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> Why hasn't "peak office" been reached yet? Because most offices are staffed by people working for arrogant old people who can't imagine getting through life

> Why hasn't "peak office" been reached yet? Because most offices are staffed by people working for arrogant old people who can't imagine getting through life without staff, because they themselves are not actually capable of doing anything. [Disclaimer: I am both arrogant and an old person, but do not fulfill the requirements for "arrogant old person" because I actually know how to do stuff.] This is a generational shift. I'm old enough to remember when a certain class of older executive would become enraged when they saw a scientist or engineer in their business unit typing at a keyboard. In their world, secretaries typed up the long-hand notes that scientists and engineers wrote. It wasn't so long ago. Likewise, the notion that an executive today might book their own travel, or pay their own bills (because really, it's all a couple of mouse-clicks and hardly a significant distraction from thinking the Deep Thoughts[tm] that execs are paid to think) is still anathema to many executives older than their late 40's. As they retire we will hit "peak office", but not before. My bet is somewhere in the 2025-2030 range.

VLM 12y ago
There is analogy with open office. Only non-management unthinking drones sit in the open, all mgmt and all "thought workers" have offices with doors because we pay them to concentrate, you can't concentrate in a noisy environment, and if you don't have a door you can close you aren't suppose to be thinking, you're supposed to be laboring (even if the labor is paper shuffling or talking on a phone). Also a significant sign of social status, the idea that a member of management wouldn't have an office with a door is unthinkable. To be honest I think the only thing that has changed with the open office fad, is the unthinking drones are very aspirational and refuse to think of themselves the way management thinks of them.

VLM 12y ago

There is analogy with open office. Only non-management unthinking drones sit in the open, all mgmt and all "thought workers" have offices with doors because we pay them to concentrate, you can't concentrate in a noisy environment, and if you don't have a door you can close you aren't suppose to be thinking, you're supposed to be laboring (even if the labor is paper shuffling or talking on a phone). Also a significant sign of social status, the idea that a member of management wouldn't have an office with a door is unthinkable. To be honest I think the only thing that has changed with the open office fad, is the unthinking drones are very aspirational and refuse to think of themselves the way management thinks of them.