|
My intuition is that people like to start firms because they enjoy the feeling of being tribal leaders, and people like to participate in firms because of ordinary tribal hierarchical belonging... And the subtle near-mystical benefits to being in the same room, the "high bandwidth communication" of "body language" and all those things, all seem to me to have a great deal to do with the ancient structure of the primate dominance hierarchy! You notice when you bring up the topic of remote work in an organization that isn't fully remote already (i.e., isn't operated by introverted shamanic nomads) that it's totally not a decision about rational economic benefits. It seems to be much more about family, tribe, smelling each other's sweat, etc. Benefit calculations are tricky because you could find just as many benefits to working separately, although it might lead to you to think of work in a different way, a less tribal way. You don't argue that professors, poets, and carpenters need to huddle up in a boiler room to get their work done, because we know that some modes of working more require privacy, relaxation, autonomy, etc. I think tribalism is really powerful and like a core force in our evolutionary heritage. As it happens, I personally tend to inhabit the fringes of the tribe, and I do better work in a solitary or remote situation. |