Architecting physical spaces that optimize Cost-Per-Square-Foot rather than Work-As Done, then pushing responsibility back onto returning workers.
“After years of remote work, our brains’ selective attention skills and ability to block out distractions is weakened, Carmichael says. Those who prefer to work from home might not like one of his remedies: Make yourself work from the office more often."
*Work* is a variable human activity, not an undifferentiated commodity.
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If the goal is collaboration (which is good), communication is necessary but not sufficient. Different types of *work* benefit from different types of physical and cognitive environments. Treating knowledge work as fungible commodity flows is a poor metaphor.
“Deep thought work" can happen anywhere, such as stepping onto a bus: https://campuspress.yale.edu/yctl/mindfulness-of-the-mind/
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"It’s hard to un-remember how nice it was to take the dog for a walk midday, or how helpful it was to log out at 4 p.m. to get dinner started and log back in later. Running through scenarios of how time could be better spent takes up precious brainpower, distracting us from the real work at hand.... "
Similar to it's hard to un-remember how "easy" it was for a a person in power to interrupt an employee with a "quick question" rather the harder work of creating new communication systems?