Yahoo continues to combat the bad press it is receiving since mandating that employees show up at the office.  Under vague references to inspiring people, creating collaboration opportunities and so forth, they seem to miss the point. If you create a compelling, collaborative, and energizing environment, people will show up because not being there feels like a loss.  And they wlil work from home when they need the mind-space to produce, or when they need to balance their work schedules with home / personal requirements, whatever those might be.  But if “the office” physically is attractive enough, they will find ways to show up, instead of marching in under orders.

So the question to Yahoo shouldn’t be why have so many people been working from home, instead it should be why haven’t they been coming to work?  And the answer probably isn’t because they were allowed to, or they weren’t required to…..more likely it is because there wasn’t a rewarding experience for which they felt compelled to show up.