives will dream of an office that over-looks the parking lot so that they’ll know when it’s time to go home.

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© 2008 James Henry McIntosh - All rights reserved