It always takes a while to realize that you are freed, once chains have been taken off. But now individuals at db4objects incl. myself start to realize that the 'flat world' model which enables our distributed and extremely global business model also enables, yes, encourages each one of us to assess whether there's a point in hanging out in some other part of the world, at least for a while.
Is it coincidence or not that, within the next few months, half a dozen of individuals pack their bags and move to another continent? JB (from France) is going to stay for a month or so in Brazil with Rodrigo. Patrick (from Cologne) decided this was a good idea - and joins. Andrew (from Shanghai) is going to move to the 'sound of the music' hills of Bavaria to hang out with Carl. Eric has even given up his place in San Francisco and will spend the next few months anywhere between Hong Kong, Ohio, Walnut Creek and Japan, where he will be teaming with Takenori.
I myself have extended the Hong Kong all-hands-meeting week to an entire month and found (apart from the Taiwan earthquake, which shortly interrupted this flat world between Christmas and New Year) that I could do 80-90% of my job there. And was it coincidence or not that our chairman, Mark Leslie, also stopped by in Hong Kong, as part of a Stanford GSB study trip, and we had a chance to catch up?
Not only is being a nomad (at least to some and for some time) fun and a very special thing, that few companies can offer. It is also fully aligned with the company's business strategy to take advantage of the 'flat world'. By better interconnecting, mingeling and exchanging local individuals, any remaining differences will get even less significant. Probably those new forms of "sabbaticals" are just a prelude to a much more intense mobility, perhaps even to a new thrust of migration?