Do you work at an office? The vast majority of people do. It’s the way the world works. People congregate in office environments to work, because it fosters many good business practices, including a team approach to getting things done. Different people bring different skills to the table. In fact, the ‘table’ becomes the meeting table – an iconic image of every office’s collaborative approach to problem solving.

Except, of course, that boardroom tables and chairs are old technology. Wood is analog, and increasingly today, collaboration is digital. In fact, increasingly, work is digital. So, why do we keep supporting the pillars of industry with office buildings? In many respects, bricks and mortar are old technology, too. Why don’t more of us work from home, cottage, café, sailboat or beach?

Yesterday was ‘Work from Home Day’ across Canada. Nothing changed for me, but it did for millions of other people and, as a champion of flexible work who runs a business that makes things happen (often virtually), I couldn’t be happier. Well, actually, I could. My reaction to the ballyhoo about making ‘Work from Home Day’ an annual event was ‘Are you kidding? Surely we can move faster than that, can’t we? How about a weekly work from home event?’ Look at ‘casual Fridays’. Some organizations started letting people leave their pantyhose, high heels and starched collars home once a week, and it only took a couple of years until everyone was dressing like normal human beings all the time. I passionately believe that the same thing can happen with working from home – or, more specifically, working anywhere outside the confines of the office. Work and workstyle can be personalized to each human being’s normal. It can fit in with their life, rather than them having to fit into it. It can. It does in my world. And I’m leading the charge to make it happen in yours.