> managers and executives [...] should be placed in an open plan environment for at least 12 months before /any/ employees are moved into it. Making them "take

> managers and executives [...] should be placed in an open plan environment for at least 12 months before /any/ employees are moved into it. Making them "take their own medicine" is unlikely to be effective in this case, because the nature of manager/exec work is perfectly suited to the open layout. That's probably a large part of its popularity -- the people who decide for it fundamentally don't understand its problems. Even if they intellectually grasp that writing code requires concentration, they don't likely understand how fragile concentration can be. Much of their job consists exactly of moving around, having conversations with various people. They have less use for stretches of uninterrupted concentration. Cf. the excellent "Maker's Schedule, Manager's Schedule" essay http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html http://www.paulgraham.com/makersschedule.html It's about the organization of time, but the basic insight applies to space/noise as well.