Agents of Change
Several months ago, I went to the office to pick up a few things left behind after shifting to fully remote work last March. The rows of vacant desks were as orderly as an org chart, and the whiteboards still bore traces of strategies planned for a more predictable world. I felt a wave of nostalgia for this serene space, where for eight hours each day the messiness of real life was kept at bay by workplace norms and policies. But this office, now emptied by the pandemic, itself silently testified to the limits of our ability to contain or control forces of change and disruption. Management and leadership have always been about establishing order amid chaos. Within the sphere of the organization, managers set rules, curate culture, and enjoy a…