Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office” • Hacker News Board

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#71

Post by tiffanyh » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:19 AM UTC

Just remember ... the CEO role of a major company is radically different than any other job.

What Marc calls "work", you and I can't relate too.

He's spending a disporportionate amount of time talking to investors, talking to customers, talking to his Board.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's traveling 100 business days a year as a result.

Which if you're not at home because you're traveling for work, or if you are at home but just talking phone calls - that's a very different type of "working remote".

===

EDIT: why the downvotes? Please comment if you disagree with something I said so that we can have a health discourse.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#72

Post by john_the_writer » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:22 AM UTC

rjh29 wrote: post #69

lpapez wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can walk even without going to work fyi.

I did, but the enforced boundary between work and home is very important to me.

You can enforce that boundary with a walk before and after work.

Wake, coffee, walk, start work at 9. Finish at 5, put computer away, and walk for 15 min, your day is done.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#73

Post by actionfromafar » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:22 AM UTC

isilofi wrote: post #56

FirmwareBurner wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I ask where in Europe? I'm also looking for something remote friendly as most companies in my area have pull everyone back in the office and I hate it.

Germany, a company formerly part of (and still somewhat associated with) Siemens. But I'm not sure I can recommend it, depending on which department you land in, it is the proverbial German corporate bureaucracy. And depending on the department, they can be anything from totally-100%-homeoffice-friendly to totally-100%-opposed. And all the other big-corporate-clichees times 1000.

Thank you so much. I will forever refence Germany as a company formerly part of Siemens. Everything makes so much more sense now.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#74

Post by HenryBemis » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:25 AM UTC

prmoustache wrote: post #65

Recently someone posted an office etiquette post on our intranet, citing all you should do or avoid so that your coworkers can work and focus comfortably. The person posting it probably though it was helpful, but it was just showing how an hell of a place offices have become since they went the open space route.

Could you please give us some of the examples? (4-5 and do change the wording to protect yourself)

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#75

Post by john_the_writer » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:25 AM UTC

rjh29 wrote: post #68

formerly_proven wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- "my employer needs to force me to touch grass or I will literally go insane"

People get really defensive about remote work I guess? It wasn't just walking, there was also social isolation and being excluded that made it unbearable. And no real boundary between work and home. If you're doing an hour driving every day I can see why you'd prefer remote though.

Have coffee meetings. I've been at home for 10 years, and I make a point to sip coffee while in zoom meeting about nothing.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#76

Post by ltr_ » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:27 AM UTC

in my experience all middle management people that wants everyone to go back to the offices are useless pieces of crap.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#77

Post by john_the_writer » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:30 AM UTC

alophawen wrote: post #43

khuedoan wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only if you live in a country with decent public transportation. The rest of the world still have to deal with traffic jam and polluted air while commuting (cars are difficult to get in many countries).

> Only if you live in a country with decent public transportation So only in every country in the world except USA?

Or Sydney-Australia where if you're super lucky you're not standing squished on a train, or bouncing on a bus with 3 times as many people as seats.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#78

Post by dickersnoodle » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:31 AM UTC

flakeoil wrote: post #37

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think more remote is inevitable. Think of how much time is stolen from you in a daily commute. Remote is better for the environment too.

Stolen? You were paid for and took the job you knew was a certain distance and commute away from your home. I believe employees have to start to get used to being paid less when working remote. People who work in an office or factory have to be rewarded for this commute. Some jobs cannot be made remote. I assume a lot of people working remote also like the fact that they can do the laundry, clean the house, do some e…

This reads like a ChatGPT version of one of those "Remote Work Is Harmful!" pieces in Business Insider that clutter up LinkedIn and Reddit.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#79

Post by mpeg » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:37 AM UTC

tiffanyh wrote: post #71

Just remember ... the CEO role of a major company is radically different than any other job. What Marc calls "work", you and I can't relate too. He's spending a disporportionate amount of time talking to investors, talking to customers, talking to his Board. I wouldn't be surprised if he's traveling 100 business days a year as a result. Which if you're not at home because you're traveling for work, or if you are at h…

Yes, when he says he doesn’t work well in an office people here are reading he wants to work from home.

In reality, he’s probably thinking he’d rather be on the road than stay in his SV ivory tower.

Two stories about Benioff you might find interesting; when we were selling our startup there were two bidders on the table, Google and Salesforce.

Google sent out minions, Larry and Sergey were only reachable via email/call.

Benioff flew over to wine and dine our founders, they found common ground and he charmed them with his vision of where he saw our product going. He won with a lower bid than Google.

After the acquisition closed, he flew over to London too to visit my business unit, we met with him in the office and the senior management team were again taken out for some 1:1 time with him over dinner. Any skepticism they might have had was washed away after that evening, they all came back “brainwashed” into the Salesforce way — he even gifted us one of the domain names from his personal collection to use for our product (my email was marcos@social.com for a while, which I did find really cool)

The second story, he once logged into an all hands call using a shitty satellite connection from his yacht in the middle of the Mediterranean. He could have delegated while he was on holiday, but I don’t think Benioff ever switches off, hence why working from anywhere is his default mode of operation.

Re: Marc Benioff: “I don’t work well in an office”

#80

Post by hairofadog » Sat, Sep 16, 2023, 11:40 AM UTC

rjh29 wrote: post #68

formerly_proven wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- "my employer needs to force me to touch grass or I will literally go insane"

People get really defensive about remote work I guess? It wasn't just walking, there was also social isolation and being excluded that made it unbearable. And no real boundary between work and home. If you're doing an hour driving every day I can see why you'd prefer remote though.

Yeah, I'd like to come to your defense here. While I do prefer working from home, I totally get what you're saying about the routine of walking to work.

I used to bike commute about 7 miles each way up and down some intense hills; it was part of my routine, and I had to do it. Now that I'm working from home, sure, I could go out and ride 15 miles every day, but it becomes a matter of discipline.

Same with socializing. I tend to prefer solitude, so socializing, like exercising, now requires discipline – I have to make myself do it – whereas before it was baked in, and unavoidable.

People recommending a dog aren't wrong. I do have a dog now, and walk at least 5 miles a day. My dog is an idiot so I can't really do the dog-park thing, but if you have a non-idiotic dog, there's some socialization to be gained there, too. BUT: it's a big commitment, and will have an impact on big life decisions later on like what apartment you can rent, whether you live in a city or a suburb, how easy it is to take a vacation or travel abroad, etc., so it's not like it's a no-brainer or an easy solution.