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For me, the real dehumanizing aspect is the one-sided and covert rewriting of the workplace rules. They could easily get the same information they want by havin

For me, the real dehumanizing aspect is the one-sided and covert rewriting of the workplace rules. They could easily get the same information they want by having people sign in, or reserve space in time increments (although I'm not really sure how this lab works in terms of allocating space.) In that case everyone knows what data is recorded and its level of detail.

db48x 4y ago
Yea, that would be a big part of it. All cooperation in a group comes from understanding and agreeing to that group’s rules, and traditionally from having some say in what those rules are. But there is also the lack of respect for personal privacy, personal belongings, etc shown by moving someone else’s stuff. And to cowardly wait until someone is in a meeting to move their office, rather than risk a confrontation? Wow. You know, there is a story in Peopleware, by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister, about how office assignments are handled in large, successful software companies. The team that needs offices is sent by their manager to whoever is in charge of the facilities. There they learn about the various office buildings they have, the floor plans of the rooms that are available, what furniture is readily to hand, and so on. Together the team picks one or more offices, furnishes them, etc. To me that almost sounds like a myth from a long–lost golden age. But working from home has lots of advantages too, so I’m going to keep doing that rather than try to join IBM or whatever.
- itronitron 4y ago
  Reminds me of reading about Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle (by IDEO and Adams) from 2001. It was a design exercise in fostering individual customization of a person's cubicle while fitting within the standard form/ business requirements. I'd post a link but most of them have been lost to posterity (even IDEO's :( ), so here is an image search... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ideo+dilbert%27s+ultimate+cubicle&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ideo+dilbert%27s+ultimate+cubicle&...

db48x 4y ago

Yea, that would be a big part of it. All cooperation in a group comes from understanding and agreeing to that group’s rules, and traditionally from having some say in what those rules are. But there is also the lack of respect for personal privacy, personal belongings, etc shown by moving someone else’s stuff. And to cowardly wait until someone is in a meeting to move their office, rather than risk a confrontation? Wow. You know, there is a story in Peopleware, by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister, about how office assignments are handled in large, successful software companies. The team that needs offices is sent by their manager to whoever is in charge of the facilities. There they learn about the various office buildings they have, the floor plans of the rooms that are available, what furniture is readily to hand, and so on. Together the team picks one or more offices, furnishes them, etc. To me that almost sounds like a myth from a long–lost golden age. But working from home has lots of advantages too, so I’m going to keep doing that rather than try to join IBM or whatever.

itronitron 4y ago
Reminds me of reading about Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle (by IDEO and Adams) from 2001. It was a design exercise in fostering individual customization of a person's cubicle while fitting within the standard form/ business requirements. I'd post a link but most of them have been lost to posterity (even IDEO's :( ), so here is an image search... https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ideo+dilbert%27s+ultimate+cubicle&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ideo+dilbert%27s+ultimate+cubicle&...