Kill the Office
Since the lockdowns of 2020, when all non-essential workers were suddenly cast out of the office and found themselves working from home in pajamas, we’ve seen a massive shift in the relationship of individuals to “the office.”
Years ago, offices were necessary. Before the advent of the internet and personal computers, offices were the places where vital documents and data were created and stored, where meetings happened, and where the business of doing business transpired. Basically, if you had a white-collar job, the office was the only place where you had access to everything you needed to get things done.
Of course, now that we have cloud data storage, video calling, and virtual conferencing, many of the major functions of the traditional office are obsolete. Which leaves us asking …
What is an office for, anyway?
According to recent data, it’s not for working⎯at least, not if you’re interested in productivity and employee satisfaction. According to Stanford economist Nick Bloom, working from home not only increased productivity by 13 percent, but also increased workers’ perception of work life balance and overall satisfaction. That’s a big deal in the midst of the Great Resignation. Another survey by ConnectSolutions found that 77 percent of people were more productive when they worked remotely, with 30 percent of those saying they completed more work in less time.
Those findings were echoed in the survey data from within my own companies, with over 80 percent of employees stating that they felt more productive when working remotely on individual tasks. However, that last qualifier is what really caught my attention. For the vast majority of our people, working from home is preferable when working on individual tasks. They felt less distracted, more focused, and better able to complete their work on time.
However, when it came to team strategy, collaborative work, and creative tasks, the numbers were quite different. In fact, they were split evenly, with 44 percent preferring to meet in person, and the other 44 percent preferring to collaborate virtually. (The remaining 12 percent reported “both,” “either,” or with other variables like “new hire/haven’t been to the office yet.”) When we explore this more deeply, we found that virtual/in-person preference were also highly dependent on the types of meetings. For example, there was a strong preference for virtual settings for tactical meetings, but strategic meetings were better in person. These preferences also depended on the team; if they were geographically distributed, digital was of course the default What this data revealed was something we had already observed: the office is not an ideal place for getting tasks done. And, if this is the case, what purpose does the office actually serve?
TO WORK OFFICE-FREE, MANAGEMENT MUST EVOLVE
At this point, you may be asking, “If it’s true that the office model is obsolete, why are leaders like Elon Musk so obsessed with getting people back to in-person work?”
Part of it, I believe, is the tendency of leaders to assume that workers need oversight. As Musk tweeted in response to a question about his mandatory office attendance policy, if Tesla’s non factory workers don’t like being on site, “They should pretend to work somewhere else.”
While I generally respect Elon Musk as a leader and innovator, I wonder what he is thinking here.
First, there’s the question of geographical distribution. A global talent pool is a larger talent pool, and it’s not always practical or necessary to negotiate cross-continental moves to achieve work efficiency. Global teams were already coming into play before 2020, and the trend is accelerating.
Second, and far more importantly, mandatory attendance is not a strategy that empowers individual agency, which is a key ingredient in innovation. Nor does it foster loyalty and trust. Instead, it assumes that the natural inclination of highly-intelligent adult employees is to behave like recalcitrant children.
I don’t know about you, but I find that attitude less than motivating.
As I explored in my recent article, “Business Needs to Grow Up,” this type of management works well for adults operating at the stage of human development known as “The Socialized Mind.” However, the prevalent mindset at that level of development does not lend itself to innovation, exploration, questioning of established norms, or other qualities necessary to continual innovation.
Quite simply, if you want a team full of mentally and emotionally developed adults who are capable of innovation, creativity, and rapid evolution, you can’t require them to submit to antiquated routines and policies that essentially amount to babysitting. Instead, you need to trust them to meet the needs of the organization while simultaneous managing their own needs. In order to achieve this, work needs to be transparent; when transparency is created, individuals become accountable to their peers as well as to management.
REPLACE THE OFFICE WITH “THE COMMONS”
I’m a lover of coffee. More, I’m a lover of the coffee shop.
Both I and many leaders in my orbit get some of our best work done at coffee shops. There’s something about the buzz of conversation in the background, the random and synchronistic meetings with friends and strangers, and the inspiration that comes from being in a place full of other creative people that really lights me up.
If you look at some of the most massive movements in recent history, you’ll find that many of them originated in coffee shops. Paul Revere and Samuel Adams hatched plans for the opening sallies of the American Revolution in Boston’s brew houses. Voltaire, Isaac Newton, and other great Enlightenment thinkers could often be found pontificating over cups of joe. The communal atmosphere of a coffee shop, combined with the lack of alcohol, seems to help humans generate and develop big ideas⎯so much so that, in Oxford, locals began to refer to them as “penny universities.” More, they create an equal playing field⎯ a place where status symbols like corner offices and boardrooms can melt away, and people can sit shoulder to shoulder as humans with a shared objective.
What does all this have to do with the office?
Everything!
At Chrysalis (and the companies in Chrysalis ecosystem), we are currently looking to close most of our offices, as “traditional” office locations and real estate choices are far from ideal for the collaborative setting we envision. Instead, we are wiping the slate clean, and creating work spaces in accessible locations that function more like coffee shops⎯places where people can meet to drink, ideate, and connect. We are exploring this both in our privately-leased spaces and in partnership with public spaces like libraries.
To us, the coffee shop model is ideal for creative and strategic teamwork⎯and also a supportive environment for those individuals who truly do feel more productive in company with their coworkers. Portions of these establishments will be open to the public, since you never know what might happen when a stranger drops in on your conversation.
I’ve decided not to call this new workspace an “office.” The office, as we have known it, has had a long and illustrious life; now, it’s time for a new generation take over. With that in mind, I’m referring to this new model as “The Commons.”
I believe that The Commons will allow people to have a healthier relationship with work. It is a place where people can work alongside their peers without the restrictions and demands of traditional hierarchical structures, and simultaneously create new work-centered social rituals that feel exciting and supportive. Instead of asking, “What does the company want,” The Commons asks, “What do we, as humans, need?”
The meta vision for Chrysalis is, “A world in which people bring their whole selves to whatever they do and engage creatively and constructively to the benefit of all.” In order to create that, we need people to have the freedom to work differently, in the ways that best support their unique skills, personalities, and goals.
That’s not radical. It’s just humane.
So, let’s kill the office⎯ and make the world of business a more human place to be
