The Work of Leisure

As a complementwork of leisurebalanced with work of production balancein work ethicto the ‘work of production’, we introduce the phrase ‘work of leisure’, which plays an important and specific role in learning and inquiryInquiryand purpose. Drawing upon Negative Capability, leadership practice will involve giving attention to the need for an appropriate balance between leisure and productionwork of leisurebalanced with work of production. It is an overemphasis on the latter that has contributed to a culture of busy-ness and overwork. In relation to Negative Capability, we are drawing attention to the requirement for a particular form of leisure—not merely as rest from productive work but as a form of work that is concerned with the search for something not yet known. Productive work is associated with mastery, power, and control. By contrast, the work of leisure is concerned with contemplative inquirywork of leisureand learning / inquiry and receptivereceptiveness visionwork of leisureand receptive vision that can permit unplanned transformationsself-knowledgetransformationtransformationself in understanding and insight. For example, it is through the work of leisure work of leisureand sense of purposethat we can find, or be found by, a sense of purposepurposesense of purpose, as discussed in Chapter 6 . Through two illustrations, we explore the challenges of legitimising the work of leisure in our organisations but suggest that this may in fact support the work of production as well as contributing to humanising the workplace.