Working from home is the new default

Remote work is the default now, whether we like it or not. 

There is power in being the default. 

Our brains are wired to be very efficient machines, we prefer shortcuts and easy solutions. Thinking is work. Changing something requires effort. 

So it’s no surprise that the vast majority of people never bother with changing the default settings they are given. This is such a big deal companies pay fortunes to be the default option on your phone, on your computer, on your browser. They understand that just being the default means that they will have a huge advantage over the other options, regardless of how they actually compare. 

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. “Don’t change horses midstream”. Countless sayings further reinforce this tendency. It’s hard to argue for something different, because the status quo always starts with this advantage. Our brains assume that if something is in place, there’s got to be a good reason for it regardless of that being true or not. 

Which leads us to remote working. 

Technology has enabled a lot of new ways to organise how things are done. The “workplace” itself is a technological invention of the industrial revolution. Until then, there was no separation between home and work. Farmers would live in their farms, craftsmen and women would live above (if not within) their studio/shop, etc. Complex bureaucracy and the industrial factory changed a lot of that. 

The modern office is still a legacy of the industrial way to organise work: people need to go where the means of production are. But a lot of that changed when the personal computer arrived. All of a sudden, many of the tools that were restricted to large business were cheap enough for individual consumers. Real time communication was still an issue though, but that last link came with the internet. 

Technically speaking, most people could have been working remotely for years now. But as we know, the office was the default option, and defaults are hard to change. It would require a great deal of effort, a truly global shock to change such a big part of our lives, such a big part of the economy. I think you know where I’m heading :)

Enter Covid-19.

There’s no need to talk much about the pandemic in 2020, we are all sick and tired of it, pun intended. 

But now, as it looks like the worst is behind us (hopefully), the conversation about going back to normal is taking place in very different terms. Survey after survey show that people are not really thrilled about going back to the office (not to mention the commute). There are big implications for the ecosystem of business that make a living off office workers, not to mention office space providers (who were in trouble even before this). 

There are plenty of articles popping up every day about how remote work isn’t great, how people will miss out on socialising or learning or opportunities for growth and whatnot. But those seem to not be enough to offset the problems of the office: even before covid, who actually enjoyed their commute? Or the expenses? Or the “efficient” open plan offices? Turns out a lot of people were going to the office only because they didn’t have a choice. Now not only there’s a choice, it is the default choice. 

Like it or not, working remotely will not be going away anytime soon. It will be really hard for those arguing for a return to the old days, because it looks like the office only lasted as long as it did because it was the default choice.

As usual, opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.