Last month’s “no-work-at-home” pronouncement by Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer has set off quite the firestorm in telecommuting and telework circles.

In a company-wide email to employees on February 22nd, Yahoo’s head of HR laid out the new ban on telework in a short, four-paragraph memo. The memo stated, “To become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side.”

News stories that followed cited Mayer’s concerns that “200 or so” Yahoo employees were working remotely and that “some did little work for the company and a few had even begun their own start-ups on the side.”

In the last four years, I have written several blogs on the benefits of telework for many companies. I’ve noted that while some positions may not lend themselves to working remotely, others could be effectively performed at home or elsewhere for at least some portion of the work week. In a June 2009 blog posting, I cited several independent studies showing that many employees are more productive working from home. I coupled this with my own experience as a senior HR executive for several large corporations.

Mayer, 37, who is a former executive at Google, does admit that some employees can be more productive working from home. However, she argues that productivity does not translate into innovation and that employees need to be in the same physical location in order to collaborate and innovate.

In another blog posting in 2009, I noted how an average employee can spend as much as 90 minutes a day commuting, and how a stressful commute can seriously impact one’s mindset and productivity. I went on to talk about how “innovation starts with happy and inspired employees, and employees who can get to their ‘creative place’ – whether that be a physical place or a state of mind.”

Let me pose this question: Is an employee apt to be in a more creative frame of mind working from: (a) home or other preferred location, or (b) in a cubicle after spending an hour in traffic?

I would argue that the employee problems that exist at Yahoo are not the result of working remotely, but the product of an ill-defined and ill-managed telework program. Whether an employee is working in the office next door or from home, it’s the responsibility of that employee’s manager to make sure he or she is fully collaborating and contributing.

I too agree that in-person collaboration can lead to creativity and innovation. Yet, a flexible and well-structured telework program could include regular in-person sessions, while also allowing for time working from home.

So let’s not make telework the scapegoat for a company’s lack of creativity. Banning telework would be like a basketball coach banning the full-court press from his or her playbook in response to a loss of a game due to a poorly executed play. That would be madness.

Like telework for a company, a full-court press can be an important game-winning tool for a basketball team – if properly executed.

Congratulations to Fast Company’s 2012 “Innovation by Design” award winners announced earlier this week.

Eleven winners were chosen from among 56 finalists and 1,700 entrants in nine design categories: consumer products, industrial equipment, interactive, service, transportation, spaces, concepts, student, and 2-D.

The 2012 winners included: Nike, BioLite, Microsoft, Sheehan Partners, Continuum Innovation, Fisker, Softwalks, and Embrace Global.

According to Fast Company, this year’s awards celebration in New York, NY featured “the best and brightest in the industry, judged by the best and brightest in the industry,” and showcased “design innovations from bootstrapping student teams to mega corporations.”

Have you ever walked into your hotel room and looked at the art? No, I mean really looked at it, not just the casual glance. Have you ever wondered who created the art hanging inside your hotel room? In most cases your answer is “no,” and the truth is, the hotel has probably given you more reason to focus attention on the wall color than the art on it.

In all my years of traveling there was one instance when this wasn’t the case.

A few years ago I had taken my family half way across the country, reaching the mid-point of our trip near Chicago. Thanks to Priceline.com, we found a great hotel room at the Intercontinental O’Hare in Rosemont, IL.

This stylish hotel blended modern design with comfort and luxury — including its collection of art, mostly from local Chicago artists. Some terrific, large-scale pieces hung in the common areas. The fact that this hotel was using original art made for a nice change, considering the numerous establishments filled with never-ending bland art and decor.

Our room was just as luxurious and well-appointed as the common areas, including the art that featured a limited edition print from a Chicago screen printer, Jay Ryan, who creates works from his local “Bird Machine” studio.

This whimsical piece is called “Intercontinental,” and depicts a number of Winnie the Pooh-type creatures who’ve have taken residence in a large tree. My son thinks these are bears looking for their kite, while my wife feels the creatures represent residents in the hotel.

The work is printed on a distinctive light brown paper, and includes great touches of color with the red birds, hints of silver and yellow bears. The leaves on the tree look like one mass, but up close you see each is separate and distinct. Ryan mixes all of these elements together with a child-like playfulness drawing the viewer into his art.

At this point another journey began, one that would last long after our trip. It started when I inquired about purchasing the print I had seen in my room. I was told by the hotel they had commissioned the piece for their rooms and that it was unavailable. I wouldn’t let my search end this quickly.

Struck by this hotel-commissioned piece, my wife and I purchased several other Ryan prints, while still longing for the piece we had first seen in that Chicago hotel. About two years later and after almost giving up hope, we came across the “Intercontinental” print offered on Ebay. It was a heated auction, but in the end we were victorious and now proudly hang the “Intercontinental” in our home.

Jay Ryan’s work is a pleasant reminder of my family’s trip across the country, our visit to Chicago and our discovery of this great artist.

Sometimes it pays to take a second look.

In today’s New York Times, author Susan Cain has penned an op-ed called “The Rise of the New Groupthink.” In it, she highlights research that strongly suggests that despite all the corporate hype about the importance of groupthink and collaboration, “people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption.”

In her upcoming book, QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, Cain builds on this assertion by citing numerous cases where introversion is responsible for creativity and innovation. For example, she points to well-known introvert and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who as she puts it, “toiled alone on a beloved invention, the personal computer.”

Cain does not totally dismiss teamwork. She notes its important place in the overall corporate process of exchanging ideas, managing information and building trust. Yet, she’s less sympathetic towards so-called “brainstorming sessions,” which she describes as “one of the worst possible ways to stimulate creativity.”

I agree with Cain on many levels. As I have written here in numerous blog postings over the last three years, creativity should be nurtured in the individual, and that each person’s trigger or button for creativity is different and should be highly valued.

For example, in my blog post, “Find Your Creative Place,” from April 26, 2009, I note the importance of finding that place and state of mind where you feel you are at your most creative and productive. “It may be a bench in your favorite park, a special nook or room in your house or spot in your yard, a quiet desk at a library, a small bistro table in a busy Starbucks, or a spot at work where no one can interrupt you.”

And I called on businesses to provide for a culture that encourages employees to take advantage of their most creative places to do their work, of course, within the boundaries of practicality.

I’ve also written numerous times on this blog about the powers of teleworking, and allowing certain employees, where possible, to work from home or from some other location where they could be more creative and productive.

Like Cain, I agree that a focus on greater private time and individualization is not a call for employee isolation. There still can be plenty of opportunity during the work day or during the week for team members to assemble in face-to-face groups, teleconference and video conference.

In the end, corporations have the power to spur increased creativity within their ranks by focusing attention and programs not just on the extroverts, but also those introverts who may very well be the source of your company’s next best product or service.

To tweet, or not to tweet, that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the #slings and #arrows of outrageous fortune…

Speaking of fortune, most every Fortune 500 company in America has jumped into the social media fray over the past year, whether it’s a Facebook page, a Twitter feed, or both.

Facebook and Twitter have undoubtedly given companies new ways to get the message out beyond the traditional press release, corporate website, or a corporate blog for that matter. The challenge, of course, is not saying something — but actually saying something meaningful.

Whether it’s a short Facebook status update or a very short 140-character-limited Twitter post, knowing what to say and how to leverage this new medium has corporate executives scrambling to find value.

Corporate leaders are also wrestling with the individual vs. business nature of social media. Twitter by design is the short muttering of an individual, even when it’s in the name of an organization.

Since its inception, individuals have flocked to the Twitter platform to chronicle important events such as: “Just had a great bowl of chili,” or “Sitting on tarmac at JFK already hating person in 24B sitting next to me.” Not quite the makings of Pulitzer prize-winning material.

Then comes along a CEO or the SVP for Communication or a Business unit head, and a new Twitter account set up to drive corporate messaging, and it quickly goes from the personal mundane to corporate tripe.

Yet, with all its warts, I still think this new medium has something to offer and should be taken seriously.

Throughout our nation’s history, business enterprises have sought to leverage each new wave of communication innovation, including the printing press, radio, television, and the Internet. And at each juncture, trial and error has eventually given way to a valuable return on investment.

For example, as recently as ten years ago, many traditional brick and mortar stores struggled to find value in an online presence. And today, many of them are leveraging the Internet not simply as a supplement to their bottom lines, but as a huge driver for their bottom lines and highly cost-effective way to reach target customers, e.g., Walmart.com.

Ten years from today, the same will be said for the micro-blogs. Already, Twitter and Facebook have literally helped change the geopolitical landscape in countries such as Egypt, where these new forms of communication have played a leading role in spreading ideas, actions, and change.

I’m betting these technologies will also soon lead to innovative business practices and the next generation of successful enterprises and corporate leaders, who will find smart ways to leverage their potential.

That will be something worth tweeting about.

September marks the beginning of school for students around the globe. Some schools started in August, while others get underway this coming week.

Nothing says “fresh start” like the first day of school. The slate is clean. The grade book is empty. And no classes have been missed. In short, the opportunity to succeed will be never be greater.

Likewise in business, September can represent a new day and “back-to-school” opportunity.

Start with your employees. If you’re like most companies, you will not be adding headcount this coming year. Therefore, it’s important that you literally make the most of what you have.

Treat your employees as your company’s most important asset, and they will return the favor. Invest in high-value training for your employees. Use September and the months that following as an opportunity to hone your employees’ skills.

Second only to a raise or promotion, providing an employee with effective training sends the most important message you can send: we value your contribution to the company and we want you to stay and grow. Most important, training can make a so-so employee good, and a good employee even better.

So use September as a fresh start for your company, and take your employees back to school with an innovative training program. I’m betting it will lead to a better grade for your company.