The critical value of the in-person “rock tumbler” for polishing products and people

One of the ongoing debates of our time is remote work versus in-person versus a hybrid approach. And I think that those who believe 100% one way or another is the “only way” may not have considered all the facets of building products, people, and teams.

To be clear up-front, I am a big believer in a “hybrid” approach — that there is a critical time that is spent face-to-face and in close proximity with people who are especially creating new products together. Brainstorming on whiteboards, and back and forth over a table, scribbling on napkins, over a frosty beverage, just can’t be duplicated over cameras and microphones — (change my mind).

In a now classic interview, Steve Jobs interview, he tells a story and metaphor in context that explains these ideas very vividly. Steve explains that some very smart people think that the “Idea” is 90% of the problem — that a Great Idea is all you need to have a Great Product — and that simply isn’t even the half of it.

There is a tremendous amount of craftsmanship between a Great Idea and a Great Product … there are tremendous trade-offs that you need to make … every day, you discover something new … it’s that process that is the magic.

Jobs goes on to tell a story about when he was a young kid, and there was a scary old man who at one point said, “Come with me, I want to show you something,” and led him into his garage and showed him an old machine that was basically a coffee can, a motor, and a big band — a rock tumbler. Into it they put some “old ugly rocks,” some grit powder, and some liquid, and then closed up the can and started the motor. Then he said, “Come back tomorrow,” as the “can was making a racket as the stones went around.”

He goes on to tell the story, when he came back the next day, and they opened the can, they took out these amazingly beautiful and polished rocks — the same common rocks that had gone in. But by rubbing against each other — and creating some friction and some noise — had come out these beautiful polished rocks.

So, this then is the metaphor of a team that is involved in creating new things that is regularly “bumping into” one another, and working through the friction of building a real-world project, and making some “noise” together, but in doing so producing some beautifully polished projects. And while some will say, and be able to substantially simulate this process without being in the same physical location, I will argue that I have witnessed this happen best when done in proximity.

Now, when the regular work of the “polisher” is done, and then work to build individual parts must get the teams to focus (individually, in pairs, or groups), and the office environment and individual attention/distraction tolerances of the team are serious factors, then allowing the team to operate for periods of time in their most optimal productive environment, is why I am a big advocate for hybrid — stay in the office and we’ll equip that well for you, or go to your remotely optimized location and get the work done — until the next time that we get together for some interaction, friction, noise, and polishing.