Back To the Future

In full disclosure, I’m not one for accurate predictions.

Years ago as a young impressionable junior in high school, I wrote  a letter to William Paley, the legendary head of CBS on why his network would possibly try and make a television show out of the classic movie M*A*S*H. I warned him that the show would fly as well as a one-bladed helicopter.

Several years later, my college roommate turned investment banker told me about a ground floor IPO of a software company just outside of Seattle that was co-founded by a Harvard dropout that was about to debut a new operating system. I told him that computers were so expensive no one would be able to afford one in their homes.

Need I say more?

When I was invited to give a lecture in the early 1990s at Florida Atlantic University, the professor who hosted me said afterwards that within 15 years, millions of people would be working in home-based offices and ordering products via computers. I dismissed it as material for a “Future Shock” sequel.

You think by then I would have learned.

So currently, I am in my fifth year of working remotely, as are 60-65 million others in the U.S. according to Gartner Research, and like those millions of others was stunned at the news of online retailer Amazon purchasing Whole Foods.

Yet despite the mounds of statistics to the contrary on the quantum changes impacting the workplace and overall marketplace, there are those who stubbornly cling to the mindset and traditions of past generations.

Case in point.

Last week I visiting a firm in the New York area who wanted a consult on their succession plan, when I noticed the office layout was more reminiscent of the 70s and 80s “cubicle farms” than the open office design. I mentioned in passing that it looked like the No. 6 subway train at rush hour the way everyone was sardined in. Doesn’t anyone work remotely?

No, I was told, that was discouraged.

Why?

Because we can’t monitor them.

If the work gets done or doesn’t, isn’t that a fairly accurate barometer of whether someone is working or watching YouTube videos?

Silence.

So with roughly 300 providers of cloud applications for remote capabilities, this firm apparently preferred to be rooted in history than come into the present. Did I mention that the managing partner confided in me that they’re having trouble hiring new people?

I may have missed on my M*A*S*H and personal computer prognostications but I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that if it doesn’t adopt 21^st century workplace philosophies and quickly, this firm will be requesting our help for the foreseeable future – on a number of issues.