A list of hills I think are worth dying on.

Organizations that require lying shouldn’t be supported

Secrecy is needed for various game theory dynamics, but lying should be avoided. If lying is required, the organization can not be trusted.

The only two exception I have to this are:

• Lying to Molochian systems in a case where the individuals within the system would mostly agree.
• When the alternative is violence; in normal life, that isn’t a real threat.

Don’t negotiate with terrorists

Metaphorically and literally. Having scenarios in which you’ll succumb to blackmail increases the chance of that happening. Just precommit and the world will be better off.

Permanent office hot desking

I understand why leadership teams reach for hot desking and hoteling.

• Reducing assigned desks can shrink the footprint or delay the next lease.
• Staffing moves around, and unassigned seating absorbs that variability.
• One standard model across offices is easy to explain and manage.
• Empty desks feel wasteful when viewed through a spreadsheet.

However, when a firm switches to hoteling while also pushing more in-office time it is making a trade. The savings are visible while the costs are not. Those costs show up as lost focus, extra friction, and higher risk of losing the people who already carry the hardest work.

Hidden Costs

Hoteling shifts time, attention, and coordination work onto billable staff. That burden lands in places that are hard to measure and therefore easy to dismiss.

I think that dynamic of ‘shift costs to be hard to measure’ explains most of the gap between company actions and employee aggravation. (See ‘Seeing Like a State’ and general legibility issue for management)

1) Perpetual Setup

A stable desk means you get to work, sit down, and work. Hoteling turns that into an extra sequence of small tasks every morning:

• find a usable seat
• get monitors, keyboard, and network to behave
• locate a place for calls, unless you get an office
• (And then everything else you normally do, like login, get coffee, etc)

2) No Continuity

A fixed desk supports continuity. Ergonomics stay consistent. Work in progress can stay where it is. You can tack a schedule to the wall. The setup does not need to be rebuilt from every day. Something as simple as a sticky note reminder is no longer supported.

Due to the amount of travel I do, I have had to sample this when visiting other offices/locations. I am simply less effective and efficient on those days… but I pay that ‘tax’ because some part of that trip is worth more.

3) Bureaucracy Creeps In

I am used to environments that value:

• clear, lightweight norms
• written decisions and information people can actually find
• trust and self-sufficiency

Hoteling often adds a second layer of process on top of that:

• reservation systems
• recurring disputes over the few good desks/offices
• clean-desk rules without enough storage
• daily micro-coordination about where everyone ended up

The non-negotiable parts for me

Migraines with aphasia

I get migraines, sometimes with aphasia. In that context, an assigned office gives me:

• immediate access to medication and a few support items like water or a jacket
• a predictable place to recover for 20 to 60 minutes without negotiating for space
• fewer triggers from noise, lighting shifts, and constant movement

The usual hoteling workarounds sound fine in theory and break down in practice.

• Lockers only help if they are close and easy to reach, and if I am not already impaired when I need them. Often I stay on a call as long as I can because sometimes the migraine auras go away by themselves. Sometimes they turn into me not being able to see (partially) or talk. Having to find a place to hide at the first sign is an issue.
• “Just find a room” fails when rooms are booked, scattered, or treated as scarce prizes.
• When aphasia shows up, the environment needs fewer steps, not more.

I do not carry a bag or laptop daily

I keep a computer at home and I do not haul my work laptop back and forth. That choice removes friction from my day. Hoteling breaks that.

• Without a stable workstation, I have to carry a laptop and bag every day.
• That adds weight, clutter, and more things to track and secure.
• It also raises the rate of small, real failures: missing adapters, forgotten headsets, dead dongles.

None of these are dramatic, but they are constant papercuts.

Why this is a hill worth holding

A stable desk sends a signal. It says the organization values:

• employee time and focus as a limited resource
• continuity as part of quality
• accessibility and hardware needs that do not fit a single office template

When that signal flips it sends a message.