Before air conditioning, neighborhood life was a communal affair. People gathered on front porches and stoops, interacted freely, and knew their neighbors by name. Scholar Peggy Noonan has observed how air conditioning — for all its comfort — contributed to the decline of that organic neighborhood community by drawing everyone indoors.
The parallel in the modern workplace is email. Colleagues once built relationships through casual desk-side conversations, stopping by each other's offices, and the natural friction of sharing physical space. Email, like air conditioning, improves efficiency — but at the cost of something harder to measure: genuine human connection.
At Equinox, we've maintained a 15-year practice of weekly "Customer War Room" meetings where cross-departmental teams gather to address customer needs. What those meetings deliver beyond problem-solving is connection: we laughed together, we expressed joy without emoticons, we took ownership, we brainstormed, and then we laughed some more.
Equinox's founding mission, printed on every business card, prioritizes workplace culture and family commitments alongside professional excellence. Sustaining that culture requires deliberate effort — including the choice to walk down the hall instead of hitting send.
So here's a challenge: print this blog and carry it to a friend's desk. Don't you dare email it.
About the Author — Byron Middendorf is CEO of Equinox Information Systems. To learn more about Equinox, visit equinoxis.com or call (615) 612-1200.