BrutalTechTruth
Brutal Tech Truth is a multi-platform commentary series (podcast, Substack, and YouTube) delivering unfiltered analysis of enterprise IT, software architecture, and engineering leadership. The mission is simple: expose the hype, half-truths, and convenient lies in today’s tech industry and shine a light on the real issues and solutions. This brand isn’t here to cheerlead feel-good tech trends – it’s here to call out what’s actually failing in your infrastructure, why your cloud bill is insane, how AI is creating tomorrow’s technical debt if not guided, and which “boring” solutions actually work. In Frank’s own direct style: “If you're looking for feel-good tech talk or innovation celebration, skip this one”
Brutal Tech Truth tells the uncomfortable truths behind shiny vendor demos and conference-circuit clichés, bridging the gap between polished narratives and production reality.
BrutalTechTruth
The Great Management Identity Crisis: Navigating Work in an AI-Augmented World
What happens when a manager can't see you AND an AI does half your job? That's the unsettling question at the heart of today's workforce revolution.
The uncomfortable truth lurking behind most return-to-office mandates isn't about collaboration or culture—it's about control and fear. As one manager candidly admitted, "I need to know people are really working." But what does seeing someone at their desk actually tell us? They could be developing breakthrough code or shopping online. The visual provides zero meaningful data about value creation.
Enter AI into this already fragile equation. When employees can leverage artificial intelligence to complete in two hours what previously took eight, our entire concept of management unravels. Is work about time spent or value created? One engineering manager confessed something profoundly revealing: "When everyone was remote, I realized I spent most of my time in status meetings that could have been emails. When AI started handling code reviews, I realized even more of my job was unnecessary. So yeah, I want people back in the office because at least then I feel like I'm doing something."
The surveillance response—keystroke tracking, screenshot capturing, constant monitoring—represents the most counterproductive possible reaction. Companies implementing these systems discover employees simply game the metrics while trust evaporates and top talent flees. Meanwhile, organizations brave enough to reimagine management are thriving by measuring what actually matters: output rather than hours, value rather than visibility, results rather than rituals.
Consider two employees: one comes to the office daily, looks busy, produces mediocre work; another works remotely using AI tools and delivers exceptional results in half the time. Who deserves recognition? The answer reveals everything about your work culture and its readiness for the future.
The best managers today understand their job isn't watching people work—it's removing obstacles, providing resources, setting clear direction, and creating environments where innovation flourishes. They've embraced the fundamental truth that trust isn't a nice-to-have; it's the foundation of high performance in a knowledge economy transformed by technology.
What will work look like in your organization? Will you help build something better or cling to outdated practices until they're forced from your hands? Subscribe now to continue exploring the fascinating intersection of humans, AI, and the future of meaningful work.
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The manager's dilemma. Do you want to see my face or my output? Welcome to the Capybara Lifestyle Podcast. I'm Frank and today we're diving into one of the most contentious debates in modern work culture the return to office mandates. But this isn't just another hot take about remote work. This is about something deeper. It's about control, fear and the uncomfortable truth that AI might be making traditional management obsolete.
Speaker 1:Let me start with a story. Sarah spent six hours in video calls on her first day back in the office, the same video calls she'd been taking from home for two years. From home for two years, her manager, who mandated the return for collaboration and culture, was traveling that week. When she pointed out the absurdity of commuting two hours for this, her manager said something revealing. It's not about the calls. I need to know people are really working there. It is the quiet part said out loud.
Speaker 1:After three years of proving remote work works, after productivity metrics showing people actually work more from home, after technology that can track every keystroke, it still comes down to this primal need to see bodies in seats. Traditional management is built on a simple premise If I can see you, you're working. But let's think about this for a second. What does a manager actually see when they walk around an office, people at desks staring at screens, typing. Are they productive, creating value? Who knows, they could be writing the next great algorithm or shopping for shoes. The visual tells you nothing, but it makes managers feel better. Now add AI to this already shaky foundation. When someone can use AI agents to do in two hours what used to take eight, what exactly are we managing Time Output the human's contribution versus the machine's? A startup founder recently told me something fascinating. He said I don't care if my developers use AI to write code in half the time, but I need them in the office for eight hours. Because he couldn't finish the sentence, because that's what we've always done, because that's what investors expect, because if they're only working four hours, maybe he should pay them half. This is the manager's dilemma in 2025. What am I actually managing if I can't see you and an AI is doing half your work? Let's be honest about what's happening here.
Speaker 1:The push for return to office isn't about productivity. Every honest study shows remote workers are as productive or more. It's not about collaboration we have better collaboration tools than ever. And it's definitely not about culture, though that's the excuse everyone uses. It's about power, it's about fear. It's about managers realizing that if people can do their jobs from anywhere, with AI doing the heavy lifting, then what exactly is the manager's job? One engineering manager admitted something to me that I think captures this perfectly. He said when everyone was remote, I realized I spent most of my time in status meetings. That could have been emails. When AI started handling code reviews and first drafts, I realized even more of my job was unnecessary. So yeah, I want people back in the office Because at least then I feel like I'm doing something. Think about that for a moment. The honesty is both refreshing and terrifying. We're creating inefficiency to justify roles that technology has made redundant.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you about a company I observed that went full remote during the pandemic. They thrived, grew 300%. Everyone was happy. Then new leadership demanded return to office to rebuild culture. When pressed on specifics, it always came back to control their solution Employee monitoring software, keystroke tracking, screenshot capturing the whole surveillance state. And here's what happened the best people left immediately. The remaining employees gamed the system. Productivity plummeted, trust evaporated. They optimized for the appearance of work and got exactly that Appearance without substance.
Speaker 1:At a recent conference, a very important executive explained why his company needed everyone back in offices. He waxed poetic about serendipitous encounters, water-cooler conversations, the magic of in-person collaboration. Then someone asked a simple question can you give a specific example of a business outcome that improved because of return to office? The silence was deafening Because here's the dirty secret Most offices were never magical collaboration hubs. They were places where people sat in cubicles, attended too many meetings and tried to look busy. The few genuine connections happened despite the office environment, not because of it. The few genuine connections happened despite the office environment, not because of it.
Speaker 1:So what does real management look like in 2025? In an AI-augmented, location-flexible world? Management isn't about oversight. It's about something entirely different. First, it's about setting clear goals and getting out of the way. If you need to watch someone to know if they're working, you've already failed. You should be able to tell from their output, contributions and value created. Second, it's about removing obstacles, not creating them. Making people commute to satisfy your need for control is creating an expensive, soul-crushing obstacle. Third, it's about building trust, not surveillance systems. The moment you install keystroke tracking is the moment you've admitted you don't trust your team. And if you don't trust them, why did you hire them? Fourth, it's about focusing on outcomes, not activities. Who cares if someone wrote code for eight hours or two hours, if the feature ships on time and works well? Who cares if they did it from a beach in Thailand or a cubicle in Cleveland?
Speaker 1:Let me paint you a picture with a thought experiment. Consider two employees. Employee A comes to the office daily, stays late, looks busy, produces steady but unremarkable work. Employee B works from home, uses AI tools extensively, works maybe four focused hours daily, produces exceptional results. In the old world, employee A gets promoted. They're visible, playing the game, fitting the mold. In any rational world, employee B is your star. But we're not living in a rational world, are we?
Speaker 1:The companies that figure this out will win. They'll attract the best talent, create the best products, build the best cultures. Here's how they'll do it. They'll reimagine management. It's not about oversight but enablement, not control but coordination, not presence but purpose. They'll measure what matters Output, not hours, value not visibility, results not rituals. They'll accept the new social contract. The old contract of trading time for money, presence for progress is dead. The new contract is about mutual value creation. Wherever that happens best, they'll lead with trust. They'll be brave enough to admit that forcing people into offices might be more about managerial insecurity than business necessity.
Speaker 1:Remember Sarah, from the beginning of our story. She quit last month, started her own consultancy, uses AI for grunt work, focuses on strategy and creativity, works from wherever she wants. She's making twice as much money in half the time. Her old manager still in the office, still wondering why he can't retain talent, still thinking the problem is that people just don't want to work anymore. But the problem isn't that people don't want to work. The problem is that managers don't know how to manage in a world where work doesn't look like it used to.
Speaker 1:I was talking to a friend recently who runs a fully distributed team. He said something that stuck with me. The best thing about remote work isn't the flexibility or the lack of commute. It's that it forces you to be intentional about everything. Every meeting has to have a purpose, every interaction has to add value, every process has to actually work. You can't hide behind presence anymore, and that's terrifying for managers who've built their careers on being present rather than being effective.
Speaker 1:The surveillance state approach is particularly fascinating to me. Companies are spending thousands of dollars per employee on monitoring software to ensure people are working their full eight hours. But think about the message this sends we don't trust you. We think you're trying to cheat us. We value your time in a chair more than your contributions. Is it any wonder that engagement is at historic lows?
Speaker 1:One HR director told me they implemented time-tracking software and immediately saw productivity metrics go up. But when they dug deeper, they found people were just leaving their computers on using mouse jigglers, finding ways to game the system. The metrics looked great, the actual work not so much. This brings us to a fundamental question what is work in 2025? Is it time spent, tasks completed, value created, problems solved? If an AI can write a report in 30 minutes, that would have taken me three hours, and I spend another 30 minutes reviewing and refining it. Have I worked for an hour or four hours? Does it matter? The old industrial model where we trade time for money made sense when work was physical, when presence equaled production. But in a knowledge economy augmented by AI, this model isn't just outdated, it's counterproductive. I know a software developer who uses AI to write about 70% of his code. He spends his time on architecture, problem solving the truly creative parts of development. He's five times more productive than he was two years ago, but his company still expects him to be at his desk from nine to five, so he is Playing the game, wasting time, because that's what the system demands. This is the insanity we've created. We have tools that can make us exponentially more productive, but we're trapped in systems designed for a different era.
Speaker 1:The manager's dilemma isn't really a dilemma. It's a choice Evolve or become irrelevant. Trust or surveil, lead or just manage. Focus on outcomes or obsess over appearances. The future of work is being written right now. Will it be more human or less? More trusting or more controlling, more focused on value or on visibility?
Speaker 1:I think about the young people entering the workforce now. They've seen remote work succeed. They've grown up with AI as a tool. They're not going to accept surveillance and control as the price of employment. They're going to build something better. And the managers who can't adapt? They'll be left managing empty offices, wondering where everyone went.
Speaker 1:The best managers are the ones who make themselves unnecessary by making their teams unstoppable. They're the ones who ask not, can I see you working, but are you creating value? Not, are you in your seat, but are you achieving your goals? These managers understand that their job isn't to watch people work. It's to remove obstacles, provide resources, set direction and get out of the way. They understand that trust isn't a nice to have. It's the foundation of high performance.
Speaker 1:So here's my challenge to you, especially if you're in a management position Ask yourself honestly are you managing work or are you managing the appearance of work? Are your policies designed to create value or to maintain control? Would your team be more productive with more freedom or more oversight? Would your team be more productive with more freedom or more oversight? The answers might be uncomfortable, but comfort isn't what got us here and it's not what will take us forward.
Speaker 1:The world of work is changing, whether we like it or not. Ai is here. Remote work has been proven. The old ways are dying. The question is whether we'll help build something better or cling to the familiar until it's ripped from our hands.
Speaker 1:I believe in a future where work is judged by impact, not ours. Where trust is the default, not the exception. Where technology amplifies human capability rather than monitors human compliance, where the question isn't where are you working, but what are you creating. That future is possible, but only if we're brave enough to let go of the past. Thank you for joining me today on the Capybara Lifestyle Podcast, if this resonated with you, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Are you dealing with return to office mandates? How is AI changing your work? What does the future of management look like to you? You can find me on all the usual platforms, and don't forget to subscribe if you want to keep exploring these ideas about humans, machines and the fascinating space where they meet. Until next time, this is Frank, reminding you that the future of work isn't about where you sit. It's about what you create. Keep thinking, keep questioning and keep pushing for something better.