In this video on BigThink Jason Fried the cofounder of 37Signals talks about interruptions at work.
The video is excellent when it comes to dealing with interruptions and finding out what is wrong with a typical office workspace today. 37Signals by far have been one of the most vocal when it comes to calling out on bullshit of other firms and they are often heard because they are successful.
I have quoted 37Signal so extensively that I have often been accused of being a 37Signals fan-boy.
To be honest, I am one.
The problem with blind fanboyism however is that you often tend to see everything positive about the organization and lose the objectivity to see mistakes the organization is making.
The recent video on 37Signals new office space however, is disappointing, particularly if you take the fan boy cap off and analyze their office objectively.
To begin with the video shows the entire team in a meeting or a conference. I am sure this is a rare occurrence at 37SIgnals but definitely not the right time to be shooting the video specially when you take strong stands on how toxic meetings are. What is actually even more disappointing is that their office seems more like a typical cubical farms with open workspaces designed for interruptions.
When you are an organization as small as 37Signals who believes in not interrupting your developers and letting them get in the flow, why build classic cubical farms where interruptions are a part of the design?
Why not learn from FogCreek office tour video which seems to suggest that they are putting their money where there mouth is by giving every developer most items on the programmers bill of rights?
I'm just saying.
Okay, enough critical commenting. I am going to wear my fan boy cap again.
By the way, did you read rework? If you did not it is definitely worth a read. Go buy a copy now. #Grins.
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