“The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed.”

Never has this quote been more true, nor more dystopian.

I’ve been hesitant to write what I’ve experienced over the past 45 days because it continues to evolve so quickly I fear anything I share will instantly become obsolete. But a post has gone viral on Twitter, spawning endless discussion, dissection, and even mockery. Yes, something big is happening. Let me be less bombastic, more direct, and help put this moment in context.

Back in early March, before the full extent of this pandemic set in, I kicked off our introduction to remote work at Digits as follows:

To be sure, working remotely is not for every business, and not for every individual.

Little did I know how soon so many businesses and individuals would be forced to make do, and how quickly fully-remote work would become mainstream.

It’s been an abrupt transition… and for many, it hasn’t been easy.

The Social Dilemma, a years-long passion project from Jeff Orlowski and the Exposure Labs team, just premiered on Netflix this past week, and to my amazement and delight it has quickly jumped onto the Top 10 list this weekend.

The film masterfully intermixes drama with sit-down interviews with myself and a dozen other former social media execs, in hopes of communicating the (often subconscious) consequences of the world’s growing dependence on social media for news and entertainment.

I am a big believer in transparency in business.

Done right, transparency promotes open and collaborative work environments. It fosters team trust and communication. And it promotes cultures where intellectual honesty and data-driven decisions supersede politics and excuses.

All that said, I have experienced first-hand the repercussions of being overly transparent, and I have spoken with countless founders who aspire to be transparent with their teams, but still struggle with how much to share, at what point, and to whom.

Most people have a certain image in their minds when they think of a founder/CEO.

They picture the boss in the corner office, standing behind her desk, gazing out over the city. They imagine someone calling all the shots, and everyone relying on their insight and wisdom — a visionary who is never wrong. They fear being grilled, berated, and guilted into working long hours — inevitable top-down command-and-control.

When startup founders take this approach today, they fail.