Blink and Tipping Point Author Malcolm Gladwell is a funny fellow. Remember the time he explained to New York magazine about his trip on Jeffery Epstein's plane like this: "I don't remember much except being baffled as to who this Epstein guy was and why we were all on his plane?" Or when he upset Larry Nassar survivor parents by using interview quotes out of context? Or the time he claimed poets had the highest suicide rate and used this as the source? Or his cozy paid relationship with tobacco companies and other corporations he writes about?
Gladwell's latest funny thing? Scolding people who enjoy working from home and don't want to go back to the office to work. As you might guess, Gladwell has been working from home and from coffee shops for years and loves it.
Here's what he said about it when he was a guest on the Diary of a CEO podcast, according The Daily Mail:
'As we face the battle that all organizations are facing now in getting people back into the office, it's really hard to explain this core psychological truth, which is we want you to have a feeling of belonging and to feel necessary. And we want you to join our team. And if you're not here it's really hard to do that,' Gladwell explained.
Gladwell, however, has a history of frank discussions about his own long-running avoidance of The New Yorker's office – where he is a staff writer. He has instead made a habit of working from his swanky West Village home or neighborhood coffeeshops – even before the pandemic ravaged New York City's commercial office market.
The bestselling author revealed in a 2008 interview with New York Magazine that he refused to trek even a few miles to the magazine's upscale office, then based in Midtown – citing his 'aversion' to the neighborhood.