{"id":20279,"date":"2023-09-04T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T09:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/?p=20279"},"modified":"2026-01-27T15:50:24","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T14:50:24","slug":"the-nordic-work-life-balance-what-weve-learnt-during-our-summer-in-malmo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2023\/09\/04\/the-nordic-work-life-balance-what-weve-learnt-during-our-summer-in-malmo\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nordic Work-Life Balance: what we\u2019ve learnt during our summer in Malm\u00f6"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alice Alessandri<\/a> and Alberto Aleo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Anyone who knows us is also aware of the fact that since 2013, we\u2019ve been spending our summers travelling<\/b>, <\/b>combining time for writing <\/b>and research <\/b>with discovering <\/b>new parts of the world. For years, we were based in Boston<\/b>\u00a0\u2013 where many of the institutions we\u2019ve worked with are based \u2013 and we went on short trips to discover New England and other parts of the USA. When the world\u2019s health emergency made travelling abroad harder, we came up with the idea of going on a road trip from Romagna <\/b>to Sicily <\/b>with a Fiat 500, rediscovering the pleasure of travelling slowly <\/b>while enjoying frequent stopovers. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the summer of 2023, we chose Sweden <\/b>and, specifically, the city of Malm\u00f6<\/b>. We will tell you all about it in this article, whose purpose isn\u2019t only to take stock, but also to focus on what we\u2019ve learnt, hoping this will be useful to everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

A variety of reasons and intuitions brought us to Northern Europe<\/b>. First and foremost, we are collaborating with the Copenhagen Business School <\/b>(CBS) \u2013 where professor Mogens Bjerre <\/b><\/a>and professor Karsten Pirchert <\/b><\/a>have been offering a monographic course based on our book Sales Ethics <\/b><\/a>for a year now. In addition to that, we have always been very interested in the Scandinavian lifestyle, we have a few contacts in Germany <\/b><\/a>and in Sweden<\/b><\/a>, and finally, we were looking for a cool and pleasant place to focus on writing our new book.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Travelling is a great chance to discover new worlds, to take a deep dive into new cultures, to walk off the beaten track and discover what resonates within us, and to finally share a recap of our experiences through the activities of Passodue. In this article, we touch upon the core teachings of our Nordic summer, and we have summarised it all in 3 concepts<\/b><\/span> that represent a way of experiencing life and work we have defined \u201cNordic Work-Life Balance\u201d<\/b>, i.e., flexibility<\/strong>, simplicity<\/strong>, and femininity<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nordic<\/p>\n

1. Flexibility: if you get organised, it\u2019s possible<\/span><\/h2>\n

The business world in Italy tends to follow trends that come from the US, and, after the pandemic, it seems to have violently fallen into the \u201chamster wheel\u201d phase: working, running around, going from one call to another without any solution for continuity, optimizing every moment, trying to be the last person to leave the office, and other behaviours that are detrimental to productivity <\/b>and to wellbeing<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The basis of the Nordic Work-Life Balance<\/b> is instead a sense of fluid calm, the product of a union that seems oxymoronic: organisation <\/b>and flexibility<\/b>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Many shops are open for 5 or 6 hours at most and are closed on Sundays, and the same goes for tourist attractions and museums. At 5 o\u2019clock, you see parents in parks with their children or people diving into the Baltic Sea (which is stunning and not as cold as you might think). At first, this was alienating for us as days seemed too short, services and facilities weren\u2019t available for enough time, and time-efficiency seemed at risk. However, we quickly got used to it and managed to carry out everything we wanted to do while also being more relaxed.<\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, is it really possible to strike a balance <\/b>between work and family<\/b>, between the professional domain and your personal space?<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, it is, but we need a fine-tuned model as proof to persuade those who believe that success in business means neglecting yourself, those who promote an idea of efficiency <\/b>that is more quantitative than qualitative<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organised flexibility <\/b>also means adapting to the weather, such as commuting by bike regardless of rain or wind, when you can just wear a raincoat and a pair of rubber boots.<\/span><\/p>\n