I love equations that encapsulate “risk”, using the Greek letter Rho, the calculus symbol for “uncertainty” Perhaps that resonates for me, sending my thoughts back to medical school days, the early days (ah youth, I remember it well!) We learned in year one about maternal:fetal blood compatibility, where Rhogam was a treatment for anti- body
incompatibility. Fundamental year one learnings. An ultimate life:death representation of uncertainly,
So, how could it be, that this really smart guy, Masayoshi Son, went for Adam Neumann’s WeWorks vision big time, and left his Rho behind?
My point: What happens when workforce behavior changes faster than usiness models can anticipate or accommodate? When tech accelerates human behavior, faster than a business plan can adapt. That’s Business mojo turned to Business Rhojo! In the case of WeWorks, there were signs, but how do you anticipate and measure sociology, WorkCulture, WorkGroup and WorkIndividualism after you’ve gone public? I was readily eager to shift to the digital workplace. I try to learn from inter-generational dynamics. Gen Z<->Millenials<->GenY. I myself am a Boomer. But my read on WeWorks
came from a different perspective, SALT tax law. For me “working harder and harder and paying more and more property taxes” that were less and less deductible, that is a “real cost” up-prioritized my decision to find a way to maximize my use of the comforts and conveniences of my costly physical personal world.
Any office setting that I pay (fractionally) for by the “company take” in my“comp package”, no matter how interim, transient or habitual that space utilization might be for me is a negative Sure everyone has their own rationale. Watercooler…forget it. I’ll have an Evian and lime and share witty repartee on a video conference call! And if my boss wants or needs me, or when I’m boss, my staff needs me…we’ll just meet in the cloud from the leisure comfort of wherever we care to be!
So did Masayoshi Son have a work culture bias and forgo differences in workforce dynamics? Was the momentum of a public offering too much to pull back for introspection?
https://www.businessinsider.com/differences-between-japanese-and-american-work-culture-2018-3#in-japanese- companies-employees-must-get-their-superiors-approval-whenever-they-make-a-decision-2
Now roll up data from survey’s of the working population, understanding that “do what you love and you’ll never work a day” while a truism, is ultimately not the common experience, not by a long shot. Just by “lost personal life opportunity costs”, going to the office to work, lest that venue be on your phone, device, home station, risks your
precious time.
Please do write in, feedback and insight, on your work:life “style”, and your impressions of whether “my precious time and life defined therein” is a generational, regional, industry sector, culture or “just plain common sense” concept. Know your Rho, (and act accordingly!)
