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Mr. Hoardajob, Tear Down That Wall
Nov 19The Berlin Wall was torn down 20 years ago. Why are cubicle walls still standing?
Mr. Hoardajob, tear down that wall.
The Berlin Wall of Business
Here on one side of the office wall we have the Western Managers. They have all the amenities. They have freedom. They have The Wall.
One the other side are the Eastern Workers. They work in grey cubicles designed to keep them from talking to each other. They want amenities, too. Most of all, though, they want freedom.
Tear Down That Wall
When people sit together they talk together. They exchange ideas. They work together, not just on the same floor.
You Hate the Idea
I’ll be bothered all the time. I won’t have privacy. I’ll waste half my day.
Yeah, we’ve heard them all. Red herrings every one.
Work is collaboration. You don’t need to schedule one-hour meetings when five minutes will do in the work space. Put on your headphones to signal you don’t want to be bothered. Go to a private room for private phone calls.
The graffitti is on the wall. You can tear it down. Imagine.
About the Author
Frank Roche
Frank started IFRACTAL over 7 years ago with Sarah Chambers. Together, they've created HR communications and HR software for some of the world's leading companies. Frank is also studying Flamenco guitar and origami.
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I must say I like my private office (finally, after all these years) but the door is usually open, and I spend most of my time walking around talking to employees about various things and collaborating on projects.
We don’t have a cube farm here, I’ve never worked in one, but it’d probably make me crazy.
@Tammy I think we all do like getting to that point of having a wall office. And I’ve seen some open office ideas go horribly awry. MBWA, that’s what this post was about. You have that right.
I do think that people collaborate differently and more effectively when they sit together…I so dislike cubicles..and cubicle farms.
Cubicles, to me, say “Your job isn’t important enough and you’re not important enough to warrant any kind of real dedicated space to call your own. Sorry.”
That’s a really crappy message to send employees at any level.
@Vinny, it’s so true…I know it gives people heartburn to think about open office space, but I’ve found that once you’re in that for a while it works…and then you have private rooms for conversations and such…and let the energy bubble naturally. Otherwise, it seems like people have to schedule a meeting to talk about something they could do in two minutes…and for that, they take an hour.
Thanks so much fro coming by, buddy. Always good to have a voice of reason here!
We’ve kind of become a “meeting” culture in offices now. Need to solve a problem? Have a meeting. Something not working right? Have a meeting. Take for example what it takes to launch something in my company right now.
1. Develop and design the project with input from God-knows-how-many-people.
2. Finish revision 1 of project, then distribute.
3. Accept criticisms of every minor detail until revision 2 looks nothing like revision 1.
4. Launch revision 4 because 3, which wasn’t good enough, was a transition to 4. Launching involves: a conference call, meeting, webinar, training, and manual.
All that over complication turns a 1 month project into a 1 year disaster all because we feel like we need to have meetings, trainings, manuals, and so on. The idea that ideas can happen organically is so foreign to most companies because they can’t see ideas happening outside of a meeting room or a collaborated document.
Thank God younger people are moving up the ranks in these companies because the older generation, I fear, is lost on trying to look corporate and act corporate instead of doing a good job and getting things done.
How does this relate to cubicles? Well, it’s the same idea. Cubicles establish a heirarchy. If you’re in a cube, you’re the little guy. Your ideas are suggestions. If you’re in an office, your ideas are important and are also suggestions, but are meant to carry much more weight.
It’s all one big melange of corporate culture crap.
@Vinny, my man, you just boiled down why a lot of companies can’t get it going. That is the unvarnished truth about how it goes…and it relates directly to hierarchy. good ideas come from all over…and not only in meetings.
Brilliantly said. People pay management consultants millions and they don’t get as succinct a piece of how to manage as you did in 200 words.
Thanks for posting Frank. No walls in the hospital setting. Total teamwork.
@John Man, that’s the right way to go. In your business you need the absolute best people…it really is life or death. Cool to think about a hospital setting as a model for business…too often it’s sports…hmm. Thanks for making me think.
Just testing to see if my avatar pops up with the appropriate email address.
@John You’re the guy with a parrot on his shoulder…hey, that reminds me of a joke.
Seems like I lost my comment that the are no wall in the hospital setting, team play all the way.
@John, you’re there amigo. Glad for that. Thanks, man.
Love the blog, but have to say this one makes me cringe. I work in an open office with around 20 other people. It’s HORRIBLE! No concentration, no privacy. It’s not collaboration – it’s a zoo. No one is intentional about communicating effectively because, well, everyone figures we’re all going to be there so we’ll just talk.
An open office would be ok with a Results-Only Work Environment, because you’re not forced to be there all the time. Otherwise, it totally stinks.