Office Collaboration Is A Lie

What do executives and compulsive gamblers have in common? Let’s find out, and maybe squash the sneakiest telecommuting myth while we’re at it.

A compulsive gambler has an addiction, perpetuated and justified in their mind by the thrill of winning — even if that one win comes at great expense, and even if that expense clearly reduces their ability to gamble in the future. That is, a gambling addict will lose their house to win a car, and push their brain to justify such behavior rather than acknowledge the simple math.

Once more, in visual form: this is how a compulsive gambler’s mind works.

Agreed? Great, keep it in mind.

Wading through the sea of dubious telecommuting counterpoints, one argument trumps all. It is the natural retreat position for any discriminating employer scrambling to shift the burden of proof and change the rules of the game, after realizing they lost the game under their own set of rules. It’s the idea that on-site physical interaction nets collaboration.

This idea is as dangerous as it is misguided: the big five anti-telecommuting cases of the past decade (Yahoo, IBM, Best Buy, Aetna, and the U.S…