In a recent article in the FT Magazine, Henry Mance took readers through the history of the office from architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1903 creation, The Larkin Building in Buffalo, New York which, with its air-conditioning and filling cabinets, was perhaps the earliest prototype for the modern office. He took in the 1960s era as depicted in TV’s Mad Men and suggested we may now be reaching the end of the office era. He finished with an arresting final paragraph.
‘In 1956, William Whyte summed up the organisation man as someone who had ‘left home, spiritually as well as physically.’ Physically, we will now spend more time in our homes and our neighbourhoods; perhaps we will return there spiritually too.’
There was also the news that Twitter and a host of other companies will allow their staff to work from home effectively forever.
However, Matthew O’Neill, host of The Leaders Council’s ‘Leading the Debate’ podcast series spoke with a number of leadership figures who suggested it may well be too early to read the office its last rites.
Speaking to Matthew, Robert Dykes from Jetmasters, the jetting equipment specialised, argued that the office was central to employee well being, while Adam Breacher from IT recruitment experts, Square One Resources persuasively argued that while you may be able to maintain a strong working culture from home, it will be almost impossible to build one without having the staff interacting with one another.
In a fascinating episode of the podcast, Matthew also spoke to Nilesh Shah from Blick Rothenberg, Paul Tansey from Intergage, Dave Fidler from Front Row Music and others.
He also touched on Matthew Syed’s fascinating book, Rebel Ideas, where the author compares the growth of Silicon Valley to its precursor, the Miami River Valley near Dayton, Ohio. In the early twentieth century Dayton had the most patents per capita of any American city and was home to the world’s greatest concentration of scientists and technicians.
Syed makes the case that it was the increased levels of socialising that caused Silicon Valley to catch up and vastly outstrip its Ohio rival. There were much higher levels of interaction between workers and ideas were much more readily shared.
Indeed, Steve Jobs, one of Silicon Valley’s most famous sons, was consciously aware of this. When he designed the office building for Pixar he purposely put all the toilets in one central location. This greatly annoyed the staff, some of whom had to traipse from great distances to use the facilities. But it was done with the aim of creating the potential for more chance encounters.
Jobs wanted people literally to bump into each other, something that is simply not possible when your toilet and your office are in your own home.
You can listen to the full episode of ‘Leading the Debate’ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxJDX3xYuaM&feature=youtu.be
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash
