Let me sleep on it!

Huawei may well be a global leader in digital communications technology. But if you wish to speak with their Shenzhen office, don’t bother calling between 1pm and 2pm on any day of the week.

They won’t answer. They’ll all be asleep.

All 60,000 employees will be curled up on camp beds next to their desks. Lights dimmed. Blinds drawn.

And whilst this may very well lead to an extended day at the office, Huawei – like many other companies in China – understand the impact that sleep can have on enhancing performance. Especially when it comes to making decisions.

Whether or not they learned this from observing poor decision making by others, is open to question.

But if they did, they wouldn’t have needed to search far.

Less than two years before Huawei was founded, Roger Biosjoly, Bob Ebeling, and other engineers from Morton Thiokol, the Utah based makers of Solid Rocket Boosters, spent over two hours on a conference call urging NASA not to proceed with the launch of the Challenger space shuttle.

They were convinced that the freezing weather would cause the seals on the ‘O’ rings to malfunction. Sadly, they were overruled by both NASA and their own managers.

The subsequent investigation into the deaths of the seven astronauts placed the blame on poor engineering and management, as well a lack of communication.

It was also noted that two of NASA’s senior Directors were under pressure to make sure the launch took place as previously announced. Furthermore, they had both been working for 23 hours straight, and with no more than 3 hours sleep the previous day.

In short, they were exhausted.

But that’s not all.

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, being awake for 24 hours, is similar to having a Blood Alcohol Count of 0.10 percent, far exceeding the legal limit for driving a vehicle in all states of the USA.

Later the same year, it was noted that fatigue due to 13 hour shifts – as well as a flawed reactor design - was a leading contributor to the disaster at Chernobyl.

Similarly, fatigue from long night shifts, is known to have been a factor at both the nuclear meltdown at Three Mile Island and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

In the UK, a 2024 report by the AAA, revealed that fatigue accounts for 6,400 fatalities on the road each year. Stress and lack of sleep have also been determined to be the probable cause of 21-23% of major aviation accidents during the past two decades.

Tiredness leads to an inability to focus, delayed reaction times, and poor judgement. All of which can have a major impact on performance, regardless of the type of work or of job role.

How to Improve Sleep and thereby Performance

Although the impact of fatigue is universal, how we address it varies enormously, both individually and culturally.

In Japan, for example, it’s completely acceptable to have a nap at work, or at dinner parties. They even have a name for it – inemuri. Countries with a Spanish influence will be accustomed to taking a siesta after the midday meal. And, apparently, 65% of Canadians never take a nap!

In Hong Kong, people can be seen regularly napping on their way to work, or to school. Not surprising, perhaps, when you consider that children in Hong Kong go to bed, on average, 3 hours later than their counterparts in New Zealand (not because of the Time Zone!).

That said, whatever your nuances towards sleeping may be, there are things we can all do to increase the chances of getting a really good night’s sleep – and thereby improving our performance the next day.

Advice from the experts include:

• Do not take a hot shower, or eat or drink, within one and a half hours of going to bed. Also avoid looking at screens.

• Bedroom temperature should be between 16-20C

• Ensure the room is completely blacked out

• When staying in hotels, consider using eye masks and ear plugs

• And for those familiar with Feng Shui:

  • Your bed should not be below a beam on the ceiling

  • No screens or mirrors facing the bed (cover them, if necessary)

Finally, when faced with a difficult decision, pay heed to Meat Loaf’s initial advice in his 1977 classic “Paradise by the Dashboard Light”

‘Let me sleep on it……. And I’ll give you an answer in the morning’

Presentation Skills Myths and Realities #5:

“Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them”

Whilst this has been a presentation mantra for many people over the years – some say going back to Aristotle – it’s now very much out-of-date and needs to be put to rest.

Our Managing Director Mark Loasby debunks presentation myth number 5 on the blog this month:

Myth 5: “Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them”

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Until next month!

Warmest regards,

The Connect Family