To return or not to return? Control or freedom? Rigidity or flexibility? Blind traditionalism or naive progressivism? A reflection on what limits the quality of the questions with which we entertain ourselves.

Let's solve the "workload" problem; more conversations and fewer meetings; let's take an organic and not a mechanical/mathematical perspective of growth; let's educate middle management; let's define and defend causes instead of purposes; let's cut the crap.

Everyone suddenly has something special to say about important matters, and what there is to say must be said in a hurry to get there first. Haste is the enemy of listening, observation, introspection and reflection, which are the ingredients of thoughtfulness, wisdom and consideration. Good conversations are also made without haste.

João Sevilhano talked with Sílvia Nunes from the podcast "Profiler". They talked about his career, work, health, time, occupation and other topics.

As far as time is concerned, there are no hoots but there are "mouths"; those who leave on time or work "only" for the time stipulated in their contract are still looked down upon.

It was imagined, or predicted, that we would work less and less and gain time for the pleasure of becoming better, wiser and more cultured. Idleness would no longer belong to the lazy and the fortunate, but would be available to all, or at least to many more. None of this happened.

It pains me more and more to live in a world that values the magnetism of those who enchant through their ideological mediocrity, without any respect for truth. The same world where status, often gained by who knows how, lights the way to high-profile stages. Too bad it does not illuminate in the same way the path that goes beyond a sensationalist superficiality.

The original, somewhat crazy idea came about in a team conversation addressing the strategy and purpose of Way Beyond. To challenge our own paradigms regarding 'work', we could reach a plateau where we would set aside one month a year where we would not work 'out'. Work for clients would be suspended during that period.

In the world of idiotic work, efficiency is not rewarded. Apparently more value is placed on things like ownership of other people's time and the power that comes with it. Therefore, a smart worker who has a minimal understanding of saving effort will not do his best. He will do just enough to give the idea that he is doing something useful with time that, after all, is not his own.

He is very hard-working" or "he has a great capacity for work"; "he is the first to get in and the last to leave". What are the first ideas that come to your mind when you read these sentences? What do you feel?

Today, and apparently already in the 40s and 50s of the last century, this is how it was seen or, at least, foreseen: leisure moments only seem to have space and time to take place during work interruptions. Work and leisure, like water and oil, do not mix. Apparently for the same reasons: they are composed of "incompatible" substances.

I confess to being so saturated with corporate bullshit, especially that which is said in English, that every time I hear that someone needs help to develop their soft skills what I hear is that it will probably be someone who resorts to rudeness, lack of respect and lack of common sense as means to achieve their results.

In the modern world of work and society, we need to make room and respect time for leisure, in order to develop business; we need to embrace boredom, strengthening the muscle that resists the temptation to be permanently occupied or entertained; we need to recover the original notions of leisure and contemplation as the basis of human learning and development.

Idleness, in the original meaning of the term, is not just standing still". In a world of accelerating change, entrepreneurs are required to have an increasingly wide range of characteristics in order to "steady the ship". And even more to bring it to a good port. João Sevilhano sets out the obstacles and challenges inherent in this mission.