Cubicles: Not as Bad as Nuclear Weapons

My colleague Bob Liu here at TMC alerted me to this fascinating article today by Julie Schlosser of Fortune magazine: "Cubicles: The great mistake."

Schlosser recounts the history of the office cubicle, invented by Robert Propst of Herman Miller. In 1960, the company introduced the Action Office, conceived by Propst, who was director of research. Schlosser says that eventually Propst became disillusioned by the cubicle. He originally meant the concept to benefit workers by giving them a more comfortable workspace designed to help them be more productive. In time, though, the cubicle became just a strategy for companies "to cram a lot of people into little space," according to the marketing chief who launched the Action Office.

Here's a great quote from the article:

"Reviled by workers, demonized by designers, disowned by its very creator, it still claims the largest share of office furniture sales -- $3 billion or so a year -- and has outlived every 'office of the future' meant to replace it. It is the Fidel Castro of office furniture."

The Fortune article also has a gallery of photos of vintage cubicle designs over the years.

Maybe you're not aware of it, but TMCnet has a channel devoted to Call Center Furniture, sponsored by Interior Concepts. The channel has a great article about the ergonomically-designed contact center. In the mind of some, the cubicle might seem like Fidel Castro, but my impression is that these folks know how to turn it into more of a Winston Churchill.

AB -- 3/9/06