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"there is a pretty good correlation between those who work with the doors open and those who ultimately do important things, although people who work with doors

"there is a pretty good correlation between those who work with the doors open and those who ultimately do important things, although people who work with doors closed often work harder." This rings absolutely true for me - my best work comes when after I've spent a moderate amount of time discussing and sharing the idea(s) with other people, and it's usually far better than things I cook up and develop in total isolation.

akkartik 16y ago
The author of Flow found that successful people tend to alternate between periods in 'open' and 'closed' mode.
- kylemathews 16y ago
  Absolutely. I find it really helpful as a technical founder to alternate between product mode and customer developer mode. Tearing myself from the one context to the other is hard at times but generates a lot of insights.
CamperBob 16y ago
I think one of the most powerful images left over from the original Hewlettt Packard organization is the first one on this page: http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/comments/trip_to_hp/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/comments/trip_to... This is how every organization I've ever respected has been run.
- eitally 16y ago
  I honestly believe that most execs have an open door policy. The issue is that the cultures of most companies don't encourage or develop the comfort of lay employees to waltz in and start a conversation. Even at the director level in a large company, it is exceedingly rare (and refreshing) to find people who will question a position statement or a decision made by someone more than one step above them in the food chain. It takes a lot of effort to counteract this. Generally speaking, open door policies are meaningless at a lot of companies because the people they're intended to benefit are not developed in a way such that they'd actually have a clue what to say/ask if they did take advantage of the policy. This is the same reason I prefer to sit in a cube rather than an office when visiting our global locations.

akkartik 16y ago

The author of Flow found that successful people tend to alternate between periods in 'open' and 'closed' mode.

kylemathews 16y ago
Absolutely. I find it really helpful as a technical founder to alternate between product mode and customer developer mode. Tearing myself from the one context to the other is hard at times but generates a lot of insights.

CamperBob 16y ago

I think one of the most powerful images left over from the original Hewlettt Packard organization is the first one on this page: http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/comments/trip_to_hp/ http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/index.php/site/comments/trip_to... This is how every organization I've ever respected has been run.

eitally 16y ago
I honestly believe that most execs have an open door policy. The issue is that the cultures of most companies don't encourage or develop the comfort of lay employees to waltz in and start a conversation. Even at the director level in a large company, it is exceedingly rare (and refreshing) to find people who will question a position statement or a decision made by someone more than one step above them in the food chain. It takes a lot of effort to counteract this. Generally speaking, open door policies are meaningless at a lot of companies because the people they're intended to benefit are not developed in a way such that they'd actually have a clue what to say/ask if they did take advantage of the policy. This is the same reason I prefer to sit in a cube rather than an office when visiting our global locations.