I don’t leave things unexplored, so this piece looks at whether work can actually be a place to find real friends and lasting connections.
Early retirement is a great goal and makes perfect sense for many people. But not everyone can quit tomorrow and walk away from the office life.
We all know much cubicle work can be dull or frustrating. There are ways to cope, but they often feel like temporary fixes.
That’s especially true on hot summer days when your friends are at the lake while you’re stuck writing reports. Sure, you biked to work—but wouldn’t you rather have biked to the beach?
What if we could build a lasting, supportive community right at work? Could that make staying on the job more satisfying and help some of us postpone early retirement in our 20s, 30s, or 40s? I wanted to find out.
I wondered if it’s possible to form a close team at the office and get the sense of purpose I’ve been missing in my drive to retire early. After all, we like questioning the usual retirement stories.
Enter Matt Sakaguchi, who worked at Google. I came across his story in 2016. Over the last few years at my company, we’ve tried to change how we work—not just to be more efficient but to keep people engaged and happy.
Google ran a big study called Project Aristotle to figure out what made some teams better than others. The results were surprising.
You might think the top teams were made up of all the brightest stars. Put the smartest people together, and success follows, right? Not so. Project Aristotle busted a lot of myths about high-performing teams.
For example, people assumed great teams socialized outside work—happy hours, lunches, weekend hangouts. But that wasn’t a reliable pattern. Some top teams did stuff together off-hours; others didn’t. Some had star players, others were full of solid, average contributors. It was confusing at first.
Matt’s team became a standout example. He inherited a demoralized, underperforming group and, drawing on lessons from his military background, focused on building psychological safety. He created a space where people could be open and vulnerable.
He started by sharing his own struggle with stage-four cancer. That honesty encouraged others to open up and helped the team bond.
Some straightforward tips Matt shares for leading teams: ask your team for input instead of only issuing orders; and respect people’s personal time—no calls or meetings on Friday nights or weekends unless absolutely necessary.
The drive toward early retirement and financial independence isn’t about craving more toughness or more bike rides. It’s about avoiding boring, repetitive, or overly stressful work, bad coworkers, clueless bosses, and constant office politics.
Yes, commutes are a pain. But many of us would accept a long commute if the workplace gave us meaning, good people, and a sense of usefulness.
I used to complain a lot—and I still do sometimes. The FIRE community often distrusts corporate work, and I get why. But work, like many things, reflects what you put into it. You can’t control everything—who you report to, many assignments—but after 20+ years in Corporate America, I’ve learned you can influence more than you think.
For Matt, his Google team felt like family once they started appreciating each other as individuals. The work became more than a paycheck.
With stage-four cancer, he could have quit to focus on recovery, but he stayed. That shows how strong that bond and mission were.
I’m not saying anyone should put work above health or family. But we do spend a lot of time with coworkers, so why not try to make that time better by building a strong team at work?
You can choose to embrace the odd people around you or keep them at arm’s length and grumble about early retirement. Think about The Office: a band of misfits who, for all their flaws, formed a weirdly affectionate workplace family.
There’s a shift happening in many industries because of millennial expectations. If companies want to hire and keep talent, they need to listen. Millennials often prioritize meaningful work and experiences over the old model of staying at one company for 40 years.
That’s why companies like Google offer on-site gyms, free food, shuttle services, and extended paid parental leave. Free food isn’t just a perk—it encourages teams to eat together and bond, creating small shared spaces that build trust and reduce hangry conflicts.
These perks are investments in a sustainable workforce. When the small daily hassles are handled, people can focus on their work.
Of course, not every company is Google. So what can we do in more typical workplaces to make our jobs less miserable and more meaningful?
One word: Agile. Originally a software practice, Agile is spreading beyond tech. It can help you tackle a kitchen remodel or plan Thanksgiving dinner just as well as a software release.
Agile organizes small teams—often 5–9 people—who focus fully on a task and can support each other. These “scrum” teams own their work and iterate until it meets the goal—fix a bug, finish a feature, or perfect the mashed potatoes.
Agile helps teams produce more with less waste. It values interactions over heavy documentation—hallelujah, fewer pointless reports.
Google uses Agile, and that structure helps create safe spaces, stronger bonds, and better team performance.
Here’s a bonus for folks chasing early retirement: Agile discourages toxic behavior and supports reasonable workweeks—usually just under 40 hours, with no expectation of working nights and weekends. That’s not charity; studies show productivity and judgment decline after about 39 hours.
If you’re in a position to shape workplace culture, think about how strong teams can change things. Give people the tools to build trust, connect, and create safe spaces. You’ll find employees stay longer, work with more energy, and take real ownership—while the company benefits from better results at lower cost.
Now put on your coat—it’s time for happy hour.