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Steve Jobs is said to have poured in a lot of thought on how the architecture of the building is supporting work. Steve also had some architectural experience f
by heisenbit 9y ago
Steve Jobs is said to have poured in a lot of thought on how the architecture of the building is supporting work. Steve also had some architectural experience from Pixar. On the macro level the alignment of the architecture with the organization as it was explained always made sense to me.
On the micro level changing from offices to open floor is a huge change. How was that supposed to preserve and foster the engineering culture? Apple is the company where walls and secrets are not accident but carefully designed. I could imagine a part of the organization going to open floor but the whole building?
- Cacti 9y agoWho wants to get 3/4 of the way through the construction and admit your brand new building isn't big enough? Easier to just shove everyone in. Apple is usually a smart company, but it is always a large company, and large companies are prone to making broad one-size-fits-all mistakes.
- tempodox 9y ago> ...and admit your brand new building isn't big enough? How do companies believe in ever-lasting growth and then not reflect that in their plans on usage of space? Feels like cognitive dissonance to me.
- QAPereo 9y agoIf it were a person, sure, but it's a company so it's just shitty leadership exposing a lack of coordination among various discrete entities.
- leggomylibro 9y agoJust do what Amazon is doing, and build another one. Not enough room? Erect another skyscraper. And another one. Then a third. And then when you start facing the prospect of your employees getting lynched by locals who are furious about their rent, ask some other cities if they might have room. My prediction for the future: Amazon's internal transfer process is extremely smooth. Seattle is not gonna weather the opening of this second HQ well, once it gets up and running. But the point is, you gotta keep moving forwards - it's always day 1, right?
- dannysu 9y agoWhen I had my internship at Amazon it was mostly cubicles. It's actually quite annoying and I had to have my earphones to get work done. Is it any different now?
- dilemma 9y agoWhat is it that makes sense to you on the macro level? That the building is donut shaped?
- justherefortart 9y agoFor all the loving of open offices, I've never seen an exec that works in an open area themselves. I heard about one, but never saw it with my own eyes. This is in 30+ years of working.
- maxxxxx 9y agoMe neither. I am still waiting for the company where all the VPs sit along one table elbow to elbow.
- LeoNatan25 9y agoOf course. What execs love about open spaces is the money it saves on office layout and walls.
- mrtksn 9y agoOn my previous job I sat right next to VP of product but she would often use the office of the SVP who is not around most of the time. Open space office with more than 50 people on each floor, it was very interesting for a while(as you can see how $2B business is run in one picture) but it was one of the primary reasons I quit. Beyond the ongoing noice and distractions, it doesn't allow you to have cycles of work and thought. Well, I actually would have them but it feels weird to be the guy who stares at random things and people for prolonged time :)
- UncleMeat 9y agoMy VP doesn't even really have an office. He finds an open spot and sits his laptop down. This is at one of the majors.
- mmagin 9y agoIt doesn't matter, those people are in meetings all day anyway.
- hkmurakami 9y agoHP started with a "no offices" culture where even senior execs had cubes, but I have to think this is long gone.
- 9y ago