Remote: Office Not Required

by David Heinemeier Hansson

Michael Bloomberg, accomplished and respected mayor of New York, shows there’s still work to be done in educating people about remote work’s benefits, with this quote from the beginning of 2013:† “I’ve always said, telecommuting is one of the dumber ideas I’ve ever heard. Yes, there are some things you can do at home. But having a chat line is not the same thing as standing at the watercooler.” Old habits die hard. The more entrenched, the harder they die. To someone like Bloomberg, who over the course of decades has kept his coworkers close at hand (never more so than in his mayor’s office, which with its warren of open cubicles mimics a trading floor), being able to peer out and “see” the work being done is as entrenched a habit as they come. Challenging such habits has always been a risky business. The world is flat right up until the day it’s round. Or as Harvey Dent from Batman said: “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you the dawn is coming.” Remote work is here, and it’s here to stay. The only question is whether you’ll be part of the early adopters, the early majority, the late majority, or the laggards.‡ The ship carrying the innovators has already sailed, but there are still plenty of vessels for the early adopters. Come on board.

What to make of Mike Bloomberg? In his memoir, he recounted with pride the weekend he had carpenters saw inches off his employees’ desks so he could stuff more people into the room.