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Episode 1519:
Isaac Morehouse explores the critical difference between focusing on signals like grades, degrees, or job titles and producing genuine output that truly reflects one’s abilities and value. Morehouse argues that prioritizing real output over superficial markers can foster creativity, confidence, and authentic growth.
Read along with the original article(s) here: https://isaacmorehouse.com/2013/03/18/signals-vs-output/
Quotes to ponder:
"Signals are fine as indicators, but they’re not the goal. The output itself is the goal."
"Don’t rely on superficial markers to determine value focus on creating something that stands on its own."
"When you create real output, you start to care less about the judgments or credentials others impose on you."
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[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Signals vs. Outputs by Isaac Morehouse of IsaacMorehouse.com.
[00:00:08] At a time when transportation and communication were incredibly costly, if not impossible,
[00:00:14] large firms where everyone worked in the same building at the same hours greatly reduced transaction costs.
[00:00:20] Today, there are cases where transaction costs and other costs of doing business are actually higher when colleagues work together in the same building.
[00:00:28] In a large complex workplace full of professional obligations, hierarchies, duties, friendships, tensions, and coordination problems, signals can become as important as outputs, sometimes more.
[00:00:40] What you produce is one thing. So long as you create more value than the next best alternative for the cost, you're good for business.
[00:00:48] Except you don't work with calculators, you work with humans. What your colleagues perceive to be your value, or worse yet, your activities,
[00:00:56] will determine your compensation and responsibilities. In order to make sure you are in good standing, you have to produce not only what's on your job description,
[00:01:04] you also have to signal to your coworkers that you are valuable and a generally decent person with whom they want to work.
[00:01:11] A common signaling mechanism is to talk to your coworkers a lot about work and non-work related things.
[00:01:17] Another is to hardly talk at all because you've got your face buried in your monitor all day looking like you're really focused.
[00:01:24] Another is to send lots of emails or call lots of meetings. Of course, if you're not producing anything, these signals will only get you so far.
[00:01:32] But it's surprising how far they can get people in some work environments. That's where this business of being in the same building comes in.
[00:01:40] It's a lot harder to get away with signaling value instead of producing it when you are stripped of the shared office environment.
[00:01:46] You can't be seen at your desk looking busy because you're not seen at all except via video conference.
[00:01:52] You can't chat up your coworkers unless you have something specific that warrants a call or email.
[00:01:56] It's more cumbersome to call meetings, so you have to think more carefully about whether a meeting is needed before doing so.
[00:02:03] Emails can fly with ease, but without the face time, you risk having them misinterpreted and have fewer ways to gauge if they're annoying people.
[00:02:11] This tends to make them more risky and costly.
[00:02:13] In other words, many of the signaling options are not open to you, so productivity is the major way to measure your performance.
[00:02:20] This is good for value creation.
[00:02:22] Many people see the downsides of remote work.
[00:02:26] Loss of camaraderie, loss of easy pop-in conversation, technical problems with conferencing, etc.
[00:02:32] These are real costs, but they are the greatest in the initial training months for new hires.
[00:02:37] After a modicum of familiarity with the people and processes of a workplace is achieved, these costs go way down.
[00:02:44] As far as camaraderie, a growing number of people seem to maintain some of their best relationships today via Facebook, so it is not impossible to achieve a pretty deep level of kinship among remote workers who might get together in the flesh on occasion.
[00:02:57] As for those pop-in conversations, those are actually more of a cost than a benefit.
[00:03:03] When you don't have the ability to invade someone's office for five minutes any time you're walking by, you find more efficient ways to bundle your questions together, or you ask via email, which allows them to respond when it makes the most sense, or you call or text if urgent.
[00:03:18] Communication prioritization tends to emerge, improving efficiency.
[00:03:22] Another objection is that some people just aren't wired for remote work and couldn't get anything done outside an office environment.
[00:03:29] It is absolutely true that individuals have different work habits and different ways of getting in the creative zone, but this objection strikes me as far-fetched.
[00:03:38] If an employee really can't produce anything unless they are seated in a room full of other employees, maybe they're not getting anything done anyway.
[00:03:45] The people that co-workers worry about working remotely, oh man, if that guy works remote, I'd never get responses from him and he'd be at the beach all day, are probably people they should be worried about in the physical office too.
[00:03:57] If a person couldn't produce without all the trappings of the building, chances are good that they are not producing with them, but rather taking advantage of all the signaling devices remote work does not offer.
[00:04:08] Perceptions are easier to control in an office. Therefore, the cost of producing less is lower because you can make up for it with signals.
[00:04:16] If you call a remote employee and they don't answer in a few minutes, you start to wonder if they're working at all or just gallivanting about town.
[00:04:24] The inability to see them around during the day raises suspicions when they are slow to respond.
[00:04:29] This forces them to build trust by a reputation of quality and timely work to stave off any negative perceptions.
[00:04:36] Contrast that with popping in to talk to an on-site employee.
[00:04:39] If they're not at their desk, you don't think anything of it.
[00:04:42] You know they're in today, so you just assume they had to step out for a minute.
[00:04:45] Just by being in the building and being visible, they buy themselves a little more goodwill and can get away with a little more.
[00:04:53] Clearly, there are some kinds of work that make remote locations far more difficult and some make it impossible.
[00:04:58] But the technology available today makes remote work incredibly attractive to employees and employers.
[00:05:04] Check the cost of office space in any major city.
[00:05:07] Most workplace cultures haven't really adapted to this shift in transaction costs and still place a premium on being in the building.
[00:05:15] To their detriment.
[00:05:16] There are great and growing benefits to remote workers.
[00:05:20] And taking it a step further, to contractors for many, if not most roles.
[00:05:24] And firms would do well to explore them.
[00:05:27] Try making one department remote for a month and see what happens.
[00:05:31] You might be surprised.
[00:05:36] You just listened to the post titled, Signals vs Outputs by Isaac Morehouse of IsaacMorehouse.com
[00:05:43] And thank you to Isaac for letting us read his content here.
[00:05:47] Justin actually reads a lot of his work on the podcast Optimal Living Daily.
[00:05:51] But Isaac is also really into entrepreneurship.
[00:05:53] So he's got some great posts that I'm going to be reading to you here.
[00:05:56] And for a little more background info about him, he's a podcast host too.
[00:06:01] He has a show called Office Hours with co-host TK Coleman, who's another author that I narrate here.
[00:06:06] They both worked at Praxis.
[00:06:08] TK is still there, but Isaac has since moved on after founding the company.
[00:06:12] He's now an advisor.
[00:06:13] Today, he's the founder and CEO of Crash, the career launch platform.
[00:06:18] And again, he has a ton of great content on his site, which is IsaacMorehouse.com.
[00:06:23] So come by his site to show him some support.
[00:06:25] And again, you can check out his podcast Office Hours for career advice.
[00:06:30] But that should do it for today.
[00:06:31] Hope you're having a great one.
[00:06:32] Thanks so much for being a subscriber and sharing the show with others if you can.
[00:06:36] Have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.
[00:06:41] Now here's the best friend of ours.
[00:06:41] Thank you.