Elon Musk announced that he is ending work from home and that all executives must return to the corporate headquarters or resign. 

Needless to say, tech Twitter is blowing up about this.

Me on the other hand… I get it.

I get the need to return to the office – the need to make the in-person magic return. For some companies, it’s good for them to do. Really good.

With that said, I’m die hard on the distributed aspect. However, to have a remote company, you have to have a digital base.

I agree with Elon. You can’t have management working from anywhere when the factory workers making the cars have to show up to the production line day in and day out. That’s bullshit. And if I was a factory worker, I’d be really upset to see that dynamic. 

But for a company like Automattic to be fully remote is fine – they have digital products and can fully contribute in an asynchronous fashion, while still doing great work. 

I think being distributed is the best way to go, as long as your business model can support it. 

Now, when it comes to distributed work, I know that people say, “when is the last time someone built a great product or company while being fully distributed?”

Okay, I understand the underlying argument.

But here’s the thing people that have that stance are missing – those companies and products are being built now.

The next generation is coming up. The generation that is about a distributed, globally connected world where innovation is happening.

We’re too early in the game to say that distributed companies don’t work.

Distributed work has in large part been forced upon companies that are trying to replicate the in-office feel without being in-office.

That’s a sure way to fail. And those companies certainly are failing.

Distributed work is the future and the standard practice – but your business model has to support the freedom of remote work.

Would you return to the office full time? If not, what would it take?

-AJM

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