From PowerPoint to the Open Office: The Washington Post Covers the News That Really Matters.
May 27, 2015
Here’s another gem from Jeff Bezos’ newspaper. I noted this item in my Overflight report this morning: “Google Got It Wrong. The Open-Office Trend Is Destroying the Workplace.” The premise of the write up, it seems to me, is that Google is responsible for offices without walls. Offices without walls are detrimental to work processes which require walls. Therefore, Google is wrong again.
Google, how could a math club inspired company destroy the workplace. I thought you folks just eroded relevance in search results, invented Loon balloons, and squabbled about private jet décor. Toss in the black swan who dallied with drugs and a disaffected wizard with several versions of his name. Here I am. Off base again.
According to the write up:
While employees feel like they’re part of a laid-back, innovative enterprise, the environment ultimately damages workers’ attention spans, productivity, creative thinking, and satisfaction. Furthermore, a sense of privacy boosts job performance, while the opposite can cause feelings of helplessness. In addition to the distractions, my colleagues and I have been more vulnerable to illness. Last flu season took down a succession of my co-workers like dominoes.
Oh, my goodness. My feeling of helplessness is Google’s fault. My co-workers and I will face rampant disease.
But, wait, what’s the fix? Well, do away with the office entirely. Yes, telework. When I was doing some odd jobs in Washington, DC, I noticed that some government workers “teleworked” one day a week. This meant that the consultants who were the primary driver of doing stuff we somewhat hampered. Imagine the productivity if no one converged on a common facility, interacted in direct face to face ways, and obtained a smidgen of identity from entering a giant building with a wonderful on premises cafeteria.
What’s fascinating about this write up? First, it is not news. Second, it blames Google for trend in which Google played much, if any, leadership role. Third, the “fix” is great for the rare individual who thrives in an environment without the old fashioned Tayloresque management methods.
Google, did you grasp the extent of your influence in the no walls office approach to work? Probably not. Was the destruction of my nifty corner office overlooking a duck pond in San Mateo an unintended consequence of linking relevance to paid advertising? I never liked that office. I appropriated an interior office without windows, moving the copy machine and assorted office equipment to the office with a view of the ducks. Go figure.
Oh, Washington Post, why not cover the rising tension in the South China Sea an issue with a touch more substance?
Stephen E Arnold, May 27, 2015
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