Competitiveness in the workplace can be a double edged sword. 

Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself in a work environment, because it's unlikely that anyone else will on your behalf. It can be a dog eat dog world out there, and if you don't have your own back, then nobody else is going to. The worker in this story was in a place like that, where they wanted to work remotely, but for some reason his team was preventing him from doing that. Working remotely has been a huge boon for employees all over the world, but it's not so simple in practice as it is in theory. Different jobs require different levels of being in the office vs not being in the office, and you have to realize which one you're doing. The person in this story wanted to have flexibility that his company wouldn't allow for him.