The courage to be open minded about open offices

I had coffee with the CEO of a successful private company a week ago. Afterward he gave me a tour of their newly renovated offices. One of their upgrades was to create more privacy for clusters of desks and to add additional quiet rooms.

We talked about how recent research showed that a completely open office reduced face-to-face interactions by about 70% while at the same time it increased email messages by 50%.

The open architecture seemed to trigger a withdrawal response, where co-workers craved less social contact and chose instead to send emails and instant messages.

This CEO knows that one’s environment matters and is investing into their workspace accordingly. I loved seeing not just their beautifully decorated office, but also how they’ve moved towards a healthy mix of collaborative areas, focus areas and traditional desk clusters.

Great leaders have the courage and humility to question conventional wisdom and the things that they themselves and most other people normally would blindly accept.

This courage doesn’t magically appear. It comes from doing the work required to have an opinion and being open minded.

Read these great primers from Farnhamstreet:

• The Difference Between Open-Minded and Closed-Minded People
• The Work Required to Have an Opinion