Giving Teams Permission to Reset

A leader’s learned approach to creating space for thinking, organizing, and doing more strategic work.

Last week, I wrote about how hard it is for teams to find time for creative and strategic thinking.

This week, I’m sharing what I learned building two different sabbatical programs.

One had 1% participation.
The other hit 100%.

Same organization. Same people. Same intention.

Completely different outcomes.

The One That Failed

The first program I created looked great on paper.

I offered staff the chance to take an immersive sabbatical. A program designed to fully step away from their day-to-day work and dive into a new experience or area of learning that would benefit both them and their role.

It didn’t require vacation time. It required full disconnection for 5–7 work days. It even came with a travel stipend.

It was thoughtful. Generous. Well-intentioned.

And almost no one did it.

Utilization hovered around 1%.

Not because people didn’t value it. But because no one felt like they had the time.

It lived in that familiar space: I’d love to do that… but I just can’t right now.

What I Realized

I had designed something aspirational.

But not something attainable.

I assumed that giving people time away from work would help alleviate burnout, spark new ideas, and create space for better thinking.

But I hadn’t addressed the real constraint:

People didn’t need time away from work.
They needed time to get their work under control.

So I stepped back and asked a better question:

What is the team actually asking for—and how do we create real, lasting improvements in how work gets done?

The Reset

That’s where the Workflow Reset Program came from.

Instead of asking people to step away from work, I made improving how we work the program itself.

Every employee—from leadership to front-line staff—took one full week to step out of their day-to-day responsibilities.
No meetings. No inbox. No reactive work.

The focus was on three things:

• Getting organized

• Improving systems and workflows

• Creating space for strategic thinking

Work that everyone knows is important—but rarely has time to do.

Each day also included one hour dedicated to personal wellness. This wasn’t optional. It was part of the workflow reset structure (because energy and clarity matter if you’re going to think differently about your work…IMHO).

Participants designed their own week, secured supervisor approval, ensured coverage, and committed to sharing what they accomplished when they returned.

This wasn’t time off.

It was a protected time to reset how work gets done.

How It Took Hold

We didn’t roll it out all at once.

A key member of our leadership team went first by designing their week, executing it, and then walking the full team through what they accomplished.

That demonstration mattered. It made the program tangible.

From there, another leader championed their entire department to go next.

And then something started to build.

Each week, in our all-staff huddles, people shared what they accomplished. You could feel the shift in the room. Skepticism turning into curiosity, and curiosity turning into genuine excitement.

There were real “ooohs” and “ahhhs” as people saw what was possible in just one focused week.

Not because it was new, but because it finally felt possible.

Creating Momentum

We set a goal of 100% participation.

And as CEO, I held myself to one constraint: I wouldn’t take my own week until everyone else had gone first.

(Truth moment: we made it to about 50% before I took mine. I used the time to draft a strategic plan—with the help of AI and uninterrupted focus, I accomplished in one week what would normally drag on for months. And … My wellness plan included cleaning out my sock drawer.)

The point is this wasn’t just a leadership perk.

It was a shared experience.

As more people participated, it stopped feeling like just another human resource program.

It became part of how we worked.

What People Actually Accomplished

This is where it got real.

Inboxes that had been a constant source of stress were finally organized.

Google Drive systems were cleaned up: folders restructured, duplicates removed, archives created so people could actually find what they needed.

New standard operating procedures were drafted and shared.

An organization-wide system implementation was piloted, with a clear rollout timeline.

Employee handbook documents were updated.

Strategic planning documents were drafted and actually saw the light of day.

This wasn’t theoretical work.

It was real work. Strategic work. The kind of work that usually gets pushed aside because there’s “no time.”

And something else shifted, something harder to measure, but something you could feel:

The quiet, persistent guilt people carried about their inboxes, their files, the things they knew were a mess… it lifted.

That alone changed how people showed up to work.

The Wellness Moment That Said Everything

One staff member shared that they spent one of their wellness hours taking a nap on their front porch in the sun.

The entire team immediately had afternoon nap envy (anyone else thinking George Costanza?).

It was a small moment and it captured something noteworthy:

When you deliberately give people time to reset (and rest!), they use it.

What Changed

It became a ritual.

Something we talked about in weekly meetings.
Something people anticipated.
Something that reinforced how we operate.

It even became part of how we recruited. Candidates didn’t just hear about what we did—they got a real sense of how we worked.

What I Believe Now

If you want time for strategic work, better systems, and clearer thinking, you can’t just encourage it.

You have to design for it.

You have to protect time for it.

And you have to make it feel possible.

And here’s what I’m thinking about next.

Maybe that original immersive sabbatical program wasn’t wrong.

Maybe it was just introduced at the wrong time.

Because once people feel more in control of their work (i.e. once systems are cleaner, backlogs are lighter, and the day-to-day feels manageable) then stepping away to learn something new might actually feel possible.

Get organized first.

Then see what experiences your organization needs next.

Away-from-work opportunities don’t solve burnout or the lack of time for strategic thinking.

Listening to your team does.

What they need is permission (and protected time) to get their work organized, to think strategically, and to know they’re not alone in needing it.

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This week’s Just One Thing:
If you’re a Jerry Seinfeld fan, go back and watch George Costanza building his under-the-desk nap setup with the Yankees. Nap-time anyone?