From today’s Forbes:
There aren’t a lot of peer-reviewed studies on the benefits of climbing trees, but this rule simultaneously prohibited something potentially positive (clean fun/exploration/nature/exercise) and created animosity—making it potentially more difficult for the school to get my cooperation on other, weightier matters.
Lately, when I consult with organizations about teamwork—or read articles about the difficulties of hybrid work like this one in last week’s New York Times—I have thought about the No Climbing Trees era of my young life.
Remote work was a well-meaning reaction to the dire circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. There are clear benefits to working from anywhere, many of which, we’ve discovered, are still benefits in a non-pandemic situation.
But now that the pandemic has largely stabilized, many businesses want the benefits of in-person work back.
It’s like for two years leaders said, “Go ahead! Climb trees! It’s good exercise!” But now, they would like us to not be in trees and be in an office sometimes.
Some organizations have reacted with a blanket rule: No Remote Work Anymore.
And given that working remotely has even more benefits than climbing trees, it’s easy to see why the human reactions of “I never wanted to work from home so badly as now” and “I hate this company” have come on so strongly.
Seeing some companies step in this cow pie, many leaders have opted for Hybrid Work policies. The rationale is that we can have the best of both worlds, and workers will be happier. And in the right circumstances, this is exactly the case. But from a psychology standpoint, many leaders who attempt this are actually tromping on the same turd.
Read the complete story here.