WEBVTT - Is a Funny Boss better for your Workplace? (And other Secrets from Office Culture!) 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:06.200 Welcome to Part Time Genius, the production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:13.720 I Guess what Will? What's that? Man? Have you seen 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:15.960 these nap pods around? The companies have started using in 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:18.319 their offices, of course, And actually I feel like I 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.560 remember from years ago. Did didn't you take a field 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:22.400 trip to one of these things? One time I did 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.680 so Jason English and I heard about these at the 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:26.880 Empire State Building and so we went to a nap 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:29.680 room and got a nap pass and you kind of 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.040 just lie down in the space age recliner that looks 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:34.560 like an egg and and rest. It does look like 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:36.680 can he. But for some reason, every time I see 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:38.760 one of those, it makes me think of pac Man 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.680 and just like eating these people. So there's something about it. 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:43.720 It makes me a little hesitant to get in one 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:47.080 of those things. Yeah, but I kind of love that 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.920 they are, these weird little pods and their soundproof and ergonomic, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.279 and they've got colors that come in to wake you up. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:55.360 You know. The one time I did it, not only 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.320 did I feel rested, but I woke up refreshed. So 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:01.959 I actually looked into them for our office and did 0:01:02.000 --> 0:01:04.360 you know they go for like thirteen grand a pop. 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:08.640 It's a little out of our price range, but it 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:10.200 did give me thinking about all the ways that the 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.680 workplace has changed over the years. I mean, there was 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:14.840 a time not too long ago when sleeping on the 0:01:14.920 --> 0:01:17.840 job was a fireball offense. But now it's a part 0:01:17.880 --> 0:01:20.760 of employee wellness programs that everywhere from like Nike to 0:01:20.880 --> 0:01:23.960 Google to Ben and Jerry's. So with that kind of 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:25.679 change in mind, I thought i'd be fun to take 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:28.880 a tour through the history of office innovations, from surprising 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:31.319 programs adopted in other countries to the rise and fall 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:55.800 of the office cubicle. Let's dive in. Y Hey, their 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.600 podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:00.720 and it's always I'm joined by my good friend Manges 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.880 Ticketer on the other side of that soundproof glass. Look 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:07.000 at him just polishing that thing. He's polishing this shiny 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.880 new Employee of the Month blaque. That's our friend and 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:13.440 producer Tristan McNeil. I didn't even know we hadn't employed 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.520 in the month program. We we we actually don't mango. 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.799 He gave himself the employee them on the ward. It 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:20.960 was kind of a power move, you know, he's he's 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.600 a little bit into these power moves, and and I 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.959 think this is because he's now handed over the producing duties. 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:28.720 And of course Tristan is still going to be around, 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:31.760 but these are now going to the wonderful lull Berlante. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:35.000 So to be fair, I think I'm at least partially 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:37.160 to blame for this, because last week I told Tristan 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:40.239 about this big push to ban Employee of the month programs. 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:44.160 Apparently some HR departments think that the selection criteria is 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.000 too vague, and as a result of this, companies are 0:02:47.080 --> 0:02:49.960 left open to being accused of favoritism. So a lot 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.160 of people are pushing to get rid of these things. Yeah, 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.000 and I guess you can see how people might complain 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:56.080 when they don't get it, And it kind of makes sense, 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.000 you know. I I like how Tristan took it into 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.120 his own hands and out himself a plaque. But why 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.040 why don't we stick to some of the more time 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.720 tested workplace innovations, ones that have already proven themselves to 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:08.760 be good ideas And one that I really like are 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:13.200 these professional readers who work in Cuban cigar factories. Readers 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.400 who work in Cuban cigar factories. Yeah, they're called electories, 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:20.239 and their job is to sit on a raised platform 0:03:20.280 --> 0:03:23.560 inside a factory and read aloud to the people rolling 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:26.119 the cigars. There's usually some kind of p a system too, 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:28.440 so it isn't just them yelling, but it's it's pretty 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.440 great and it's a practice that's been going on in 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:33.720 Cuban factories for over a hundred and fifty years now, 0:03:34.040 --> 0:03:37.320 and the electorias are are still they're just reading two 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:39.760 people to this day. Why is this like it's some 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.440 kind of enrichment or education program or what. Yeah, so 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:44.880 this is back in eight six five there was a 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:49.560 man named Nicolas as Karate. I'm sure I'm pronouncing that terribly, 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.360 but he was the leader of a political reform movement 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:56.680 in Havana, and he thought lictors would help in two ways. First, 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:59.240 they would help relieve the workers of their boredom. You know, 0:03:59.400 --> 0:04:01.880 cigar roll all day has to be kind of a 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:05.440 tedious activity. But more importantly, it would help educate the 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.840 workers and broaden their minds about local and global issues. 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.080 And the public actually loved the ideas. So just one 0:04:12.120 --> 0:04:15.280 year after the lectoria has arrived in the factories, the 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:19.240 Cuban newspaper um Law Aurora report on the program, and 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:21.880 this is where they wrote. Quote. Today, even in the 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.360 heart of the workshops and during the hours most suited 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:29.400 to manual labor, imaginations are busily questioning scientific and philosophical truth. 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.440 They're talking and discussing, They're reading the works of good 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.560 modern authors and consulting with each other. In short, they 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.760 are doing what they can to learn and to continue 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:42.120 along the path of civilization. So it's kind of hard 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:44.719 to say exactly what affects those readings had on the workers, 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:47.280 but it is worth noting that when Cuba want its 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:49.800 independence from Spain, it did so with the help of 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:53.120 these cigar workers, and it isn't a stretch to think 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.000 that many of them were inspired by the readings that 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:57.480 they heard at work. Yeah, not only that, And this 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.640 is something I really don't think most people would know. 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.159 But q but has one of the highest literacy rates 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:03.960 in the world, right, Like, I think it sounds like 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.760 nine point seven percent of the population, which you know, 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.120 it makes sense for a country where factory workers listen 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.599 to news and books all day long, I guess. But 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:15.640 you know, I'm assuming they read books out loud, too, 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.320 So so what kind of stuff do these electories read. Yeah, 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:21.279 it is a mix. The electoria's typically read in thirty 0:05:21.279 --> 0:05:24.039 minutes shifts, so one shift might cover the major news 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.480 stories of the day and another might cover horoscopes or recipes. 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:30.719 But you're totally right about the books. The real need 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:34.160 of the programming is the dramatic reading of novels, which happens, 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:36.680 and that's when the lector is really good to show off, 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:40.200 like they act out multiple parts, they use different voices. 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:44.120 Sometimes they provide sound effects like their own effects, and 0:05:44.160 --> 0:05:46.719 the workers can't get enough of it. In fact, when 0:05:46.720 --> 0:05:49.640 they really like what they're hearing, they'll start tapping on 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:51.680 the table with the knives they use for the cigar 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.120 cutting and and it's basically their way to show their applause. 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.159 And I love that they applaud with knives, but it 0:05:57.200 --> 0:05:59.080 doesn't It worries me a little bit and kind of 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:03.080 makes me wonder what happens if they don't like a reading. Yeah, 0:06:03.120 --> 0:06:06.279 it could be dangerous, but actually that knife applause gets 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.200 used in different ways to write. The factories actually hold 0:06:09.240 --> 0:06:13.719 auditions for these lectoria's, where each candidate's pronunciation and their 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.679 oratory flair is is scrutinized. I guess their sound effects 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:19.840 as well. And and then the workers put the whole 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:21.960 thing to a knife vote, and they also get a 0:06:22.040 --> 0:06:24.039 vote on which texta read. Can you guess what the 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:28.279 top novel among these cigar rollers is? I mean, I 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.039 have no idea what Harry Potter? Yeah, I mean, that's 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.960 not a bad guess, but it's actually, uh, the Count 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:38.240 of Monte Cristo. Okay, also Jared Kushner's favorite book. But 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.080 and some lectoria's have even read the book multiple times 0:06:42.080 --> 0:06:44.400 for the same group of workers, Like that's how popular 0:06:44.440 --> 0:06:46.120 it is. But the thing I really like is that 0:06:46.200 --> 0:06:49.360 Electora is basically the voice of the workers in their factory. 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.279 The workers choose the Electora and they choose the words 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:54.880 here she will read. But they also paid the electora's 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:58.520 wages themselves, using contributions from their salaries, so in a 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:02.039 very real way, the electora's speaks for them. But being 0:07:02.080 --> 0:07:05.359 Electora can extend beyond the daily reading, so sometimes they 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.240 wind up taking on other jobs, like they announced plays 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:11.200 at the company baseball game, they'll perform the eulogy at 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.040 at employee funerals, and they even act as a middleman 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:16.840 for the workers speaking to management on their behalf. It's 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.240 really a role as like a community spokesman or like 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:23.080 almost like a union leader, as well as being a reader. 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:27.640 But I think that intimacy between that relationship is kind 0:07:27.640 --> 0:07:31.760 of why the practice still endures today, even with like TV, smartphones, 0:07:31.920 --> 0:07:34.240 even podcast I don't know if you've heard those, but 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:38.120 these are gonna be big some day. But Lectura kind 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.000 of has the workers back in a way that none 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:42.280 of those mediums can do exactly. Well. You know, there's 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:43.920 one thing I noticed when I was looking through the 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.200 research that Gabe sent us this week, and is that 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.920 the most effective office innovations tend to be the ones 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:52.600 that reinforced this feeling of humanity in the workplace. So 0:07:52.640 --> 0:07:54.400 when you think about these, like for a lot of us, 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:58.000 this means you know, certain modern office staples like coffee 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.240 breaks or casual Fridays, but there are also things that 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:04.200 like homemade lunch delivery service that they have in Mumbai, 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:05.960 which is just can you imagine how much fun that 0:08:06.000 --> 0:08:09.920 would be? Yeah, the double Wallas the dumble is actually 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.240 your lunch or lunch container and the wall as the 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.960 person who delivers it. I mean, it's crazy how old 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.840 this system actually is Apparently it's been in place for 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.680 them like a hundred and thirty years and there's more 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.160 than two hundred thousand people in the city that rely 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.480 on it to deliver their lunch each day. But what's 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.480 fascinating to me is that it's so efficient. So there 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:32.000 were some people from Harvard that did a study on this, 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.920 and it's actually estimated that for every six million meals 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:39.080 they handle, only one actually misses its destination. Like that 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.800 is efficient, way better track record than any food delivery 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.400 app that I can think of. Yeah, I mean my 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.000 families from Bombay and I didn't know those numbers. But 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.240 what's crazier to me is that the system is about 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.360 as analog as you can get. So each double wall 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:58.160 is responsible for finding his own customers, also for collecting 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:00.400 the money from them, and sort of the way it 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.040 used to work with milkman or paper boys. They're actually 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.240 the one doing the collections. So every day, each double 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:09.520 Walla bikes to his customers homes one by one, picks 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:12.240 up a freshly cooked meal from each one of them, 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.240 and then he takes these meals to their drop off points, 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:17.800 where they get grouped with a bunch of other meals 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.280 and sent off to this nearby train station. So from there, 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:23.760 the home cooked meals travel to a hub where they're 0:09:24.320 --> 0:09:27.520 sorted by location and then finally sent out by bike 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.559 and delivered before lunchtime. And despite all of that, they 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.440 have that sort of track record. I mean, it's, I guess, 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.560 a wonderful organized chaos from everything I've read about. If 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.400 you know apprienently, it takes at least three months of 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.800 training just to memorize the coding system they use for 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:43.760 the different lunch boxes. I don't know if you've seen these, 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:46.000 but it's got like a jumble of colors and letters 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.560 and numbers. But you know, I can't get over how 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:52.440 much stress these guys must be under. Like not only 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.480 do they have to move the lunch boxes from one 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.439 train to another to get to the destinations, but if 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.600 you've ever tried to just take a train without doing 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.000 the lunch is an India that's its own chore. So 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:07.040 you know, if a double walla gets confused and and 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:10.320 this is his connection, that means a whole block where 0:10:10.360 --> 0:10:12.960 the customers might miss their lunches. It's insanity, all right. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.160 So just to clarify on this though, like this system 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.240 seems to be thriving despite the fact that they're probably 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.360 cheaper and easier ways to eat lunch at work. And 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:23.080 I'm curious, why do you think this is? I mean, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.080 for some people it's a matter of health or hygiene, 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:26.600 like they don't want to eat anything that might get 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:29.760 them sick, and getting your dubble from home is is 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:33.040 a good way to ensure that doesn't happen. But more broadly, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:35.920 I think the people goes back to the human component, like, 0:10:36.200 --> 0:10:38.600 this isn't food that's been prepared by a stranger. It 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:41.880 was freshly cooked by a loved one for you, Which 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.400 is why I think it's such an enduring innovation. All right, Well, 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:46.840 now that we've looked at a few workplace trends from abroad, 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:49.240 I feel like we should circle back to the US 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:51.559 offices and trying to get a sense for how it's 0:10:51.559 --> 0:10:53.839 evolved over the years. Sure, but before we do that, 0:10:53.920 --> 0:11:09.760 let's take a quick break. You're listening to part Time 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.559 Genius and we're talking about office innovations that have changed 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:15.559 the way we work, sometimes for the better and sometimes 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.720 for the worst. Is it still an innovation if it 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:21.480 actually makes things worse? I think so, Like think about 0:11:21.679 --> 0:11:25.199 think about the cubicle right, like it's it was super 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:27.640 innovative when it came on the scene in the nineteen sixties, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.640 but plenty of office workers would argue that change was 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.000 not for the better. I mean, I guess that's true, 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.240 but you kind of have to look at the whole history. 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.600 I do think they're a little bit misunderstood. Like cubicles, 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.920 for all their faults, and of course there are many, 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:43.840 they were still a step up from the office layout 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.680 of yesteryear. So just as an example of this, in 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:51.080 the nineteenth century, American offices were these small, dingy places, 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.480 pop bellied stove and a bunch of clerks just kind 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.600 of piled on top of one another, and so it's 0:11:56.640 --> 0:12:00.439 this cramp, smokey, just not pleasant space ace and there 0:12:00.480 --> 0:12:02.719 was zero privacy. I know, when I think about that, 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:05.559 I almost think of like Scrooge's office in the Christmas Carol. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.360 It was all exactly like that, Like that was true 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.680 to every single office. And I know you, Mango, so 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:13.600 I know you're picturing Scrooges office in the Muppet version 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.280 of the Christmas Carol, and you aren't far off. So 0:12:16.640 --> 0:12:20.000 by the twentieth century, office spaces had thankfully spread out 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.680 a little bit, but soon they started to resemble factory floors. 0:12:23.679 --> 0:12:26.360 You know, I think of these bulky flat desks set 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.880 up side by side, and so not only did this 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.720 arrangement maximize space, but it also made it easy for 0:12:31.840 --> 0:12:35.040 supervisors to keep an eye on all of their employees. 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.800 So even though offices were bigger than they used to be, 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.960 personal privacy in this workplace sort of setting it was, 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.559 it was really nonexistent. It would, you know, It's kind 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.040 of stay this way until the cubicle came along in 0:12:46.040 --> 0:12:49.480 the late nineteen sixties. Yeah, it's interesting, like we're so 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:52.960 used to thinking of cubicles in negative terms, like they're 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:58.480 blend or homogeneous, isolating, But that's probably because we pictured 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:01.120 the alternative as every employe having their own office with 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.760 the door. But cubicle will start to look a lot 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:05.880 more liberating when you remember that the status quo of 0:13:05.880 --> 0:13:08.360 the era was almost like a bullpen with everyone just 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:11.360 working elbow to elbow. Yeah, that's exactly right, And you know, 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.439 it's strange to think about the cubicles really were intended 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.280 to bring a bit more humanity and individuality to the workplace, 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.440 or at least that was the goal of Robert Probes, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.240 who was the inventor of the cubicle, and Probes was 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.120 the head of research at Herman Miller's furniture company. This 0:13:27.160 --> 0:13:29.760 was in the nineteen fifties and the nineteen sixties, and 0:13:30.200 --> 0:13:32.160 it was during the course of his work that he 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:35.240 got depressed about the state of the modern office. So 0:13:35.280 --> 0:13:37.760 he wrote about this. This was actually from nineteen sixty 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:40.880 and he said, today's office is a waste land. It 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:45.960 SAPs fatality, blocks talent, frustrates accomplishment. It is the daily 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:50.559 scene of unfulfilled intentions and failed efforts. Such a wonderful idea, 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:53.840 I know you had some strong feelings there, He really did, 0:13:53.920 --> 0:13:55.840 and so it inspired him to get, you know, to 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.240 work designing the ideal workspace. So he really did have 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:02.600 very good in engines here, and using research he collected 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.959 from design experts, Probes decided on this new, flexible, kind 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:11.240 of customizable approach, which he dubbed the action office. So 0:14:11.280 --> 0:14:14.360 it consisted of a desk, a space for making phone calls, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:18.960 a vertical filing system, and these three hinged partitions that 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:22.520 could be rearranged as needed to accommodate solo work. Or 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.920 in some cases collaborative work. And to be clear, though, 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.360 the Action Office was not a cubicle like. The idea 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:31.880 was to provide a mix of walls and desks of 0:14:32.000 --> 0:14:35.160 various heights so that each workers set up their space 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:38.200 to match their own needs. And you know, it's kind 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.520 of a smart idea compared to what was out there. 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.160 And Proest included these acoustical panels to help block out 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:47.400 some of the sound of typing and other people's phone calls, 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:50.480 and so he even included this adjustable desk so that 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.440 people could stand while they worked, which you know, he 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.200 thought it would actually help improve employee blood flow in 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:58.560 the process. That's kind of amazing that he was that 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.800 ahead of his time with the standing deess and and 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:05.320 the panels. And I also love the branding the Action Office. Like, 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:09.040 the main problem was that nobody bought the Action Office. 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:13.960 Designers praised it as ingenious, but for companies and the executives, 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:17.240 the system was just like too high concept to buy into. 0:15:17.840 --> 0:15:20.040 And so Propes and his team went back to the 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.040 drawing board and a year later they came out with 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.960 the Action Office too, So, you know, totally different thing here, 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:30.680 and it was cheaper and simpler, and unlike it's more 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.760 open minded predecessor, this new design had a very stock 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.400 model with a fixed desk and you know those humanizing 0:15:38.440 --> 0:15:42.440 frills like shelves and better site lines that had previously 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.520 been available as options, but you know, most companies didn't 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.480 spend on them, and as a result, Prop's vision of 0:15:48.520 --> 0:15:51.960 this sprawling, productive workspace gave way to his fenced in 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:55.000 office space that we really think of now when we 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.200 think of cubicles. When you talk about it that way, 0:15:57.320 --> 0:15:59.800 it's almost like kind of what happened with the mall inventor, 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.160 Like who wanted to create those town squares and then 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:05.680 it ended up being just this commercial, like like pure 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:08.120 commerce place. Yeah, I know, we talked about that not 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.240 too long ago, and it's basically the same story with Probes. 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:14.920 So other furniture companies started making their own no frills 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:19.360 cubicles and offices became these more crowded and impersonal spaces 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:22.280 more than they had even before. And just like Ruin 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:25.400 with his shopping malls, Probes had to stand by and watches. 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.680 His invention became this new model for that very corporate 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.440 sameness that he'd been trying to get rid of. And 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:33.800 in fact, I pulled this quote from him that shows 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.160 how disappointed he was in the whole thing. He says, 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:40.480 not all organizations are intelligent and progressive. Lots are run 0:16:40.520 --> 0:16:43.720 by crass people. They make little bitty cubicles and stuff 0:16:43.760 --> 0:16:48.040 people in them. Barren, rat hole places, monolithic insanity. I 0:16:48.080 --> 0:16:50.480 don't want to read this guy's quotes. Just over and 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:55.960 I've got more rat whole places. He has not mincing words, 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.400 very very descriptive. So so probes passed away in the 0:16:59.480 --> 0:17:01.800 year two ols and it makes you wonder what he 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.879 would think of the return to the open office layout 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:07.080 that we've really seen come about in the last twenty 0:17:07.160 --> 0:17:09.240 years or so. I mean, don't get me wrong about 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:13.000 thirty of American employees still work in cubicles, and the 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:16.320 industry makes a couple billion dollars in sales every year. 0:17:16.840 --> 0:17:19.879 But open floor plans have become the new normal again, 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.840 and that's thanks largely to the tech industry and the 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.480 cubicle you know, could be on its way out at last. 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.320 It is strange to see that pendulum, right, It just 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:30.679 swings from one side to the other and back. But 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:32.879 it's also weird that we can't find our way to 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.240 the middle. Like, there's so many studies that show that 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:39.760 open offices actually decreased productivity. One study from the Cohen 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:43.040 Brown Management Group found that office workers lose between three 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:45.600 to five hours of productive time every day in an 0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.159 open office. And that's because they're constantly being interrupted in 0:17:49.200 --> 0:17:51.400 some way by the people around them. And the worst 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:54.400 part is that those interruptions aren't even worth the bother 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:57.280 in most cases. Like, according to a professor of management 0:17:57.320 --> 0:18:00.560 at n y U, and her name is Ann lar Fiard, 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:03.280 this is a quote, many studies show that people have 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:07.400 shorter and more superficial conversations in open because they're self 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.520 conscious about being overheard. You know. It's interesting because I've 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.120 always heard that the biggest benefit to an open office 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.360 is that the employees, you know, they interact, they collaborate 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.960 so much more than in a partitioned office, I guess, 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.680 But but I think that benefit make it canceled out 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.160 if the interactions are mostly hollow, right, Yeah, I think 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.600 the real thing open office plans have going for them 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:30.480 is that they're way cheaper than going to cubicle route. 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:33.359 You can get by with three times less office space 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.520 if you just use an open floor plan and you 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.639 don't have to worry about fitting in a bunch of big, 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:40.919 boxy cubes. All right, So open offices are less expensive 0:18:41.000 --> 0:18:42.960 and they can make it seem like your company is 0:18:43.000 --> 0:18:46.280 really shaking things up, I guess. But you know, on 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.680 their own, they aren't enough to make workers anymore creative 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:53.200 or more productive. So so what kind of innovation would 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:56.240 actually do that? I mean, there's got to be something, right. Yeah, 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.520 I've got a few fun options that we can run through. 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:15.040 But let's take another quick break. Welcome back to part 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.679 time Genius. All right, Mango, you promised this. You're going 0:19:17.720 --> 0:19:19.919 to give us some picks for the best ways to 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:23.920 boost productivity at work, and you can't say nappods again. 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.720 You've got to come up with something. Well, I've got 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:29.600 something much better in mind, and it is cheaper, because, 0:19:29.720 --> 0:19:32.400 according to recent studies, one way to improve your job 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:36.040 performance is just by making your coworkers laugh. That actually 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.000 makes me think of like bosses starting to do impressions 0:19:39.080 --> 0:19:41.280 like they're Michael Scott in the office or something like that, 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.560 and I'm curious, like whose performance does it actually help 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:48.359 the joke teller or the person laughing. So that's a 0:19:48.400 --> 0:19:51.280 really great part about this. It affects both parties, and 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:53.520 for the person making the jokes, the benefit is a 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:57.440 boosting social status. In two thousands, sixteen, researchers at the 0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:00.040 Harvard Business School concluded that when an employee makes a 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.040 coworkers laugh, that person is quote perceived as more competent, 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:08.720 more confident, and higher in status. That's just some revolutionary 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:11.760 research there. And so what about for the people laughing, 0:20:11.880 --> 0:20:13.560 They actually get something good out of it as well. 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:16.639 They get stress relief, entertainment, and a stronger sense of 0:20:16.680 --> 0:20:19.959 engagement and collaboration. I mean, this is all studies backed. 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.720 And then there's the physical changes like for example, laughing 0:20:22.760 --> 0:20:25.879 increases your intake of oxygen and that turned up to 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.439 the amount of endorphins that your brain releases. Plus laughter 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.800 can stimulate circulation and relax your muscles, so it's great 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.520 for relieving physical stress, all right. So, just to play 0:20:35.520 --> 0:20:37.600 Devil's advocate on this for for for a second, have 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.080 there been any studies on whether laughing actually improved productivity 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:45.520 because stress relief, endorphins connecting with your coworkers, and it 0:20:45.560 --> 0:20:49.040