Post-Pandemic Career and Work Model: Consideration of Others

by Michael Evans (October 2021)

This is a follow-up to the article I posted in June “Post-Pandemic Career and Work Models:  Consideration of Self”.  In that article I posed and explored this hypothesis:  

Working remote does not eliminate what capabilities a professional can develop, but it slows the pace and shallows the depth one’s capabilities progress, thus slowing the pace at which career advancement can occur.

In today’s post Consideration of Others, I am posing this hypothesis – To choose to WFH materially*, maybe even exclusively, it is important to recognize the negative impact, relative to their learning, this likely has on others. (* – presumes you have a choice – no health risk, pandemic restrictions, etc.)

Fact: We – individually and collectively – learn, among numerous other positive outcomes, from those around us. When we choose to predominantly WFH for our own benefit, it is important to recognize that we subsequently limit the learning others achieve when we are not physically present. 

The mental model of this hypothesis is anchored in this simple diagram:

 I was drawn to this hypothesis, at least partially, by this recent article I saw on LinkedIn (https://nypost.com/2021/07/29/linkedin-says-most-employees-can-work-from-home-forever/), the headline of which alludes to LinkedIn’s policy announcement allowing their employees to “permanently work from home”.  In the article there’s this interesting reference to one of the world’s greatest brands: 

“Apple has told employees they will eventually be required to work in person at least three days per week, although they have pushed the return-to-office deadline back until at least October amid the current surge in coronavirus cases.

That move has been met with resistance by some Apple employees, who circulated a letter threatening to quit if required to report to work.”

In the related article (https://nypost.com/2021/06/06/apple-employees-bash-new-policy-cutting-work-from-home-time/) there’s this quote from said letter: “Without the inclusivity that flexibility brings, many of us feel we have to choose between either a combination of our families, our well-being, and being empowered to do our best work, or being a part of Apple,” the note read.  

While there is much that can be unpacked from these articles, I’m focusing on the theme “self over others” that one could infer from the articles.  Over indexing to the bias of self will negatively impact the professional development of all team members and, by inference, collectively across the enterprise.  Think about it:  A part of any enterprise’s worth is the collective capabilities and trajectory for unveiling the potential of its human talent.  Should that talent incubation slow, it would be natural to correspondingly presume a slowing increase in enterprise value.

While it’s fair to assert WFH flexibility allows each person to be “their best self”, and thus maximize enterprise value, the hypothesis being explored asserts “one’s best self”, when accomplished remotely, is slowed when “one’s best self” needs learning from others to be realized.  Similarly, when pursuing “one’s best self”, primarily remotely, other’s “best self” is more difficult to achieve because they learn less from the individual that is remote.  Hence arises a diminishment of enterprise value.

Learning occurs best in settings that foster it (Culture), and in conjunction with the realization that everyone’s a participant – I learn from those around me, and those around me learn from me.  Additionally, as was expressed in article 1, learning occurs most rapidly and deepest when working in physical proximity of contemporaries.  The ability to act spontaneously, to communicate both verbally and visually, to observe 1st hand the work of others, to respond in real-time – all things that happen when we work in person with each other – are all underpinnings to rapid and deep learning.

WFH is an inhibitor to learning within an individual, across a team, and institutionally.  The more WFH that takes place, the more hampered and marginalized are the individual and collective learning outcomes.

I personally agree that for knowledge workers to choose to WFH predominantly, recognizing one’s own learning and career growth is likely marginalized to some degree, is that person’s choice.  One must trust they are seeking the right balance for themselves between personal wellbeing and personal career outcomes, including their participation in a learning and work community.

However, I am advocating for something I rarely read in most of these WFH conversations:  the individual making that choice is not the only one impacted.  Countless others, over the tenure of one’s career, are dependent on that same individual for their career wellbeing.  Hence, the multi-person impact realization must be on the table and a part of these WFH considerations.  

The less-than-apparent tension between one’s insistence to WFH and one’s interest to help others learn shapes some of my counsel to young professionals:

  1. Make a list of those colleagues looking to you for actively contributing to their learning

  2. Make a list of people (by name or by role) who will be teaching and mentoring you.  List the people under which you will (metaphorically) apprentice.  

  3. Our conversations will close with a discussion of these two questions:

    1. For those dependent on you, how will your WFH decision affect their learning?

    2. For those on whom you depend, how will their WFH decision affect your learning?

The conversations that spark from these questions are interesting, occasionally eye opening.  We explore the balancing of self and others.  We acknowledge the real-world validity in a home-centered professional experience that makes the juggling of house, family, children, and neighborhood more enriching.  We acknowledge how one’s professional capability advancement is likely impeded by a lack of 1st hand professional interaction and in-person exposure to the experience and wisdom with others.  

My final challenge to those I counsel:

  • When forming your personal WFH philosophy, factor in the reliance others have on you for their learning and career wellbeing, and your reliance on others to learn from.