Blinded by The Office
How In-Office Bias Hides the Truth About Workplace Performance
I get it—we all have biases and and personal preferences. No two people are alike, and, if managed well, that can be a beneficial thing. After all, uniformity is not only boring but it’s terrible for performance. However, when I came across a USA Today article last week “revealing the truth” about remote workers spending their days napping, running errands, and doing anything but work, I couldn’t help but put my head on my desk wondering what I just read.
While many know I’m a strong advocate for remote and flexible work, what many don’t know is I haven’t only worked in flexible or remote setups. I spent a good portion of my working career in the office, which is why this article was so frustrating. Correction, when I see things like this that so grossly misrepresent a position, cherry-picking data from a poorly designed survey to frame remote workers as lazy or unproductive, it doesn’t just frustrate me—it angers me on a primal level. It’s the same primal anger that bubbles up when I hear people suggest stay-at-home moms watch soap operas and drink smoothies all day. I’d invite anyone to come spend a day with my wife. Your perspective will change really quickly.
Setting that aside, here’s a more transferrable point. This kind of bias results in organizations getting so caught up in where people are working they completely lose sight of what actually matters: the results. I recorded a video where I go into more details, but here’s the gist: we need to stop our obsession with work location and start focusing on business outcomes. My goal in writing this is so much bigger than defending remote work—it’s about challenging biases that are holding everyone back.
As with all my reflections, there were some key takeaways that can hopefully put this to rest and highlight how these nonsensical misconceptions are not just wrong but harmful to employees and business performance. With that, let’s get to it.
Top Takeaways
“If you think office workers aren’t distracted, you aren’t paying attention.”
Let’s be real—distractions aren’t unique to remote workers. Everyone has moments when they’re not laser-focused on the task at hand, but the article positioned the cherry-picked data in a way that made remote employees look like the only ones who get distracted. I’ve worked in the office, and guess what? I’ve seen people doing every single item on the list. People shop online between meetings, scroll through social media, or even catch a nap in the corporate nap pods. Taking a break happens everywhere.
However, here’s the bigger issue. Focusing on distractions with remote workers while ignoring them with their in-office colleagues creates a toxic “us vs. them” mentality. You’re dividing your workforce into camps—those who are “loyal” because they’re distracted in the office and those who are “lazy” because they’re distracted at home. And, I don’t need to tell you what happens when you divide people. Divided kingdoms fall. When we pin groups against each other based on where they work instead of focusing on their performance, we set ourselves up for failure.
“If your team doesn’t take breaks, they’re performing worse.”
Your employees are humans, not robots. People aren’t designed to sit in one place for eight hours straight, hooked to a feeding tube and glued to their screens. In fact, research shows that taking breaks and stepping away from work boosts productivity, creativity, and overall performance. Even anecdotally, it’s no secret your best ideas frequently come when you step away from your desk—whether it’s to grab lunch, refill your coffee, go for a quick walk, or yes, even change a diaper or fold laundry.
Leaders who believe their team members need to be constantly “on” are not only wrong, they’re causing harm to their teams. Trying to force people into a machine-like working mode increases burnout and craters performance. Please, stop believing Suits is a normal way of working. We need to embrace the reality that distractions and breaks aren’t just necessary—they’re part of what makes us human. Oh, and this is where AI comes in. We should be focusing our technology on handling repetitive, robotic tasks so people have the freedom and flexibility to focus on what really matters: innovation, creativity, interpersonal relationships, and complex problem-solving.
“You don’t want a bunch of clones if you’re building a high performance team.”
It’s easy to fall into the trap of believing, “If only everyone thought and worked like I do, then everything would run better.” But that’s a foolish and dangerous mindset. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer working in an office or remotely; surrounding yourself with people who experience the world exactly like you is a recipe for disaster. I’ve led hybrid teams for years, and even though I’m a huge advocate for remote work, I am intentional about hiring people who love the office. Why? Because I don’t want my own bias to blind me.
The same should be true for leaders more comfortable with office-first environments. You need people who hate water cooler conversations and would rather have bamboo shoots shoved under their fingernails than attend a team happy hour. They’ll challenge your assumptions and help you see things more clearly. Diversity in how we work and think is a strength. When you have a team made up of different viewpoints, that’s when you will finally see the real magic happen.
“Your culture ultimately will look like you, so be careful what you model.”
As a leader, whether you realize it or not, you’re setting the tone for your entire organization. If you’re biased toward in-office work or you let stereotypes about remote workers drive your decisions, your bias will trickle down to your team. Sure, you might justify this one because it feels right to you—but what happens when biases start showing up in other areas that don’t feel so right? You can’t pick and choose where divisiveness appears. It’s like cancer. Once it starts, it spreads.
Creating a culture of bias—whether it’s about work arrangements, gender, ethnicity, or anything else—will always come back to bite you. And, oh what a bite it will be. You have to crush its ugly head. If your team sees you playing favorites or drawing lines based on personal preference, it’ll kill collaboration and trust throughout the entire team. Your job as a leader is to foster a culture of inclusivity and performance. Stop making it one that divides your team over where they happen to do their work.
Concluding Thoughts
I get it’s easy to get distracted by articles like this or fall into the trap of thinking where someone works is of critical importance. Heck, watch the video, and you’ll see my less polished reaction. However, if you’re serious about leading in today’s world, you can’t get distracted by surface-level things like where people are sitting or how they’re managing their day. The real focus needs to be on what’s being accomplished and how it’s moving the business forward.
I think I’ve made my point, but I’ll say it again. Obsessing over how your employees work, whether in an office or at home, isn’t just bad for your employees and your culture—it’s bad for your business. By allowing our personal biases to take the wheel, we miss the real opportunities to lead our teams more effectively. We fail to create environments where people can do their best work. And at the end of the day, that’s what leadership is all about—removing barriers so all of your people can thrive.
So here’s my challenge to you: think bigger. Step back from the noise and consider the things that are really driving success. I promise it won’t come from enforcing elementary school rules or clinging to what makes you comfortable. It comes when you embrace new ways of working, recognizing that performance is what really matters, and trusting your people to deliver. If you decide to focus on those things, not only will you create stronger teams, but we’ll collectively build companies more resilient, innovative, and ready for whatever comes next.