Do Cubicles Kill?
One of the first things people notice when they visit our space for the first time is that there are no private offices, walls, cubes, or doors. On a walking tour they learn that most people at Menlo do not even have their own desk, chair, or computer. People are often surprised by this lack of personal space as they contemplate what it might be like to work here. I’m sure they’re thinking of their own work environments, where they have a cube or private office. They believe that this physical separation from their teammates produces greater productivity and a better environment for personal contributions.
I can’t help but to reflect on the excitement of my first job after graduating from Michigan. I was a programmer for a high-flying tech firm in Ann Arbor called Manufacturing Data Systems, Inc. MDSI had a beautiful, futuristic office complex and I got my very first “office” — a 8′x8′ cubicle, with 5′ high walls. Proudly I invited my in-laws for a tour of my new employer. I walked them through the building and eventually got to my cube and pointed out my new working home. My father-in-law didn’t react as I had expected. He was a dyed in the wool tool and die maker. He looked at me and said, “How can you work like this?” Shocked, I asked him what he meant. He said, “You’re like cattle in here!”
My balloon had burst.
I was, however, convinced that he simply didn’t understand the new world of high technology and how important it was for each of us to have our private little space to work in library quiet in order to produce great software.
Over much of the next twenty years, companies I worked for and teams I managed used this same style of office. I became increasingly frustrated with the results of these teams. In 1999 I was reminded of that twenty year old conversation with my father-in-law. Kent Beck described the power of an open and collaborative work environment in his book, Extreme Programming Explained: Embrace Change. That same year I saw an ABC News Nightline video on an industrial design firm in Palo Alto called IDEO. These two vivid examples made me realize that my father-in-law had been right all along:
Cubicles kill.
They kill morale, communication, productivity, creativity, teamwork, camaraderie, energy, spirit, and results. They suck the joy out of work.
Each day I feel blessed to sit and revel in the energy, creativity, and productivity of the open and collaborative work environment that is the Menlo Software Factory™. It is the palpable energy of the space that both drives the demand for near daily tours while simultaneously supporting the phenomenal results of my team.
You should consider that the greatest change you could make in the New Year for your team could be enabled by the simple application of an Allen wrench. I can assure you that such an exciting change will not be without its drama. My 1999 team’s first reaction was “Blood, Mayhem, Murder.”
I didn’t listen then, and the results astounded even me. Sometimes you just have to listen to your gut, your heart, and your intuition to do the things you know are right.
Management, Menlo Software Factory
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allen wrench, Beck, cube, cubicle, IDEO, joy, Menlo Software Factory, Software Development, team work, workspace
Sheesh. Talk about generalizations! Cubicles kill, they suck the … etc. Good grief.
Different environments work for different personality types, workstyles, organization styles, and types of work. An organization that considers all the factors and chooses a good match (or a good mix or environment types) is ahead of the game. An organization that makes decisions based on black and white views is questionable.
Isn`t background noise an issue when trying to concentrate?
This blog posted was picked up by AnnArbor.com under the title “Death to the Cubicle.” It has generated quite a bit of commentary from the community. I posted this response there. I thought our blog readers would also be interested in the discussion thread:
Wow! I didn’t expect all the attention to this particular blog post but clearly I’ve struck a chord (even if a dissonant one!).
The comments that have been posted have raised some interesting questions and made some intriguing assumptions about Menlo itself and about the nature of an open and collaborative work environment.
I’d like to explore these further. However, if I am the one answering all the questions and offering up all the opinions, it will naturally be suspect. So I’m going to ask my team and others we’ve come in contact with to contribute to the blog and speak to the issues and concerns raised here.
My goal with this particular blog post and my life’s work (perhaps contrary to Nathan Bomey’s provocative headline) is not to “Kill the Cubicle” but rather to create a joyful work environment for me, my team and my customers. I also don’t assume that Menlo has “THE answer” to workplace joy. I do believe, however, based on my experiences and observations that we do have “AN answer” and one that the world is welcome to explore and interrogate. We conduct about a tour-a-day at this point and our public tours have become quite popular as well. I would be happy to schedule a special tour to Ann Arbor.com readers if there is interest. I could arrange time for some of my team members to be available for Q & A.
It might be worth mentioning that there is no corner office for the CEO either! I share a five foot aluminum table with a member of my team right out in the open space with the rest of the team. My personal managerial philosophy is that I would never expect someone on my team to do something I wouldn’t be willing to do myself.
I look forward to further exploration of the topic! Thanks for your passion …
This looks fake. There’s 5 women out of 9 people total. I have never seen programmer ratios like that.
Josh:
I assure you, it’s not fake. What you see reflects our reality.
I think what might be skewing your view of the scene is that not everyone depicted in a picture is a programmer. Some of those you see are programmers. Some are High-Tech Anthropologists®. Some are project managers. Some are quality advocates.
Overall the number of people on our team fluctuates based on the amount of project work we have available; so does the male-to-female ratio.
FWIW, I just did a quick body count at Menlo. We have 26 people in the office right now. Sixteen (16) of them are men, ten (10) of them are women.
-Lisamarie
Josh -
Thanks for the laugh this morning!! I always enjoy folks who once again point out how weird and different we are. Sometimes we forget!
This is a subjective view on the subject. Aren’t cubicles more or less the same as having your own office, with slightly less privacy, but with much more privacy than working on a desk with another mate or two? Yes, it might challenging an fun (although I’m not sure about the increased productivity) to work as a couple, but don’t you miss privacy from time to time? Additionally, the main issue with any sub-methodology deriving from Agile is that it inherits one of Agile’s main limitation, which is having to have a team of stars (as described in this article on agile limitations). Traditional Project Managers point that as a major weakness and blockroad for Agile to be adopted by companies.
Thanks for sharing…
Our experience with agile and experts is actually opposite of what is described in the “PM Hut” article. In fact, as a former VP and now CEO, it is this quality of agile (the fact that I don’t need experts to make it work) was what I found most appealing! See our thoughts on this in our later post: http://bit.ly/b61rF0