THE BIG IDEA REPRINT BG1705 PUBLISHED ON HBR.ORG SEPTEMBER 2017 CONNECTING AT WORK WE’RE MORE CONNECTED THAN EVER, BUT LONELINESS IS EPIDEMIC. WORK IS PART OF THE PROBLEM. NOW IT MUST BE PART OF THE SOLUTION. BY VIVEK MURTHY This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence (
[email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact
[email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY 03 ARTICLE WORK AND THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC 08 INTERACTIVE CONNECTING AROUND THE WORLD 10 ARTICLE WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT LONELINESS AND WORK? 13 Q&A: STEWART BUTTERFIELD LONELINESS AND THE DIGITAL WORKPLACE 16 ARTICLE THE SOCIAL MUSCLE 19 AUDIO POSTCARDS YOUR TAKE: CONNECTING AT WORK 22 ARTICLE THE DANGERS OF “MANDATORY FUN” HBR.ORG THE BIG IDEA 2 This document is authorized for use only by Liz Lawrence (
[email protected]). Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright. Please contact
[email protected] or 800-988-0886 for additional copies. CONNECTING AT WORK VIVEK MURTHY FOR ARTICLE REPRINTS CALL 800-988-0886 OR 617-783-7500, OR VISIT HBR.ORG WORK AND THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC REDUCING ISOLATION AT WORK IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS. BY VIVEK MURTHY n August 24, 1992, in the early hours of the morning, my family and I stepped out of our temporary shelter to find our city — and Oour lives — forever changed. We had spent the past several hours huddled together as Hurricane Andrew battered our South Florida neighborhood with torrential rain and near 170 mile per hour winds.