These kinds of black-and-white views need to stop.
Some jobs (highly self-directed, autonomous, don't need teamwork) can be done just fine from home.
Other jobs (collaborative, creative, culture-building) just can't, or it's very difficult.
And then there are obviously a lot of gray areas in the middle, since a lot of jobs are a mix of things, as well as accountability and productivity-measurement being a big factor too (some people will get away with slacking off if they can).
Every kind of job and company is different, and needs to figure it out for themselves. And when you don't work at a specific organization, it's hard to know what they really need.
I think you're strawmanning Branson into saying something he isn't.
Let me ask you this: why do you automatically assume that this decision rests with the organization to fit its needs? Don't a firm's workers also have a lot of different situations that may require different solutions? Some workers love working at the office. Others love working from home. Others like to have a mixture. It sounds to me what Branson is saying isn't necessarily "telecommuting good, office bad" as much as "It's a bad idea to rigidly force choices on your employees", and I think there's some truth to that view. After all, I don't buy that employment at Yahoo necessarily means that a person won't be successful working from home.
Regardless of my views, I don't think it's accurate to say that this is black-and-white thinking.
Comments
These kinds of black-and-white views need to stop.
Some jobs (highly self-directed, autonomous, don't need teamwork) can be done just fine from home.
Other jobs (collaborative, creative, culture-building) just can't, or it's very difficult.
And then there are obviously a lot of gray areas in the middle, since a lot of jobs are a mix of things, as well as accountability and productivity-measurement being a big factor too (some people will get away with slacking off if they can).
Every kind of job and company is different, and needs to figure it out for themselves. And when you don't work at a specific organization, it's hard to know what they really need.
I think you're strawmanning Branson into saying something he isn't.
Let me ask you this: why do you automatically assume that this decision rests with the organization to fit its needs? Don't a firm's workers also have a lot of different situations that may require different solutions? Some workers love working at the office. Others love working from home. Others like to have a mixture. It sounds to me what Branson is saying isn't necessarily "telecommuting good, office bad" as much as "It's a bad idea to rigidly force choices on your employees", and I think there's some truth to that view. After all, I don't buy that employment at Yahoo necessarily means that a person won't be successful working from home.
Regardless of my views, I don't think it's accurate to say that this is black-and-white thinking.