Open Offices Failed
We ran a twenty-year experiment on open offices. The data is in. Face-to-face interaction dropped. Email increased. Collaboration decreased. Time to admit it didn't work.
The theory was elegant: remove walls and people will collaborate. The reality was the opposite.
Harvard researchers tracked workers before and after a transition to open offices. Face-to-face interaction dropped 70%. Email and messaging increased 50%. People didn't talk more. They found ways to create virtual walls when the physical ones disappeared.
The mechanism is predictable in hindsight. Open offices eliminate privacy without eliminating the need for it. So employees adapt: headphones become the new door. Slack replaces the hallway conversation. The collaboration that was supposed to happen spontaneously now requires scheduling.
Meanwhile, the costs are measurable. Interruptions increase. Deep work decreases. Stress rises. The savings on real estate are spent on lost productivity.
The reframe: The question isn't "open vs. closed." It's "what work needs what environment?" Deep focus needs quiet. Collaboration needs togetherness. Transition needs flexibility. One floor plan can't optimize for all three.
Stop designing for a theoretical ideal of spontaneous collaboration. Design for actual humans doing actual work.
