Have to admit, open offices look really nice on shows like The Newsroom or The Office. All the characters can spend their time bouncing witty dialogue off of one another, seeing snippets of email on other screens that make for wacky misunderstandings, and otherwise keep the show going between plot points.
Socializing or even discussing business things has dropped to nil. The collaboration thing has backfired. Because most business talk ended in a social bit. No one wants to risk narc potential now because everyone else will hear.
Um, no.
The reason socialization and collaboration are now relics of the past is because decades of executive and middle management douchebaggery and incompetence that has infected the corporate culture like slow-metastasizing cancer is now exacting its full toll. As companies slowly collapse under the weight of these decades of organizational and managerial decay, the managerial classes look for ways to reduce overhead. The most effective way to reduce overhead is to reduce body count. The most effective way to reduce body count is to enact a Stalinist Reign of Terror, accompanied by a "divide and conquer" strategy that disguises itself as "fostering competitiveness among peers" or "rewarding innovation and efficiency." Either way, the end result = trusting your coworkers no farther than you can throw them + growing eyes in the back of your head. Inexplicably, this seems to lead not only to a breakdown in morale and team cohesion, but an end to collaboration and knowledge sharing. Equally inexplicably, this in turn seems to lead to customers (remember them? Pesky creatures) not getting quality products, as well as the inferior products they do get being riddled with flaws, costing more than originally promised, and delivered late. "Socialization," which in any business has always been a combination of afterthought and necessary evil, is just a collateral casualty.
Maybe some genius getting PhD candidate in "management" will turn this into a doctoral dissertation. Nah, too much common sense involved.
Well, I would say open office is really good but i you notice as companies slowly collapse under the weight of these decades of organizational and managerial decay, the managerial classes look for ways to reduce overhead and they are tend to use the advanced software and application that are easier to manage.
Have to admit, open offices look really nice on shows like The Newsroom or The Office. All the characters can spend their time bouncing witty dialogue off of one another, seeing snippets of email on other screens that make for wacky misunderstandings, and otherwise keep the show going between plot points.
ReplyDeleteCan't see anything wrong with the idea.
Thanks for the linkage Captain. I am jealous of your freedom from the monthly salary and working on it for my family.
ReplyDeleteFrom the linked article:
ReplyDeleteSocializing or even discussing business things has dropped to nil. The collaboration thing has backfired. Because most business talk ended in a social bit. No one wants to risk narc potential now because everyone else will hear.
Um, no.
The reason socialization and collaboration are now relics of the past is because decades of executive and middle management douchebaggery and incompetence that has infected the corporate culture like slow-metastasizing cancer is now exacting its full toll. As companies slowly collapse under the weight of these decades of organizational and managerial decay, the managerial classes look for ways to reduce overhead. The most effective way to reduce overhead is to reduce body count. The most effective way to reduce body count is to enact a Stalinist Reign of Terror, accompanied by a "divide and conquer" strategy that disguises itself as "fostering competitiveness among peers" or "rewarding innovation and efficiency." Either way, the end result = trusting your coworkers no farther than you can throw them + growing eyes in the back of your head. Inexplicably, this seems to lead not only to a breakdown in morale and team cohesion, but an end to collaboration and knowledge sharing. Equally inexplicably, this in turn seems to lead to customers (remember them? Pesky creatures) not getting quality products, as well as the inferior products they do get being riddled with flaws, costing more than originally promised, and delivered late. "Socialization," which in any business has always been a combination of afterthought and necessary evil, is just a collateral casualty.
Maybe some genius getting PhD candidate in "management" will turn this into a doctoral dissertation. Nah, too much common sense involved.
Well, I would say open office is really good but i you notice as companies slowly collapse under the weight of these decades of organizational and managerial decay, the managerial classes look for ways to reduce overhead and they are tend to use the advanced software and application that are easier to manage.
ReplyDeleteHr services