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Cubicles a Giant Mistake

J to the D writes "Apparently even the designer of the cubicle believes now that they are a bad idea." From the article: "After years of prototyping and studying how people work, and vowing to improve on the open-bullpen office that dominated much of the 20th century, Propst designed a system he thought would increase productivity (hence the name Action Office). The young designer, who also worked on projects as varied as heart pumps and tree harvesters, theorized that productivity would rise if people could see more of their work spread out in front of them, not just stacked in an in-box."

15 of 374 comments (clear)

  1. Stuff that Matters... by Slipgrid · · Score: 5, Funny

    My cubicles walls help give me more free time to spend on Slashdot... And, that's Stuff that Matters...

    1. Re:Stuff that Matters... by sgt_doom · · Score: 5, Funny

      It still beats being shackled to those damn oars...I hated those Roman overseers....

  2. Now wait just a minute... by PenguinBoyDave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Without cubes, we never would have been given Dilbert, Office Space or User Friendly. Cubes aint all that bad!

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    I'm not a troll, but I play one on Slashdot.
  3. Cubicles are Cubs Fans ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cubicles are Cubs Fans who sit in their ice-cold stadium

  4. cubicles are great for raising livestock by swschrad · · Score: 5, Funny

    tell me you all aren't pumped full of donuts, chained to the desk, allowed to get big and fat, and then sold for slaughter right before the holidays....

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  5. Of course they are a bad idea! by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do you have any idea how hard it is to goofy off properly with people walking by?

    It bothers me even when I actually doing work.

    And here comes someone now.....

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    There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
  6. Re:In other words ... by timster · · Score: 5, Funny

    He IS in a box. RTFA.

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    I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
  7. Re:What the dead believe by mopslik · · Score: 5, Funny

    he's been dead for several years.

    You heard it here first: even brain-eating zombies hate cubicles.

  8. Re:Not quite true by wildsurf · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now, they are about 1/6 to 1/8 of the size of an office.

    "Counselor, see me in my quarte-- .. er, my sixteenths."

    --
    Weeks of coding saves hours of planning.
  9. Re:"Now" believes it was a mistake? by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, actually it was after that. When he was welcomed to hell with open arms, and placed in his cubicle.

    Though I'm not sure exactly how he got the message out to us...

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    'Sensible' is a curse word.
  10. Re:Bullpens are bullshit by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's especially bad if one of the people is a heavy Coke drinker. The sound of the pop tops opening! The coughing when he swallows wrong! The loud burping!!

    I don't know how my cubemates could stand it.

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    Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  11. Re:Just Another Tool by RevMike · · Score: 5, Funny

    Anyone who works in a job that requires any kind of concentration (software development being the most obvious example) will, given the opportunity, enter a state of "flow" where they are wholly committed to the work they're doing. Many people have likely experienced this: ever start working and then suddenly realize it's already lunch time? Have you had periods where you spend a couple hours deeply focused while getting enormous amounts of work done? That's flow.

    The thing is, getting into this state requires at least 20 minutes to a half an hour, and it can be very easily disturbed by outside distractions, such as noise, conversations, etc. And any break in ones concentration just requires another 20 minutes of recovery time. Consequently, open, cubicle-style workspaces are exactly the *worst* kind of work environment for these kinds of professions. All they do is increase the amount of distraction and make it more difficult for employees to enter a proper state of flow, when they are most productive.

    Even in a typical private office, however, there are still distractions. The telephone ringing or your neighbor speaking too loud or any of a million other things can be disturbing.

    A good compromise is to provide flexible space, cubicles for handling the normal day-to-day stuff, team rooms for collaborative work, and small private spaces with no distractions for deep solo concentration.

    Actually, lots of companies provide the third. The room is generally tiled and has a row of tiny offices equipped with porceline chairs.

  12. Re:Windows by Bull999999 · · Score: 5, Funny

    work better in offices with windows

    This is Slashdot. I recommend that they get Linuxes instead.

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    1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
  13. Re:Just Another Tool by That's+Unpossible! · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, lots of companies provide the third. The room is generally tiled and has a row of tiny offices equipped with porceline chairs.

    True. To coin the grandparent poster, I often experience "the flow" when in these private sanctuaries.

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    Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
  14. Re:Just Another Tool by karnal · · Score: 5, Funny

    You should move a little to the left. No one likes it when you crap in the sink, fyi.

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    Karnal