#makingsense

my life so far (sense from es-sence)

oilstick, acrylic, indian ink on paper

Why Do You Write?

A few years ago in our Vermont College MFA blog, someone wrote about why they write when they know they’ll never get enough money to pay bills, etc…. Her reasons were interesting and somewhat inspiring, but had nothing to do with why I write. Making Sense I write to make sense of things, because I want to believe that lives are part of a bigger picture, a bigger connection, and because it’s…

Discussing Distributed Work with Matt Mullenweg

Much like “social distancing” has become a familiar term, in light of adaptation to the novel Coronavirus, so too will the idea of “distributed work.” The concept has already been in existence as the internet and mobile technologies surrounding it, have relaxed the necessity for certain office jobs to be wholly limited to one centralized environment. More and more, the option to work remotely has become a norm in some companies. Distributed work is a business model that does away with the office completely, allowing the employees to work from home or wherever (and however) they feel most productive.

The pandemic has now forced many businesses to test the model, in order to keep their show on the road. And while this may be only a temporary solution for some, it may also be a taste of what’s to come for the future of work, at least in certain pockets of the economy.

A very possible prediction. In tandem with transportation options on the horizon and in response to increasingly congested/expensive cities—not to mention the newfound benefits to distance during a contagious bio-threat—It’s foreseeable that the future of crowded cities themselves will be more decentralized.  

Sam Harris speaks to Matt Mullenweg, creator/founder of WordPress and Automatic (which has also recently acquired Tumblr). The two discuss the concept of distributed work, it’s benefits, it’s challenges, stages, and seeming inevitability. Matt is very insightful and optimistic—And while the business model doesn’t work for every employer, it does provide an example of reviewing outdated concepts in order to optimize the value an employer should be seeking out of their company and employees.