I don't mean to discount your experience, but I do think that those problems are solvable. There is something about that fluid collaboration that yields a lot,

I don't mean to discount your experience, but I do think that those problems are solvable. There is something about that fluid collaboration that yields a lot, but I don't think being in the same room physically is a hard prerequisite. I haven't played with Slack's huddle feature but that could be it. I know my small team of 3-4 devs spends most of the day in a breakout room in a big permanent zoom call that we use for that sort of fluidity. It's also worth keeping in mind for every office worker like yourself there is at least one who would complain about the constant interruptions, so they need to be considered in this equation too. Different work styles. (Also the absolute societal waste and ecological damage of daily commuting along has me wishing we would mandate WFH for all jobs where it's feasible. A total waste of time and resources, a luxury we don't have anymore as a species.)