By Cheddar
February 23, 2021
The video starts off with a bit of a history lesson. Back in the 1950s, there was a gentleman by the name of Robert Probst. He considered himself to be an inventor, while also being an art professor. He was the only employee in his product development firm and therefore had unlimited time to think about how to set up his office. He created multiple workstations including a standing desk much before its time and a display desk to easily see important tasks. He moved around his various workstations and eventually found he felt healthier and more productive by doing this. This was his lightbulb moment to change the office space for everyone. However, somehow his idea turned into what we now know as the cubicle.
This video focuses on how this genius idea went so wrong. It goes on to show various movie clips with the setting of the office and cubicles – the thing about work that most people dread. Despite all that the open-office concept is now getting backlash due to noise disturbances and lack of personal space. Along comes the Covid-19 Pandemic, and suddenly cubicles don’t seem that bad anymore. So has the cubicle seen its last days, or will it make a comeback?
The office as we know it was actually born out of the efficient design of factories back in the 1800’s -wide-open spaces with rows and rows of desks and people pushing paper. In 1960, Probst partnered with furniture company Herman Miller and veteran designer George Nelson, to help create his new vision of the office. With George’s classically trained eye and Probst’s creativity, they created the Action office. The action office was multiple pieces that could easily be re-arranged to create the perfect work environment for each individual. The combination of taller bookshelves and lower screens breaks up the open space and also helped filter out noise and distractions.
Upon Herman Miller’s release of the action office in 1964, it did not do well. This has been chalked up it being too nice and too expensive. So back to the drawing board they went. Probst designed the classic fabric-wrapped faux walls the size of an average person. These pieces were to be arranged in a hexagon-esque design. In 1968, this action office 2.0 was met with praise from the business world.
Then in the 1070s and 1980s, as businesses continued to grow and require more and more space for their workers, the design was adjusted again. This time becoming workstations with right angles and less portioning between them. Soon enough though, companies were handing out layoffs, outsourcing work and cost-cutting wherever they could. The cubicle was easily adjusted for these comings and goings, which ultimately lead to it becoming the symbol of something wrong with the workplace.
By the late 2000s the tech sector, mainly in Silicon Valley, decided they would reinvent the office again. They took down the cubicle walls and welcomed the open office. The open office was to encourage more face-to-face collaboration and impromptu creativity and consequently became viewed as a happier environment. By 2017, roughly 70% of offices were open-office design. Even with their popularity, there have been complaints of lack of privacy and noise pollution, which leads to a decrease in productivity. It’s even been known to lower face-to-face interaction as employees prefer email or chat-based systems. Enter the global pandemic and everyone is re-thinking the modern office space. The final message in the video is that it is us, the people, that are key to carrying out a company's work and designs should be thought out to benefit us.
This would be a really good resource for businesses looking at their office design. Once again, it depends on the kind of work, whether it needs to be collaborative or more independant. I quite liked how this video went over the history of the cubicle and how it came about, but then also mentioned how the "new" open-office design also has its own flaws. Offices around the world can use this information to adapt to their organization. Being amongst the Covid-19 pandemic, companies will have to really look into how these different designs can either help or hinder their work, as well as what is best for the employees.
Having worked a stint in the cubicle life, I can say it was not for me. Did I get my work done? Yes, I was rather productive. Did I enjoy my work? No, not one bit. I did have a cubicle buddy, we sat back-to-back and would chat occasionally, but not a whole lot. We each had our own files to work on, and due to the sensitivity of the work, we couldn't share all that much information unless it was a general "Do you remember the procedure for when you get this?" I feel I am too much of a social person to work in that environment, which is probably why I'm not there anymore. Don't get me wrong, the majority of my work is still office work, but its definitely more of an open-office and customer-facing type of office work.
Cheddar. (2021, February 23). How the cubicle became universally hated -the lightbulb moment. YouTube. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/v/7Tt4n8SaxEY.
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