First off, let's get this quote out of the way: > The closest work-related argument I've heard is that some people work better when they're free of distraction

First off, let's get this quote out of the way: > The closest work-related argument I've heard is that some people work better when they're free of distractions at the office. That takes us back to companies being collaborative human endeavors. One may feel they work better in isolation, but part of ones job is to interact with others, even if that's not fun. This just feels like motivated reasoning to me. Here's how I read it "I've NEVER SEEN an argument for why WFH is better... Well, some people did say they're more focused and productive when working from home, but they're probably just doing a poor job of communication so that outweighs any of their perceived productivity gains." How can we falsify this rebuttal? I certainly have enough data to show that I've had much greater and more consistent engagement with my work since transitioning to work from home, and I have plenty of 1:1s and meetings with the rest of my team to stay connected and work through problems. Our team has shipped successful products entirely working from home. But that argument runs up against a brick wall if you're predisposed to assume that whatever job I'm doing at home, I'd be more effective in the office. Personally I haven't seen much evidence for the proposition that WFO produces better outcomes. Most of the arguments seem to be from first principles, like the communication argument you're making or the argument that companies would have already gone WFH if it were better for the bottom line. The problem with the work outcomes conversation is that our industry has 1) no reliable way of measuring work output and thus 2) no reliable way of measuring productivity. This is why despite decades of research we have no good way to estimate when projects will be done, for example. Each organization is unique. Each project is unique. Comparing across them is questionable. That means conversations that are ostensibly about what makes a business productive are really just a dressed up proxy for our own values.