Out of Office

Today was my first day back in the office after two weeks of vacation. 

I sat down at my desk, turned off my out of office notice, and began going through all the mails and invitations received in my absence. 

I did all this in my actual office. Not my home office. I was the only one there. 

Work from home, hybrid work, location independence. Whatever you call it, the practice is a sea change in the corporate world. 

I enjoy its benefits and sometimes feel like a traitor to the cause when I point out the obvious: that its success requires clearly communicated goals and tons of intrinsic motivation.

At many places, it works just fine. 

But what if those two crucial elements are missing?

Maybe, at such a company, the work from home experiment is doomed. 

Rather, I would argue that without clear goals and a motivating mission in the first place, a company’s problems are much bigger than a few work from home days.