Is The Four-Hour Workweek a Scam?

Isn't it strange the way you see things more clearly sometimes through someone else's eyes?

I read the The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Tim Ferris some time ago, and I highly recommended it to my friend Julie. Julie finally got around to reading it and came away with a completely different impression than I had.

Reading the reviews on Amazon.com, I've discovered that there is a third point of view that is extremely prevalent.


I read the book about a year ago, from a very practical point of view, and my impressions at that time were that there were some good ideas in it, and that the author was absolutely right about the fact that the 8-hour workweek was arbitrarily set in a time gone by. Managers who measure productivity by hours worked are obviously missing the point. I love the idea of applying creativity and energy to working toward your goals, and saying "why not?" to the most bizarre "dreamlines." I also like the fact that, like Ravenwerks, the book works toward transcending barriers.


Everyone knows I'm a big advocate of flexible and virtual work, and have published several blogs and articles on the subject, including "Getting More Done By Not Going To Work," "Virtual Teamwork - Long Distance Collaboration" I'm also convinced that people need to do a better job of financial planning and that everyone should have a source of residual income so that they're not dependent on their current job - financially independent people work together because they want to, not because they need to; and sometimes that makes all the difference in the world.


My friend Julie's first impression (having just started the book) was the point about delaying retirement until we're almost dead from overwork is a societal ill in the U.S. that needs to be corrected.


The vast majority of the reviews on Amazon paint a picture of a completely different book. They focus on the author's admitted looking for loopholes to achieve some objectives (his kickboxing title is the most glaring example) and taking advantage of the inattention of employers to get what one wants. (Minimizing one's productivity while in the office, and maximizing visible signs of productivity while working outside the office as evidence to support a request for virtual working arrangements.)

There was a lot of invective in the reviews about outsourcing and geographical arbitage. I don't see that either offends my moral compass, in fact, I think that the walls coming down is our greatest hope for intercountry understanding, working for mutual good, and world peace. Ferris takes the examples a bit far to prove a point when he has his personal assistant in India apologize to his wife when they were having a disagreemnt. But again, his purpose is to raise controversy.


Admittedly, I wrote off a great deal of the book as "not for me," I care enough about people (customers, co-workers, people on "my teams") that I would have trouble with not answering my phone or emails for extended periods. Ferris classifies most social interaction having to do with our day-to-day jobs as a "waste of time." While I agree that a lot of time gets wasted in ineffective meetings or idle chitchat, I think we would miss the deep and meaningful interactions that are the fabric of life without working together toward mutual goals that can only come from working with people. I also think it's disingenuous to exploit a work-at-home situation to the point that Ferris advocates.


Although one can argue that "the system" has exploited employees for years to put in unnecessary hours, slacking isn't the answer. You can't "get back at the system," two wrongs don't make a right, and Karma is alive and well. One should give fair value (and then some) for the salary one is being paid. If you have a decent boss, you should be able to get what you want and need without being exploited or being dishonest. If you don't have a decent boss, then you have a different problem altogether.


I care enough about people who have worked hard to be excellent in their sport or profession that I wouldn't exploit a loophole to gain a title that the other competitors and the judges did not feel I had earned, whatever the letter of the rules say.


But different people have different ethics, and I'm certainly not going to say that a book holds no value if the author's values don't mirror my own.


I would still give the book five stars by Amazon's system, just because Ferris does what he says he will do - challenges our assumptions and presents alternatives in a very entertaining and provocative way. The book is badly needed as an antidote to the lethargy, acceptance and entitlement that pervades the American workplace. Just because we don't wholeheartedly embrace everything he advocates doesn't mean that the book didn't fulfill its purpose.


I was shocked by the rancor in the Amazon forums. People sound really angry that the author displays such a disdain for hard work and social conventions. Is this because they feel cheated for buying a book that does not deliver on its promises, or because they are jealous that he is getting away that something that they cannot or will not "get away with" because they're not willing to pay the price in social comfort or prestige?


Did you read the book? What was your impression?