Success Quote by Jay Chiat

Chiat’s opening move, "First", is pure boardroom judo: he anticipates the knee-jerk panic that "telecommuting" triggers (loss of control, diluted culture, empty real estate) and disarms it before anyone can object. The line isn’t trying to sell distance; it’s trying to preserve authority while changing the rules. He reframes the debate from where work happens to why people gather, shifting the office from default setting to specialized tool.

The specific intent is managerial triage. By insisting "we still have offices", Chiat reassures clients and executives that the brand remains tangible and accountable. But he quietly demotes the office from a daily obligation to an on-demand resource, and that’s the subtext: presence is no longer a proxy for productivity. The office becomes a stage for high-value rituals - "brainstorm", "meet with clients", "do research" - verbs that signal prestige and purpose. Notice what’s missing: routine work, admin tasks, quiet execution. Those can happen anywhere, which is the real radical claim he’s smuggling in.

Context matters because Chiat’s agency was famous for treating creativity like an operating system, not a mood. This sentence reads like an early blueprint for the hybrid workplace: collaboration as an event, not a schedule. It also reveals a shrewd cultural compromise. Instead of romanticizing remote freedom, he elevates the office as a civic space for collaboration and credibility, keeping the mythology of creative togetherness while making it optional.