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| Gary Newman and Dana Walden are both presidents of 20th Century Fox Television |
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| Get a life
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| Working 24/7 may seem good for companies, but it's often bad for the talent. So businesses are hatching alternatives to the punishing, productivity-sapping norm. (Main story)
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NEW YORK (FORTUNE) - Peter Chernin didn't set out to pioneer the human-sized job, but he's responsible for an accidental breakthrough at NewsCorp.
Seven years ago, Chernin, the company's president and head of its Fox subsidiary, appointed Gary Newman and Dana Walden as presidents of 20th Century Fox Television. Not co-presidents -- it is not a job share. Presidents. Both are responsible for the performance of the entire company.
In simpler times, Chernin says, Fox produced four to five television series a year (about 100 episodes) and sold them to three networks. Now it produces 25 series a year (about 600 episodes) and deals with six networks, 200 cable channels, syndication, DVDs, international, wireless and broadband markets.
"What I was really thinking was where to find the skill set to manage these businesses," Chernin says. "I came to believe that, because of the complexity, if I could find two people with complementary skills, it would probably be better."
It has turned out better, both for Fox and for Newman and Walden. "Because there are two of us, we're capable of getting involved in many more things," says Newman. "There's more productivity here than at any other company like this where there's only one person in charge," Walden adds.
Both say the arrangement has been fabulous for their family lives. "I have greater freedom to be a participant in life," says Newman. "There's no meeting that I can't cover or that Gary can't cover," Walden says. Example: When Walden's daughter broke her arm one weekend, Walden didn't come in on Monday. The business didn't skip a beat. A president of the company was there; all scheduled meetings took place.
Like any successful partnership, Walden's and Newman's took a while to sort out. They spent the first year doing too much together. Only when they became trusting enough for each to let the other handle situations alone did the leverage for the company (and their lives) become powerful.
Making the arrangement work requires ground rules. At the outset, they sometimes inadvertently contradicted each other in responding to e-mails. Today their rule is whoever gets to an e-mail first, answers it. "If one of us has to step up and make a decision," says Newman, "we do it and move on, and worry about straightening it out between us the next day."
Chernin doesn't find managing two presidents all that hard. If he talks to one he expects that person to pass on the word to the other. If he needs something he asks his office to "find Dana or Gary." "It doesn't really matter to me which one," Chernin says. "Both are up to speed on everything."
Though he didn't create this arrangement to give them better lives outside work, it does that too. Newman and Walden compare their relationship to a marriage; Dana calls Gary her "day spouse." They recently renewed their "vows" by signing a long-term deal to keep working together.
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