Peacocking: How RTO Exemplifies Sociobiology

Is the return-to-office (RTO) mania just that, a backlash phase that will pass, or is it an enduring reversion to a time-tested way of working? Time will tell, of course, but this piece on Substack by Andy Spence from Work3 Newsletter may come close to capturing a large part of the motivation behind the mania: Corporate peacocking. Spence writes: 

"…like male peacocks displaying vibrant plumage to attract mates, some managers showcase their status and contributions more effectively when working onsite. The office becomes their stage: holding court at all-hands meetings, buying post-work drinks, holding visible court. By bringing workers back, they can better signal their dominance in the corporate pecking order. 

We’ve seen it play out: managers struggling with distributed teams, worried they’re losing grip. They default to what they know — control by proximity." 

This perspective reminds us of sociobiology's power to explain much about human behavior. E.O. Wilson's 1975 book on the subject was not without criticism, yet it has fared quite well among scholars who grasp the biological bases of behavior. In the end, biology wins out because we humans are biological entities. The cortex can override impulse, but that action is itself rooted in our biological nature. Peacocking, corporate or otherwise, is likely here to stay.