Reasons to be at the Office

April 25, 2022

Good morning! Do you think our dear old beleaguered Earth deserves more than just one day? Lakes, rivers, mountains, canyons and other naturally occurring terrain are obstacles to pedestrian travel.
What is the #1 non-naturally occurring challenge to travel? Whom would you invite to dinner? It’s a fascinating parlor game. In the latest edition of Bon Appetit Dolly Parton chose Jesus (of Nazareth), Elvis Presley, and Martin King.

There are many reasons to make a pilgrimage to Northwest Arkansas, among them the Crystal Bridges Museum of American (U.S.) Art.
Do not be afraid of change, be afraid of not changing.
- I find myself reflecting on this aphorism more and more.
If you have a bunch of bananas sitting on the counter, and assuming you will eventually consume all of them, do you in the moment eat the one closest to perfection —
- — or the one furthest from it?
Trends aren’t always good — nor bad.
- But, trends are worth noting and almost always important for one reason or another.
- You should never change directions with the wind, but trends will affect you and pose challenges.
- More and more we see executive-level positions being created to address the Customer Experience; e.g., Vice President of Customer Experience
  - What do you make of this?
  - Is it nothing new, just a different title?
When you think about it, the plague has been an accelerator for many things both good and bad.
- Things that were always — or eventually — going to happen, happened faster.

Reasons to be at the Office

From Carlson we get a suggestion regarding reasons to be AT the office and reasons to NOT be at the office:
- If it’s heads-up work; e.g., collaborative, team-oriented, a sales kickoff, product brainstorm, planning sessions
  - Productivity and effectiveness probably improve in-person
- If it’s heads down work; e.g., writing, coding, e-mail, thinking, communicating with clients via phone
  - Probably doesn’t matter where… might even be better if NOT at an office with lots of distractions
I recently used a service called SpotHero.
- Perhaps you’re familiar with it?
- For a fraction of the in-the-moment cost you can reserve a parking space in an urban area by paying in advance and being guaranteed a spot.
- Downtown Chicago, for example, compare $70 a day as an impulsive drive-up customer vs. $20 a day using SpotHero.
It’s interesting to discover a never-knew-anyting-about-it industry.
- There are tens of thousands of others about which I’m ignorant, no doubt.
“Parking equals stress for most U.S. citizens.”
- Half of those surveyed agree that parking is stressful (who knew?!).
- More than a quarter of people would rather listen to Christmas music year-’round or go to the dentist than drive around looking for parking.
- More than a quarter of people spend at least 30 minutes looking for parking (presumably in a big city).
- Two-thirds admit to being late because they could not find a parking spot.
- Almost half of the people surveyed admitted to getting into an oral argument with a stranger over parking…
- … and, almost half of the people admitted to feeling road rage while trying to park.
  - BTW, this parking phenomenon isn’t limited to urban areas. Where I live people will drive around the block endlessly in order to park ten feet closer to where they’re going.
From McKinsey and Company, four actions to shore-up a long-term talent strategy: