NIC HARALAMBOUS

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Don't Write off Offices Just yet - the World Isn’t Going to Change as Quickly as You Think.

Photo by kate.sade on Unsplash

There seem to be two camps in Quarantino (that’s what I’m calling the world we’re in right now); Those who think everything will change once lockdowns and quarantines are over and those who don’t know what’s going to happen.

I find it odd that no one believes things are going to go back to the way they were.

I don’t think thing are going to change as much as we might think once we’re allowed back into the world.

Before the whole world moves to remote work and burns their offices down, we need to get rid of the boss who likes to see human (not pixel) bums in seats before giving out bonuses.

Before we see citizen journalism overrun traditional media we will need to meet humans who care enough about the truth to fact check their bias.

Before we see real-world sporting events replaced by esports we will need to see the hundreds of millions of fans who attended physical games buy into the concept of pixels kicking balls and racing fake cars becoming more enticing than blood, sweat and actual tears.

Before we see colleges disintegrate in the face of MOOCs we’ll have to break down the highly regarded (yet mostly irrelevant) institutions that so many young people are conditioned to believe will give them a leg up and a better future.

Before handshakes and hugs are replaced with head nods and winks we will need to break down centuries-old habits of human connection and interaction.

The past is not left behind in an instant. The future is not created in a single epidemic.

We all wish it were that simple but it isn’t. Humans like what they like and those things don’t change overnight. We like going to bars. We like casual sex after meeting at a dirty nightclub. We like handshakes and hugs. We like meeting in person (and there’s value in it too). We like offices and we like getting away from our homes. This lockdown life isn’t for everyone. Let’s not mistake what’s big right now in our lives for what we think the entire working world wants.

Just because you want things to be different tomorrow doesn’t make it so.

We are going to go back to the normal we know before we redefine normal of our future.