5 ms·

I'm not sure about that 45 degree guy, but for turning your cube so that you face out, that's sort of natural. For some people (me...) sitting with your back t

by tsuraan 16y ago

I'm not sure about that 45 degree guy, but for turning your cube so that you face out, that's sort of natural. For some people (me...) sitting with your back to a door or an area where people are generally walking is really uncomfortable. I don't like having people behind me without knowing they're there. It's not about slacking, it's just about comfort.

lovskogen 16y ago
I think it's a natural instinct even.
- imp 16y ago
  To protect against marauders ;)
  - billswift 16y ago
    Not necessarily. All it requires is that people simply don't like being startled, nothing more is required than that.
    - mfukar 16y ago
      I think he was making a reference to a certain Big Bang Theory character..
      - imp 16y ago
        Bazinga!
shade 16y ago
Agreed -- I'm the same way. I can't speak for all the deaf people out there, but personally, I find it uncomfortable to leave my hearing aid in all day, which means I'll often remove it if I'm just working at my desk, and won't hear someone come up behind me. My last job had an environment where everyone had their backs to the entrance of their cube and I would constantly be startled by people walking up behind me without me hearing or seeing that they were there. It's very unpleasant and actually started making me a little neurotic. It didn't help that the floor in that office was kind of shaky, so you'd also feel it whenever someone walked by. My current job still has cubes, but the desks aren't attached to the cube walls (we mostly use IKEA Galants) and pretty much everyone has their cube set up so they face out. It's a much more pleasant environment to work in, and since we work in a converted factory it means I look up to a fantastic view of downtown Akron through a bank of windows. I'm much less neurotic now (at least about this... ;)) and all the natural light has actually done a lot to help my sleeping patterns, too.
philwelch 16y ago
It's also a marker of personal respect and status. If you walk into someone's office, like a lawyer or a doctor or a professor, do you sneak up behind them? No. They're facing the door. The desk is between you and them. Behind them are bookshelves or a panoramic view of the local freeway or diplomas framed and mounted on the wall, and you're face to face. Even receptionists get this courtesy. It's comparatively kind of degrading to work in an environment where as soon as someone enters your workspace they're looking over your shoulder.
Dove 16y ago
A desire for privacy need not have a devious root. When I am working on a nascent idea, I am often fanatical about privacy. I absolutely do not want my most trusted friends or colleagues to so much as look at what I am doing. Not because I am doing poor work or because they might disapprove. Rather, the mere knowledge that my work is being consumed puts me in the mode of communicating rather than creating. I begin naturally thinking in terms of clarifying and explaining and consolidating, whereas when a work is mine alone, I can freely explore and leave a mess. The effect is disasterous for poorly-formed ideas. I absolutely must explore until I understand the natural form of what I am trying to create. If I think about accomodating the eyes of others too soon, I will be hampered in my explorations and may not do my best work.

by tsuraan 16y ago

lovskogen 16y ago

I think it's a natural instinct even.

imp 16y ago
To protect against marauders ;)
- billswift 16y ago
  Not necessarily. All it requires is that people simply don't like being startled, nothing more is required than that.
  - mfukar 16y ago
    I think he was making a reference to a certain Big Bang Theory character..
    - imp 16y ago
      Bazinga!

shade 16y ago

Agreed -- I'm the same way. I can't speak for all the deaf people out there, but personally, I find it uncomfortable to leave my hearing aid in all day, which means I'll often remove it if I'm just working at my desk, and won't hear someone come up behind me. My last job had an environment where everyone had their backs to the entrance of their cube and I would constantly be startled by people walking up behind me without me hearing or seeing that they were there. It's very unpleasant and actually started making me a little neurotic. It didn't help that the floor in that office was kind of shaky, so you'd also feel it whenever someone walked by. My current job still has cubes, but the desks aren't attached to the cube walls (we mostly use IKEA Galants) and pretty much everyone has their cube set up so they face out. It's a much more pleasant environment to work in, and since we work in a converted factory it means I look up to a fantastic view of downtown Akron through a bank of windows. I'm much less neurotic now (at least about this... ;)) and all the natural light has actually done a lot to help my sleeping patterns, too.

philwelch 16y ago

It's also a marker of personal respect and status. If you walk into someone's office, like a lawyer or a doctor or a professor, do you sneak up behind them? No. They're facing the door. The desk is between you and them. Behind them are bookshelves or a panoramic view of the local freeway or diplomas framed and mounted on the wall, and you're face to face. Even receptionists get this courtesy. It's comparatively kind of degrading to work in an environment where as soon as someone enters your workspace they're looking over your shoulder.

Dove 16y ago

A desire for privacy need not have a devious root. When I am working on a nascent idea, I am often fanatical about privacy. I absolutely do not want my most trusted friends or colleagues to so much as look at what I am doing. Not because I am doing poor work or because they might disapprove. Rather, the mere knowledge that my work is being consumed puts me in the mode of communicating rather than creating. I begin naturally thinking in terms of clarifying and explaining and consolidating, whereas when a work is mine alone, I can freely explore and leave a mess. The effect is disasterous for poorly-formed ideas. I absolutely must explore until I understand the natural form of what I am trying to create. If I think about accomodating the eyes of others too soon, I will be hampered in my explorations and may not do my best work.