(This article originally appeared in the Better Buldings Supplement to the June issue of Real Estate Forum.)

Co-working and hoteling be damned. They're dinosaur concepts compared to an out-of-the-box trend reported recently in the New York Post. Seems a tech start-up (leave it to the tech start-ups) has adopted an unlimited paid vacation policy—and it's not the only company doing so.

Vacay isn't a real estate issue, but the changing face of the office is, and this concept is a potential game-changer in terms of how we define work. It's clearly not a policy for slackers (you know who they are in your team) and comes at a price to the employee, namely responsibility.

That's right, workers are expected simply to give management ample heads up before they hang the Bermuda or Bust sign on the cubicle, and to get the buy-in of those who would pick up the slack. The work gets done, the team pitches in (expecting the same consideration when they want to take off) and everyone wins.

What this takes is trust on the part of management and careful hiring of people who promise to show ownership of their job description.

It also takes—and here, I believe, is the real challenge—a shedding of the Father-Knows-Best mentality of most upper managers, a recognition that a well-chosen team will rise to the occasion and do what is best for the company while acting maturely on their own behalf.

In the years after the American Revolution, Alexander Hamilton developed a hankering to return to monarchical rule, convinced the people couldn't govern themselves. That kind of thinking will only land you on the losing end of a duel.

Now work-at-will isn't exactly sweeping the country. But isn't it interesting to consider the possibilities of work redefined? Scroll down and leave your thoughts.