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Cubicles a Giant Mistake

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the we-already-knew-that dept.

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."

25 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. Just Another Tool by tverbeek · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Like any tool, the fault isn't the tool but the people using it. I've worked in (and helped design) some "cubicles" that were closer to Propst's vision... less a cubicle farm than a garden. They beat working in a doored, fully-walled office, and definitely were better than what used to come before them (rows and columns of desks, one-room-schoolhouse style).

    --
    http://alternatives.rzero.com/
    1. Re:Just Another Tool by Abcd1234 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They beat working in a doored, fully-walled office

      You must be on crack to believe that. 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.

      This would be why I greatly favour offices over any other kind of open concept design, at least for these types of jobs. Does that mean slackers can slack off more easily? Sure. But you'll see greatly increased productivity from the quality employees, as they'll be able to get more work done due to less distraction. And for those slackers, well, the more they slack off, the more obvious it is that they're doing it, giving you the opportunity to cut out the chaff from the wheat.

    2. 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.

    3. Re:Just Another Tool by kov · · Score: 5, Interesting

      At the risk of drawing derision on financial software development, we couldn't possibly do what we do with offices. When the trading desk has a problem with your software system and you're bleeding money, it's battle stations. Much easier to have a big wide open room with everyone right there madly working on the solution. More sources of input, less redundant communication. The benefits of that are too good compared to the benefits of an office -- you just have to learn how to concentrate in the middle of a battlefield, sort of like that guy in the Seven Samurai who makes himself sleep when the time's available (and only when it's available!).

      Course, we don't use cubes either, just a wide open floor with desks.

    4. Re:Just Another Tool by fm6 · · Score: 5, Informative
      That's funny. I work at a company where almost everybody has a private office. And yet lots of people go home to work to get away from the distractions!

      The way to eliminate distractions is not to build walls, but to build awareness of people's needs. People need to be aware of how the noise they make affects others. That's not just important in cube land — somebody with a nasty case of "cell phone shout" can reach through walls!

    5. 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.

      --
      Ironically, the word ironically is often used incorrectly.
    6. 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.

      --
      Karnal
    7. Re:Just Another Tool by ltbarcly · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Actually, that isn't 'flow'. It's Attention Deficit Disorder. It's very, very common among computer programmers, as intelligent people with ADD will self select CS because the instant feedback gives an immediate reward for concentration, and therefore they feel more successful at computer work than other endeavors.

      See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocus

  3. 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!

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

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

  5. 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?
  6. What the dead believe by liveinthewire · · Score: 5, Informative
    "even the designer of the cubicle believes now that they are a bad idea."

    Unlikely, since he's been dead for several years.

    1. 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.

  7. Oh dear god no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Open plan is even worse, jesus christ I can't bear open plan, oh dear god please don't make me go back to open plan, please!

  8. 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.....

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

    He IS in a box. RTFA.

    --
    I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
  10. Not quite true by WindBourne · · Score: 5, Informative

    Some of the other articles speak about that he still likes the cubicles. What he objects to, is small cubicles. When he designed it, they were about the size of a standard office. Now, they are about 1/6 to 1/8 of the size of an office. Big difference.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. 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.
  11. Windows by dpbsmith · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't think it's practical to give everyone a corner office, but everyone _could_ have a window.

    In Peopleware, Tom DeMarco & Timothy Lister observe that work better in offices with windows. When this is pointed out, management usually says "sure, but it's impossible to give everyone a room with a window."

    DeMarco and Lister's reply is that in fact every hotel in the world manages to do this.

    --

    "How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!

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

      work better in offices with windows

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

      --
      1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
  12. Bullpens are bullshit by cgrayson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The collaborative power of people working on the same project sitting together is crap.

    For every time it saves time for one person (in a (typical?) four-person bullpen to be able to call out a question to the others, there's exactly three times it distracts and breaks the flow of the others.

    And that's purposeful interruptions; it's not even counting incidental distractions (phone calls, thinking-out-loud comments, etc.).

    I've worked in both private offices and open environments, and I'm with Joel. Privacy and lack of interruption is key for developers.

    --
    Cool funny t-shirts for geeks, gamers and everyone else
    1. 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.

      --
      Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
  13. 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...

    --
    'Sensible' is a curse word.