What I Wish I Knew: Before RIFs & Creating Workspaces for Humans to Thrive

What I Wish I Knew Before RIFs and Creating Workspaces for Humans to Thrive
Monday, November 24, 2025
8-9 PM ET / 5-6 PM PT

We’ll be talking with John O’Duinn, Senior Advisor to the Human Capital Officer at the Internal Revenue Service and General Services Administration, retired. John’s expertise spans a wide range, from coder and Silicon Valley guru to member of the U.S. Digital Service and the GSA’s 18F, among others. His book, Distributed Teams: The Art and Practice of Working Together While Physically Apart, covers the essential practical mechanics of how to work in and run distributed organizations, as well as the broader benefits of distributed organizations, including diversity, environmental, urban planning, and community renewal.

About John O’Duinn
John is a senior technologist and entrepreneur who has worked in distributed companies of one form or another for over 30 years, led distributed teams for 15 years, run workshops and mentored distributed teams for 8 years, and is a frequent international speaker on the benefits and strategies of remote work.

John served in the U.S. Digital Service in the Obama White House, helped the State of Vermont write their 2018 “Remote Worker” law encouraging remote work to promote economic growth, helped the State of California revise its 2021 telework policy during COVID-19, and is supporting the development of other telework and economic development policies for multiple jurisdictions worldwide.

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What I Wish I Knew is PMAA’s webinar series, where we invite experts to share significant changes in their careers and reflect on what would have been helpful to know before the change started. Do you know anyone you think would be a good interviewee? Please send your suggestions to PMF.ak.