Two insights I brought back from my trip to Dubai
After a week working there, I noticed two things that really stuck with me:
1. The office effect. When we were all in one room, communication was effortless. Big topics were solved in just a few hours. The productivity felt amazing. But the downside was obvious: remote teammates were out of sync, and it created a “decoupling effect.” It showed me how powerful in-person collaboration can be, but also how hard it is to scale in a distributed setup.
2. Thinking in English. After a few days of speaking almost only English, I caught myself walking around and thinking in English too, even my inner dialogue switched. That immersion made me realize how much faster you grow in a language when you’re fully surrounded by it.
Both experiences gave me energy. One showed me the speed of co-located work, the other showed me how environment shapes your mindset.
👉 I’m curious: what’s the biggest shift you noticed when switching between remote and in-person work (or between different languages)?