zero drag

(ZEE.roh drag)

adj.

Relating to a highly motivated employee who has few personal responsibilities and so can work long hours, travel frequently, or be called in to work with little notice.

Example Citation:

"The ideal zero-drag employee is young, unmarried and childless with no responsibilities and an eagerness to do well."

— Diane E. Lewis, "Wedded to workplace," The Boston Globe, March 11, 2001

Earliest Citation:

Everything is faster. Zero drag is optimal. For a while, new applicants would jokingly be asked about their 'drag coefficient.' Since the office is a full hour's commute from San Francisco, an apartment in the city was a full unit of drag. A spouse? Drag coefficient of one. Kids? A half point per.

— Po Bronson, "Instant Company," The New York Times, July 11, 1999

Notes:

In physics, drag refers to the resistance experienced by an object moving through a fluid medium (such as air). Zero drag is an ideal state where the object experiences no resistance at all, much like an eager, no-spouse, no-kids, no-pets employee.

Related Words:

clockless worker

flexecutive

geeksploitation

hi-pot

off-the-clock

plug and play

rat-race equilibrium

TGIM

work-life balance

Category:

Employees