The forgotten issue in all the hype and hysteria of what a post COVID workplace might be, is the reality that the pre February 2020 workplace (pre COVID) was broken and fundamentally trying to fix future social, work and business needs by putting a trendy looking band aid on what’s been done for the last 150 years, hoping it might heal, or if not, the band aid might protect or at the very least distract you from the festering sore underneath.

For 30+ years I’ve rallied hard against 9-5 as the only viable work method; against one job for life; against straight jacket job descriptions, about going to the same place doing the same thing purely our of habit; against micro management.

It’s always been done that way, fear, habit and legacy systems were always the reasons we couldn’t change, but guess what COVID doesn’t care and increasingly neither did your clients and staff.

They were all making arrangements that suited them best and if that included you, great. If it didn’t then, still love you, but we’re moving on.

Sure for many workplaces centralisation may still work, manufacturing, health services, but its time to stop fooling ourselves, the exceptions do not prove the rule anymore.

Now with decentralised, peer to peer and distributed work and business models supported by the confident backbone of technology, work is now often best answered by the where, when and how that makes most makes sense to the task or project at hand.

In this weeks catch up @PhilRTHK or as his better known to his Hong Kong Rado 3 listeners Phil Whelan and I chat about the office of the future, the likelihood that this new forced lived experiment of a different work style will leave and also my reality that despite my earnest desire and the promises we’re all making, 80% of work life will return to pre COVID status quo (please I want to be wrong!!!)

Have a listen now (18 mins 28 sec) and then let me know your thoughts…