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Malcolm Gladwell slams working from home

7 points by mgh2 4y ago

jstx1 4y ago
1. I 100% agree with him. 2. It's pointless to try to convince people who like WFH that in-office is better (or the other way around), nobody's mind is going to change; people like what they like.
waynecochran 4y ago
I actually wished I lived in a village where I knew my neighbors and my co-workers lived nearby.
mgh2 4y ago
> "Belonging", “feel part of something” His reasons for returning to the office is a twist of something that management has been marketing often "change the world", so forgive me for being skeptical. You can be belong to a group outside of work: hobbies, churches, family, etc. Today's social isolation was there pre-covid for varied reasons, although it made it worst, it won't go away by going to the office.
- IceMetalPunk 4y ago
  Welcome to the capitalist nightmare that is the Western world. "If you want to belong to something, do work for us! If you want to be a good person, work for us! If you want to be a responsible adult, work for us! If you want to have food and shelter without starving to death on the street, work for us! EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOUR JOB AND WHAT YOU WILL DO FOR US."
sp332 4y ago
Gladwell really will write anything for clicks, huh? Here's his 2010 article about how he works from coffee shops. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704147804575455923448456324 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704147804575455... and a 2008 interview where he said he never went to the office and sometimes had to be contacted by courier. https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/52014/ https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/52014/
raxxorraxor 4y ago
I agree with him but for completely different reasons. I think his perspective might be influenced by his profession a lot. To me WFH wasn't the right thing, but I live very close to my workplace. If I needed to travel my opinion would change drastically. Best compromise would be a combination of both. 2 days office, 3 day WFH or something like that. And of course I need an office, nothing can convince me of open office or cubicle. That isn't a company, that is a plantation.
legitster 4y ago
I 100% agree. I really miss going to the office. And even if you really work 8 hours a day at home, being able to walk over to someone's desk and ask a question is an underrated privilege. That said, it's still not worth commuting into the downtown office every day. > In San Francisco, an estimated one-third of the city’s’ workforce is remote. City officials said that remote work cost it $400 million in tax revenues last year. It's not just on companies - cities are really going to be hurting in the coming year if workers don't start coming back. And a lot of this is largely on cities to fix by physically moving workers closer by building more housing, or providing better transit options.
gregjor 4y ago
Anticipating a withering response to this from Ed Zitron. Gladwell will apparently write anything to help his corporate speech and TV show schedule full.
- gregjor 4y ago
  Didn't take long: https://ez.substack.com/p/privilege-and-pro-office-pablum https://ez.substack.com/p/privilege-and-pro-office-pablum

7 points by mgh2 4y ago

1. I 100% agree with him. 2. It's pointless to try to convince people who like WFH that in-office is better (or the other way around), nobody's mind is going to change; people like what they like.

waynecochran 4y ago

I actually wished I lived in a village where I knew my neighbors and my co-workers lived nearby.

mgh2 4y ago

> "Belonging", “feel part of something” His reasons for returning to the office is a twist of something that management has been marketing often "change the world", so forgive me for being skeptical. You can be belong to a group outside of work: hobbies, churches, family, etc. Today's social isolation was there pre-covid for varied reasons, although it made it worst, it won't go away by going to the office.

IceMetalPunk 4y ago
Welcome to the capitalist nightmare that is the Western world. "If you want to belong to something, do work for us! If you want to be a good person, work for us! If you want to be a responsible adult, work for us! If you want to have food and shelter without starving to death on the street, work for us! EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOUR JOB AND WHAT YOU WILL DO FOR US."

sp332 4y ago

Gladwell really will write anything for clicks, huh? Here's his 2010 article about how he works from coffee shops. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704147804575455923448456324 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704147804575455... and a 2008 interview where he said he never went to the office and sometimes had to be contacted by courier. https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/52014/ https://nymag.com/arts/books/features/52014/

raxxorraxor 4y ago

I agree with him but for completely different reasons. I think his perspective might be influenced by his profession a lot. To me WFH wasn't the right thing, but I live very close to my workplace. If I needed to travel my opinion would change drastically. Best compromise would be a combination of both. 2 days office, 3 day WFH or something like that. And of course I need an office, nothing can convince me of open office or cubicle. That isn't a company, that is a plantation.

legitster 4y ago

I 100% agree. I really miss going to the office. And even if you really work 8 hours a day at home, being able to walk over to someone's desk and ask a question is an underrated privilege. That said, it's still not worth commuting into the downtown office every day. > In San Francisco, an estimated one-third of the city’s’ workforce is remote. City officials said that remote work cost it $400 million in tax revenues last year. It's not just on companies - cities are really going to be hurting in the coming year if workers don't start coming back. And a lot of this is largely on cities to fix by physically moving workers closer by building more housing, or providing better transit options.

gregjor 4y ago

Anticipating a withering response to this from Ed Zitron. Gladwell will apparently write anything to help his corporate speech and TV show schedule full.

gregjor 4y ago
Didn't take long: https://ez.substack.com/p/privilege-and-pro-office-pablum https://ez.substack.com/p/privilege-and-pro-office-pablum