Do you ever get a feeling that the people you work with just don’t “get” you? It’s not that they’re not nice or talented. It’s just…I don’t know, maybe “the-cube-effect.”
Being surrounded by tall grey cubicles with shades-of-grey carpet, and beige-grey walls….well it gets to you. I should say, it gets to me. I have a problem with this environment for a few reasons:
- It’s uninspiring. I write for a living—online, for podcasts—and I do this for a corporation….so I need to be extra creative to devise ways to get busy, cube-dwelling colleagues interested enough to read/listen to my stuff. Picture this: me at my desk (I’ve got a standing one). I’ve velcroed photos everywhere I can, bought fuzzy orange-pink fake fur to cover my [grey!!!!!] office chair. I’m tapping away at my keyboard. Things are going well. I’ve got a good flow going. BUT suddenly, I get stuck. Hhhmmmm….what do I need here? I gaze away from my screen for some inspiration…and WHAT DO I SEE? Greyness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Cubes cut you off from human interaction. There must be at least 150 people in the 15 or so cube-rows immediately surrounding me. I know 30 of them. Think of this. I could be walking in my neighbourhood park and pass by, or sit next to someone “I work with” and have absolutely no clue!!! (This is sad. Very sad.)
- Cube life also seems to be synonymous with corporations. And corporations are notoriously known to use clichéd, exclusive language that often lead to circle-talking (and not actually making a meaningful point). They struggle with being personal—people often complain of feeling like a number. Say: 11135559 (the number has been slightly changed to protect the identity of…well…me).
- People are walled off and always look busy (whether they are, or are not…and secretly playing solitaire), so it makes me feel as though I must cut straight to business with no small chat….no getting-to-know-ya opportunities. It creates a sense of seriousness to the place.
Because of these effects (among others) cubicles have started to influence my behaviour. It’s not good. I need an intervention….someone throw me some hope…throw it over the cube wall before I succumb to the-cube-effect!
American comedian, Conan O’Brien knows what I’m talking about. Check out his tour of an Intel campus in Santa Clara.
