Good morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

The status quo is the enemy. 

I’ve written before that stories need conflict, that heroes need villains, to sustain the interest of the audience. Well, this week’s edition is about the most common adversary that awaits new ideas and narratives in the real world—its sheer stubbornness, rigidity, and resistance to change.

Over the last few months, we’ve seen the emergence of a new idea with a strong narrative—the four-day workweek. In November, a hundred companies in the United Kingdom signed up for a permanent four-day workweek for all their employees, with no loss of pay. Forbes magazine placed it among the top four workplace trends to watch out for in 2023. And Indian media houses have started analysing the pros and cons for companies that may choose to adopt such a policy. 

The greatest challenge facing it, however, is the status quo. 

Old systems don’t change easily; traditions have a grip that rationale cannot just wave away. This, despite the fact that the four-day workweek is one of those win-win ideas, proven to be better for both employers and employees.

The four-day workweek is up against the status quo

The idea that, over time, people would be spending progressively less time on work and more on leisure originally comes from economist John Maynard Keynes. In an essay titled Economic Possibilities For Our Grandchildren, he predicted that by the time his grandchildren came of age, people would be working just 15 hours a week. 

This was back in 1930, so Keynes’ prediction is basically for the present. It’s self evident he didn’t get that right, but here’s a 2015 NPR radio show analysing what he based his thinking on:

A shorter workweek was never completely forgotten across all those decades, though.