tocollaborateandseekfeedbackand
advice,andthisleadstohigher-quality,
morenovel,andmorediverseideas.”
Unfortunately,manyofusprobably
aren’tgoingbacktotheofficesoon.
About 65 millionAmericans—40%of the
workforce—nowworkremotely,accord-
ingtoNicholasBloom,a Stanfordecon-
omist. He predicts this shift will lead to
a drop in the number of patents, copy-
rights, and major product launches—
especially in industries that make
physical objects,such ascomputer
hardware,orwhoseemployeesworkin
laboratories,likebiotech.36
ILLUSTRATIONSBYMICHELLEKWON.DATA:GALLUP◼STRATEGIES BloombergBusinessweek August 10, 2020complianceissues)orhumanresources(focus-
ingonrecruiting).Fordiversityinitiativestosuc-
ceed,theCDOshouldreportdirectlytothechief
executive.“Ifyouhavea DEIinitiative that is not led
by someone with the authority to make structural
change, it is going to be ineffective,” Williams says.
Another dead-end strategy, Johnson says, is pro-
moting diversity by promoting meritocracy, without
explicitly talking about race or gender. Experiments
show that when researchers emphasize choosing
the most qualified candidate, study participants
overwhelmingly choose the White male—even ifhis experience is identical to everyone else’s.
Above all, the most important strategy for a
more equitable and inclusive environment is per-
sistence. This process is going to take awhile; there
won’t be a point at which you can declare success
and move on. “Though this moment in time has
released a lot of energy, we can’t be discouraged
by lack of immediate change,” Washington says.
“Those of us who have been doing this a long time
know it can be great when there’s energy, but there
can be whiplash if things don’t change overnight.”
�Sarah Green CarmichaelPROXIES FOR
PROXIMITY
● We have to think differently about
our schedules to stay innovativeIn the past five months, we’ve become
pretty adaptable. But as we make the
daily, short-term adjustments our new
realityrequires, wemightbedoing
long-term damage to our ability to
be creative—unless we rethink our
approach to work.
Innovating is a function of collabo-
ration. And no matter how productive
a company is on Zoom, “people learn
the most from those who are physi-
cally proximate,” says ShariqueHasan,
associate professor of strategyatDuke
University’s Fuqua SchoolofBusiness.
“ProximitymakespeoplemorelikelyThe key to mitigating these effects
is to replicate the spirit of collabora-
tion and serendipity in an organization
whose workers are physically isolated.
But much of our thinking about how to
do this has been wrongheaded. We’ve
been exporting in-office routines to an
onlineenvironment.
“Abigpartofmakingremotework
beneficialisbynottryingtore-create
what you already have,” says Aaron
Dignan, co-founder of TheReady, a con-
sulting firm that works with Fortune 1000
companies, and author of Brave New
Work: Are You Ready to Reinvent Your
Organization? Dignan pushes clients to
have teams meet only when confusion
or conflict emerges. “Deep thinking and
collision of ideas happens, but not in the
moment,”hesays.
Jason Fried, co-founder of
collaboration-software maker Basecamp,
which has been almost entirely vir-
tualsinceitsfoundingin1999,urges
a shiftfrom“real-timeinteractionsto
asynchronous interactions.” Eliminate
meetings, in other words, and give
employees “time to express complete
thoughts that others can then consider.”
Workers may not interact as much
using this method, but the quality of their
interactions could be higher. And man-
agers won’t have to try so hard to con-
vince employees that working from home
isn’t a poor proxy of office life. People are
thinking, I can’t wait until this is over,
Fried says. “They’re not in the mindset of
wanting to get better at it.” A move away
from grafted-on scheduling could be the
start of that process. �Larry Kanter●Goonblind
dates
Zoomhasa “breakoutroom”
function,whichrandomlyputs
meetingparticipantsintosmall
groups.(Slack’sDonutappworks
similarly,creatingrandompairs.)
“Youcanputpeopletogether
in waysthatmightneverhave
happenedin theoffice,”saysBeth
Comstock,a formervicechairof
GeneralElectricCo.wholedits
business-innovation unit.● Pick up the
phone
Make some of your daily
interactions walk and talks. “We
are all so sick of sitting at our
desks and staring at screens
when we need to connect with
each other,” Edmondson says,
adding that even small changes
in our routines can shake loose
big ideas. �L.K.THREE WAYS TO BETTER CONNECT
● Don’t stare at
yourself
Disable the self-view function
on a videoconference call. “It
makes you self-conscious, and
that detracts from creativity,”
says Amy Edmondson, a
professor at Harvard Business
School and author of The
Fearless Organization: Creating
Psychological Safety in the
Workplace for Learning,
Innovation, and Growth.