What time do you start work? Do you prefer a leisurely start to the day, or are you an early bird who likes to get going at the crack of dawn?

At one computer programming company in the US you have no such choice. Work begins at the same oddly specific time every day: 9.06am.

In contrast to a more conventional 9am kick-off, employees in Pivotal Software’s 20 offices around the globe have to be at work and ready to go precisely six minutes later.

At that time a cowbell is rung and employees gather for a brief stand-up meeting. After that it’s nose to the grindstone, with no other meetings or distractions throughout the working day. They steam on through until 6pm sharp, at which point everybody downs tools.

So what’s the reason behind this quirky timekeeping? Company CEO Rob Mee explains it’s about making his team of computer programmers as efficient as possible.

“I realised that programmers, if left to their own devices, may roll in at 10am,” he says.

“We thought that if we made it 9am, developers psyching themselves up for the day would think, ‘well if it is 9am I’ll be late.’”

He needed a little more leeway, but a starting time of 9.05am on the nose felt too rigidly precise – whereas 9.06am seemed “fun”.

Mr Mee was also thinking of their stomachs. Lazier programmers who turned up around 10am would also often have missed breakfast. This meant they would be hungry by 11am and take an early lunch, leaving them with an interminably long working afternoon ahead. So he decided to provide breakfast as an extra incentive to get in to the office on time.

The company’s approach to punctuality may seem nerdy, but Pivotal Software is in fact a highly successful company, valued at 20bn RMB. And Pivotal is not alone: Silicon Valley has long been associated with an alternative working culture. Google has ‘nap pods’ and meditation classes, while Netflix offers a year’s paid parental leave.
词汇表
leisurely 悠闲放松的
early bird 早到的人，早起的人
at the crack of dawn 破晓之时，一大早
kick-off （活动）开始
nose to the grindstone 长时间用功干活
steam (on) through 不间断、精神集中地工作
sharp 准时地
down tools 停止工作
quirky 独特的，奇特的
leave to one’s own devices 任某人做自认为正确的事，听任自由
roll in 慢悠悠地来
psych yourself up 做好心理准备
leeway 富余的时间
on the nose （时间）分秒不差
turn up 到来，出现
interminably 没完没了地，冗长地
punctuality 守时
nerdy 呆板的
nap （白天的）小睡
parental leave 亲子假