Simon Sinek argues that Zoom and virtual work can't replicate the small, spontaneous moments that build trust in organizations. Hallway chats, shared lunches, and incidental gestures—what he calls 'the in-between'—are essential to how teams actually work together. Returning to the office restores these low-friction interactions that remote work erases.
Chapters
I think when people started to discover that we're able to function virtually, maybe we don't need our offices anymore, they're taking for granted a. That the relationships pre existed, that the trust pre existed. That's number one. Number two, we're also starting to realize that being at home by ourselves or with our families the whole time, like, I actually would like to leave the house, you know, and you can't really have a great brainstorming session over Zoom. It just doesn't work. You know, there's something about being in person, and I think one of the things that, that people fail to recognize is that running a virtual organization is actually way more difficult than running an in person organization. And the reason is, is because trust doesn't happen in a Zoom room. Trust doesn't happen in a meeting. Trust happens between the meetings. Isaac Stern, the virtuoso violinist, said trust. He said music is what happens between the notes. And trust is the same. Trust happens between the meetings. It's when you're filing into the conference room and you're like, hey, Steve. Hey, Bob. You know, it's that like, hey, I heard your dad was sick. Oh, yeah, he's doing much better, thanks for asking. It's when you leave and you walk down the hall to your offices and you keep talking and decisions are being made. It's having lunch together, it's bumping to each other in the hallway or at the copy machine. It's all of the in between things that build trust. It's like a relationship. Like, you know, our spouses didn't fall in love with us because when we were at on the date or when we remembered their birthday or Valentine's Day, it happened in between. It's how we conduct ourselves and how we treat each other.
When I go to the fridge and I get a drink for myself, I bring you one as well without you asking. It's these little things that happen between the big events. And so I think that going back to the office, it's that fabric that holds us together. Nothing replaces human contact. Nothing. We can mitigate it for a while, we can drag it out for a while, but at the end of the day.
Human. Human contact and human interaction is where it's.
