Imagine your highest performer consistently delivered exceptional results in just three hours each day. They exceeded every expectation, their colleagues loved working with them, and the business was better because of their contributions.
Would your first instinct be to celebrate the efficiency? Or would you wonder why you hadn’t asked more of them? Or both?
There are only two coherent answers. Either you’ve asked too little of someone capable of more, or they’ve earned the freedom that extraordinary performance creates. Any other answer assumes that the purpose of work is not simply to produce results, but to occupy time.
AI is about to make this thought experiment far less hypothetical.
As AI automates routine tasks and amplifies human capability, exceptional employees won’t just save a few minutes here and there. They may reclaim hours of their day while producing the same (or even greater) value. Every leader will soon face the same question: who owns that newly created capacity?
Which is why I’ve found myself thinking differently about the return-to-office debate.
For years, the conversation has revolved around productivity, collaboration, and culture. Every few months another study is published, another CEO announces a new mandate, and another company reverses course. Yet the more I’ve read, the less convinced I’ve become that the debate is really about where people work.
Over the past year, researchers have found little evidence that broad return-to-office mandates improve organizational performance. More recently, researchers found that CEOs who score higher on traits associated with narcissism are also more likely to require employees back into the office.
At the same time, we’re living through a loneliness epidemic. Young adults report unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and social isolation, and there is growing evidence that fully remote work can reduce the informal interactions that foster friendship, mentorship, and belonging.
These findings point in different directions because they are answering different questions.
The return-to-office debate has never been only about productivity. It is a proxy for something much deeper: our beliefs about what work is for and what employers are entitled to expect from the people they lead.
When someone becomes dramatically more efficient, do they earn more autonomy? Or does every gain in productivity simply become another claim on their time?
The answer you give to that question will shape far more than your return-to-office policy. It will determine how you lead in the age of AI.
And perhaps more importantly, it will determine whether your organization becomes a place where people strive to do their best work or a place where they learn that doing more simply means being asked for more.
Elsewhere In Culture
The Action Fallacy (with Martin Gutmann)
I sat down with leadership professor Martin Gutmann to talk about why we so often mistake activity for effectiveness. We explored the “action fallacy,” the tendency to celebrate leaders who create drama, constant movement, and heroic recoveries while overlooking the quieter leaders who prevent crises in the first place. If you’ve ever confused busyness with leadership, this conversation may change the way you evaluate success. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000774672399 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/65HxFYCOHQQrNkF8FPk8UG?si=21d426498d5b4d89
The Hidden Costs of Mental Health (with John Frehse)
John Frehse and I explored a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough attention at work: the struggles people carry that no one else can see. We talked about why curiosity is one of the most important leadership skills, how quickly we jump to judgment, and why assuming we know someone’s story is almost always a mistake. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000774825201 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3hiyXyStkPjiyG9YorPnKo?si=61b72f2875254fab
How to Teach Accountability
One of the questions I get asked most is how to help someone take accountability without lecturing or micromanaging them. In this episode, I shared the four questions I use to coach people through challenges using the Steps to Accountability®. It’s a simple framework that helps people find their own solutions instead of depending on yours. Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ceo-daily-brief-with-dr-jessica-kriegel/id1725350421?i=1000774982693 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2qEofJeTMH47fZxJc2zvbH?si=a11cb7b722f54261
And coming later this week…
The Introduction Economy (with John Frehse and Martin Gutmann)
John Frehse, Martin Gutmann, and I talked about something every leader navigates: deciding who to meet, who to introduce, and how to build a network that actually helps you grow. We discussed why the most valuable connections often come from people who think differently than you do, and how curiosity makes every conversation more worthwhile.
Change Management Versus Activation
I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about why traditional change management no longer matches the reality organizations face today. In this episode, I explain the difference between managing change and activating it, why adaptive cultures consistently outperform the rest, and how leaders can build teams that don’t just survive change but become stronger because of it.