Simon Sinek argues COVID normalized remote work but left us without clear definitions of what full-time employment actually means. We gained flexibility but lost boundaries between work and life, and companies still haven't figured out how to measure accountability when people aren't in an office.
Chapters
I think a lot of pundits are trying to come out with a clear sense of it's going to be all this, it's going to be all that. The answer is it's going to be some of everything, you know, and clearly it changes depending on what the workflow is and who we are. You know, I don't think all of one thing and all of another thing is healthy. Clearly, you know, going back to the office benefits extroverts and introverts are a little happier to stay home. You know, staying out of the office has some benefits. It's a mixed bag. I think one of the things that we'll do, and this I think is a very good thing, is it will produce a flexibility that we didn't have before. So even an office that may have been friendly to at home work, you know, not all offices were, those that weren't will become more friendly to it. But even those that were there was still a permission required. Like, hey, is it okay if I work from home next Friday? Because my kids got a thing that I got to be home for, you know, where now we come, you know, just waking up in the morning and sending out a note to everybody saying hey, I'm working from home today and everybody's fine with it. I think the level of flexibility and accountability and self control actually factor in it also produces a whole slew of new challenges which is and I think unresolved. I don't think anybody really has a theory on this yet, which is what's the definition of a full time job? Right, so full time job used to mean I come in the morning and I leave in the late afternoon, early evening and that's it. And what I do in the evenings and weekends is mine. But now what if I want to wake up at noon and work till 8 and then I. Or what happens if I want to have another job? Well, we pay your insurance, but I don't necessarily work during work hours anymore. As long as I'm available, my work isn't suffering. You know, I used to be able to do whatever I wanted in my free time, which was evenings and weekends. Now free time is not clearly defined, it's not clearly delineated anymore. So I think one of the things that has yet to settle is what is the definition of full time employment and how do we measure and how do we say you can or can't do other things outside of your job? I think that's fascinating.
