As work, healthcare, and decision-making increasingly occur across distance, physical separation is often assumed to degrade performance. Research in human-centered systems design reveals a more nuanced reality: performance often survives distance, but the hidden costs shift to workload, and coordination. This talk examines how the design of collaborative systems determines whether distance becomes manageable or dangerous. Drawing on two decades of research spanning remote collaboration, immersive virtual environments, telemedicine-enabled stroke care, and human-AI teaming in high-risk settings, the talk shows how redesigning systems, rather than pushing people harder, can dramatically improve outcomes. The talk argues that the future of distributed work and intelligent systems will be defined by seamlessly integrated, intelligently designed human–machine partnerships.