commentary

From TANSTAAFL to Purple Sneakers?

People who know me know of my current obsession interest in Yahoo!'s recent changes to their telework policy. I just can't wrap my mind around a good reason for it.

It's not about productivity (studies show that many people are more productive when they're not in the office). It's not really about collaboration; most people in offices talk a lot but that doesn't lead to great new products. It can't really be about a fraction of a fraction of the employees who both worked from home and also "hid". That's too small a number to care about.

And then, someone I was chatting with in Twitter made a comment that might, actually, explain things:

... [Marissa] needs to do this to weed out folks not totally committed to Yahoo!.

Think about it.

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Yahoo!'s WFH Edict And Ensuing Debacle

Yahoo! recently decided to bring its "free range" (i.e., remote working) employees into the office. Much of the Net has an opinion on this edict. This is mine.

Disclaimer: I worked at Yahoo from June 2006 - Nov 2011. I left before Marissa Mayer came on board. I have a vested interest in the future of telecommuting in general and the policy at Yahoo! in particular (I have friends there who work/ed remotely.) You can probably guess how I feel about this policy from my use of the word "edict". :-)

As recently as a day before the news hit the fan, I still considered the possibility of going back to Yahoo!. Now? No.

How it Started

The fireworks started when Yahoo!'s head of HR sent a memo to everyone at the company:

To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side. That is why it is critical that we are all present in our offices. Some of the best decisions and insights come from hallway and cafeteria discussions, meeting new people, and impromptu team meetings. Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home. We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together.

Beginning in June, we’re asking all employees with work-from-home arrangements to work in Yahoo! offices. If this impacts you, your management has already been in touch with next steps. And, for the rest of us who occasionally have to stay home for the cable guy, please use your best judgment in the spirit of collaboration. Being a Yahoo isn’t just about your day-to-day job, it is about the interactions and experiences that are only possible in our offices.

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Working From Home

I read this today in the Huffington Post:

Marissa Mayer's Work-From-Home Ban Is The Exact Opposite Of What CEOs Should Be Doing

Lisa Belkin
Senior Columnist on Life/Work/Family, The Huffington Post

What others see as the future of the workplace, and what parents see as a most important tool for juggling home and work, Marissa Mayer apparently sees as disposable.

The CEO of Yahoo!, who made news when she took the position last summer... announced through the company's human resources arm yesterday that employees will no longer be permitted to work remotely.

"Speed and quality are often sacrificed when we work from home," says the memo from HR director Jackie Rees, and reprinted by Kara Swisher on allthingsd.com last night. "We need to be one Yahoo!, and that starts with physically being together."

No. It doesn't.

Allow me to repeat what Lisa says in my own words.

No. It does not.

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Social Styles vs MBTI: A Type Epiphany

Many years ago, at least 5 years before I discovered the MBTI, I took a one-day workshop called "Managing Interpersonal Relationships", offered through my day job.

The workshop used one of the "4-Quadrant Personality Models" as a way to explain and improve team communications (aka "interpersonal relationships") in the workplace. In particular, it focused on the Social Styles model developed by David Merrill & Roger Reid. The Social Styles model theorizes that people operate with four distinct ways of interaction, or social styles: Analytical, Amiable, Driving and Expressive.

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Emotional Intelligence and Type

(Note: This article was originally posted in my "personal" weblog. I decided to copy it here so that all of my Type-related posts can be found in commentary.)

Yesterday, I attended a workshop entitled "Linking Type and Emotional Intelligence for Effectiveness". The workshop was presented by Roger Pearman for BAAPT (the Bay Area Association for Psychological Type). (Flyer)

In the morning, we learned the basics of Emotional Intelligence (EQ).

"The role of emotions in cognition is pervasive and ubiquitous. Perception and judgement in all its forms are affected by emotional tonalities and reactions.

Psychological type plays an essential role in understanding the emotional triggers for each individual as well as the strategies for self-management."

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