Origin Story

Another shuffle is coming. Not quite the "great resignation" we saw as the teeth of the pandemic receded, but something significant. There are a lot of unhappy people sticking with bad companies because the job market for new go-to-market roles has been highly volatile over the past 1-2 years. Sucking it up and sustaining a paycheck despite toxic cultures has, for some and until now, been better than the massive uncertainty and income gap of the recent B2B job market. That could be changing soon. If the feds cut rates in September, that could signal a growing confidence in the near-future market that encourages investors to put cash back into play, allows PE firms to start moving on over-pregnant exit options, and allows healthy and growing start-ups to finally start planning for IPOs. If we start to see headlines of these signs of momentum come to fruition in the coming months, 2025 could be a whole lot of fun. Great people will find better cultures and opportunities as well. It has been really frustrating to talk to great people who feel "stuck" in awful companies. I'm so excited for them to finally have their day.

“Who is forcing employees back into the office, and why are they doing it?” I was talking to someone recently about working from anywhere, and started digging deeper into the WHO and WHY behind these Return To Office (RTO) mandates so often in the headlines. From my perch, there are clear benefits to the employee, company, and environment in a Work From Anywhere setup. Increased flexibility. Increased family support. Better health. Save time. Save money. More networking. Increased productivity. Increased profits. Broader talent pool. Less pollution and noise. Better for infrastructure. Better for the future. And probably many others I’m missing here. Every survey I’ve seen, including polls I’ve run in my own network, overwhelmingly show workers favoring the flexibility and related benefits of 100% remote roles (or at least having this as an option). So, this begs the questions that came up in the chat. * WHO is making this request? * Based on my own research and business articles, there is one group that pulls this RTO lever more than any other: CEOs. When we see a headline that says “Company ABC requires staff in house starting X date,” it’s not a random group of marketers or engineers or HR or [DEPARTMENT] making that call. Or a few executives or consultants. It’s the Company. And in this context, Company = CEO. Perhaps more importantly… * WHY are they doing it? * When posing this question to the community, the logic that came back included reasons like justifying a pricey office lease that is already signed. Also, you can’t offer legacy benefits remotely like that Employee of the Month parking space. Office bullies can’t “influence” people as easily with physical intimidation. The leadership team is change-resistant. In my heart of hearts, I say it’s that last one - not wanting to change - that is the biggest driver behind forcing folks back into the office. It may sound silly or “unscientific,” but I’m convinced some CEOs believe with enough resources, mandates, repetition, hard lines, and loud speeches, they can literally will the past into existence and have worker configurations and environments exactly as they were in 2019 and earlier. [cue scene where Thanos turns back time with gauntlet] Look, even the company Zoom smoke-signaled it didn’t believe in its own mission/solution when it forced folks to show up onsite. This month, Grindr lost half its staff after requiring teams to be in the office - or out of a job. And these scenarios are on the heels of dozens of companies suffering the similar fates - employee attrition, lost brand reputations, legal challenges, etc. So, what does this all mean? I believe the most successful companies of today and the future will be the ones that embrace a Work From Anywhere model. As a direct result, they will also attract top talent (who requires flexibility, which is the new currency), and thus gain an even further competitive edge. [fingers snap] What do you think?

15 simple steps to turbocharge your focus - Get more done with this deep work strategy: 1) Schedule Time ↳Pick a consistent time and block it on your calendar ↳Aim for at least 1 hour ↳Best results come from 2-3 hours / day 2) Prioritize ↳No multitasking - before you start, identify what you want to get done ↳Keep it to just 1 item ↳It might be your frog (the difficult task you've been avoiding) 3) Find Your Best Hours ↳Experiment to find the block where you're most productive ↳For some it's early mornings before the day's distractions ↳For others it's late night 4) Pick a Space ↳Find a distraction-free room or office ↳Close the door ↳Ask others not to come in during your deep work time 5) Gather Supplies ↳Gather anything you might need to complete the work ↳Download files from your email or message someone for them ↳You don't want to do this while trying to focus 6) Eliminate Distractions ↳Put your phone on airplane mode and away ↳Shut anything on your computer that notifies, like email or Slack ↳Close all social media and do not open again until finished 7) Have a Pen and Pad ↳Distracting thoughts and to-dos WILL pop into your head ↳Don't do them or open an app to write a reminder ↳Instead: Jot them down and return to the task at hand 8) Clear Your Mind ↳When you're ready, take a minute to clear your head before diving in ↳If you meditate, do a brief meditation ↳If not, simply close your eyes, take deep breaths, and count them up to 10 9) Set a Timer ↳Instead of watching the clock or working until exhaustion, set a timer ↳This not only eliminates the distraction of watching the time ↳It also forces you to stay fresh 10) Wear Headphones ↳If you can't eliminate all distracting sounds, consider noise-canceling headphones ↳Play nothing at all ↳Or anything non-disruptive: white noise, classical music, etc. 11) Use Pomodoro ↳Work in intervals with short breaks (common is 25 minutes on, 5 off) ↳Do NOT open your phone, email, or other distractions during breaks ↳Instead: Get up, stretch, breathe, or step outside 12) Review ↳After each session, look back at how it went ↳Identify distractions, and figure out how to eliminate next time ↳Assess whether the time of day and length of time worked for you 13) Eat Well ↳When not working, eat a nutritious and balanced diet ↳Don't let an empty stomach or food coma kill your productivity ↳Make sure to stay hydrated 14) Exercise ↳While exercise takes time, it improves productivity ↳This can be as simple as a short walk if pressed for time ↳But get in strength training and cardio as often as you can 15) Sleep ↳If you've ever tried to focus deeply when tired, you know how important this is ↳Get a minimum of 6 (and ideally 7-8) hours of sleep before any deep work ↳If you're still feeling drowsy, consider a 20-minute power nap Use these steps to get your most important tasks done, And regain control of your time. --- ♻ Repost to share with your network. And follow me George Stern for more.

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