“Oh, ok neat…see ya!”
This is a typical conversation I have with people when they ask me the standard, “what do you do question.” Although I prefer the Spanish phrase, “A que te dedicas” (what are you dedicated to), I both do and am deeply dedicated to architecting location-independent, values-driven organizations, in my pjs!
I’ve been working remotely for over 8 years, 4 of those years as a Cultural Architect for a fully remote organization. What I learned pre-pandemic, that many companies are learning now, is that remote work doesn’t kill culture, it truly reveals what the culture is once the office is removed.
While the pandemic was terrible for a lot of people, I genuinely believe that it unlocked the power of company culture and a blue ocean space for making work, work better. Organizations now have the opportunity to be intentional about everything, as we move from Industrial Revolution employment tactics to better working environments (live in a place that feeds your soul, work remotely), employee equity and global economic development while building the future of work. Oh, and also…no commute time #carbonneutralgoals.
Working from anywhere doesn’t allow for culture to be ignored, and requires a complete remodel of how we worked in the office. When we architect cultures outside of physical location, shared norms no longer exist and “the unwritten rules” can’t be taught unless a company understands what they cohesively think, feel, say and do as a collective. Have you ever been privy to a cultural “faux pas?” Like going to Japan, but not knowing it is customary to bow when you say “thank you,” or walking into a dojo with shoes on because you weren’t familiar with the cultural norms? It’s the same thing in remote work! Organizations are now responsible for codifying, teaching and modeling cultural norms, so that employees can assimilate faster and more comfortably into a virtual environment.
When we can shape the working experience around values-driven organizations, allowing people to have freedom within a framework to work virtually with people who share their intrinsic values, but live physically in their chosen communities, can you imagine the places we’ll go??
Darcy Boles is a Culture Architect, Remote Work Consultant and Future of Work Thought Leader. She just spent a week at MEA in Baja, lives in San Diego, with her fiance Dan, Golden Retriever Blanche, and a quiver of surfboards. You can connect with her on Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darcyboles/