While reading it (from my cube, going on three hours waiting for my IDE to finish installing so I can actually work), I kept thinking back to how work and collaboration played out in college.
Students are allotted full autonomy in when, where, and how they work on tasks, provided that they're completed in an appropriate amount of time. Furthermore, most institutions provide diverse environments in which to work.
Some students will choose to work from their room, some will sequester themselves in the library, others will prefer the student union. A handful will walk down to the local coffee shop or park.
Often, the chosen spaces provide a much more conducive environment for informal collaboration, and it gives ad hoc groups the ability to dynamically form and find a space to work together (right now the 20 people on my team are scattered throughout a group of 180 other folks, across 9 rows of cubicles; I don't see half of them for weeks on end). When your work is dependent on another person's presence, you mutually agree on a time and space to meet. You know, a good, productive kind of meeting.
I wonder why more corporations don't follow academia's lead in allowing this sort of autonomy? What tasks require a static, personal, physical desk, these days?
I'd give anything just to have a laptop and be able to work from a table near a window. After a late night, I'd love to be able to take a quick midday nap to boost my mental acuity for the afternoon. Instead, I'm chained to my cube, regardless of my performance.
In Germany you generally do not pay the school or university. And you can get kicked out for failing too many tests (and not doing a test for two years can count as automatically failing).
While reading it (from my cube, going on three hours waiting for my IDE to finish installing so I can actually work), I kept thinking back to how work and collaboration played out in college.
Students are allotted full autonomy in when, where, and how they work on tasks, provided that they're completed in an appropriate amount of time. Furthermore, most institutions provide diverse environments in which to work.
Some students will choose to work from their room, some will sequester themselves in the library, others will prefer the student union. A handful will walk down to the local coffee shop or park.
Often, the chosen spaces provide a much more conducive environment for informal collaboration, and it gives ad hoc groups the ability to dynamically form and find a space to work together (right now the 20 people on my team are scattered throughout a group of 180 other folks, across 9 rows of cubicles; I don't see half of them for weeks on end). When your work is dependent on another person's presence, you mutually agree on a time and space to meet. You know, a good, productive kind of meeting.
I wonder why more corporations don't follow academia's lead in allowing this sort of autonomy? What tasks require a static, personal, physical desk, these days?
I'd give anything just to have a laptop and be able to work from a table near a window. After a late night, I'd love to be able to take a quick midday nap to boost my mental acuity for the afternoon. Instead, I'm chained to my cube, regardless of my performance.